The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
Fox. a Well Known Australian
 Nriter in the London Mail.


 Writer, in the London Mall.
 N DINING from Australia l fell to lV studying the Englishwoman' ana M I give you here what I feel are the salient points of her character
 My criticism ranges between two points
 of extreme admiration for that eA- ouisite work of nature, the English gen.
 tlewoman;. of extreme disapproval for the freouent decent" Englishwoman or
 other class who will, as a matter of course, go into a public house and have her half a pint of beer or stout. NO re- spectable Australian woman would enter a public house bar, and 1t is shock 10
 see Englishwomen do so.
 The high type of Englishwomen, from
 her first stage of a delicate, wiid-rose
 beauty maturing slowly, so that she is a
 young natron up to 50 and grandly
 beautiful dowager at TO- is surely an ex- quisite product. You must come to Eng land to study her. You do not meet her often abroad. For the Englishwoman is not a good colonist. Irish and Scotch emigrees settle to life in Australia with
 aptitude and with affection. Tho well to
 do Englishwoman does not; she seems always to sigh for England. l now Know why England offers so much to woman of that class It is impossible that she should enjoy so good a time anywhere else in the world. Life in London Is 'so- ciety'' sublimated: and essentially woman is d social creature.
 The plentifulness of the pretty English girl I rather doubted at first I did not
 see her much in tho street or the shops. In Australia the principal city streets are, in a sense, social salons. On the Mel
 bourne Block for instance within a
 week you meet everybody of importance.
 I corrected the impression subsequently,
 but still to me. the English girl Is not
 so remarkable as the English matron.
 Apart from looks, what are the chief
 Impressions about the Englishwcman?
 They must naturally be comparative She
 is not so resourceful as the Australian
 woman. She develops into splendid
 household manager but she is evidently
 not generally trained to do much for her.
 self She does not make as good a poor
 mans wife as the Australian in the same
 rank of life: The young professional man,
 with his way yet to make, cannot ask his girl to marry him on a small income as safely in England as in Australia. I do not think that that is good for the race.
 Earlier marriages among what may be termed the 'intSllectuals' of the nation would have an energizing effect on the
 national type.
 But the Englishwoman is not on the average, think as extravagant in dress as the Australian woman. Given the same income in each case she spends less on her adornment.l She does not dress for the street so much. Her ordinary attire is simpler, and, T. confess, in better--i. e., quieter-taste. Some allowance, of course, must be made for the greater exuberance of the semi-tropical life of Australia. From what can gather. the restraint of English dress habit shows tendency to disappear. That would be a pity. There are many societies in London formed for every conceivable object from preventing a cat being left in the house during the holidays to providing Indian babus with social opportunities. May I suggest an- other, society for promoting simplicity in dress? If, great lady took 1t under her aegis n1 doubt it would have some success. The most incongruous thing l have noticed in London is the contrast. at big receptions. between the noble dow agers, the ldignified matrons. the sweet girls, and q few eccentric ''smart-sstterr' gorgeously adorned, rather than clothed. | in s'sheatH" gowns.