Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-10-06

does reach the territory of the
Stars and Stripes the railroads will
run excursion trains. The first day
or two DIN Paris | was nervous about
this style Of gown. When | saw a
saucy French lady in a dress which
looked like it was pu. ON by glove
filter felt as if | should blush and
look at the statuary. was told by
the best feminine authority with me
that in order to wear one of those
skirts it was necessary to discard
any wearing apparel which is usually
beneath the female skirt. The poor,
pretty things would go along the
street like a, boy in sack race try
ing to walk, except that by a slit up
one side which was not buttoned for
several feet from the bottom, a lit
tie motion could be secured. But whe
the lady crossed the street, or when
she climbed to the top of a bus or
even stepped into a cab, it was nee
essary i'm order that she maintain ap-
pearances that there be not even a
hole in her stocking above the knee.
OF course | do not speak from person
al observation. Far be it from me
to watch lady cross the street or
climb into a vehicle. But | knew how
it must be from a careless study of
the environment, and my theory was
confirmed by the evidence of all
those who did not hide their eyes or
observe the scenery. And l will add
that it is extremely difficult
to keep the binders on while seeing
the sights.
only speak of these matters be-
cause they are much more in evil
dence in Paris than are the Statue Of
Liberty, or the Column of Vendome,
or any of the great places that the
guide books tell about.
The French are delightfully."- ma
ural' about many things. 1t is quite
the proper thing for a man and wO-
man to hug and kiss each other in
public. At first this startled me
and felt that perhaps they were eX
cited. But no, it is just the proper
way TO manifest their feelings at the
time. Just imagine how it would be
if the Frenchman across the table
from you puts his arm around the
lady next to him and she snuggles
up to him and pats his cheek with
her mengaged hand. felt Like get
ting right up and saying excuse me,
i am l intruding. But l soon learned
that they didn't mind us at all. Their
idea of love is to let go all holds and
love. Their theory of matrimony
is that 1t is an arrangement based
on family position, business and pros
poets. No young woman can get q
husband, unless she has a dot, so
much capital. The parents arrange
the matches and usually do SO care
fully and thoughtfully. The girl, who
! has not even been allowed to go to
school with the boys, has mo idea of
any other arrangement, and the man
who has never thought of matrimony
in another way, considers it a part Of
his Career
A man. in France cannot marry with
out the consent of his parents until
he is 25 and a woman not till she is
q. This law is strictly obeyed and
there is no running off to some other
state where the rule is different. l
suppose French marriages arranged
in this apparently cold-blOoded man.
ner by the parents, turn out on the
average as well as they would II they
let the young people rush in and
marry for love- But it doesn not
seem right to US any more than OUT
ways seem good to them. OF course
a Frenchman does not insist that his
Sweetheart shall have a dot so
that arrangement is made by the
parties themselves, all of which seem
very wrong to English and Americana
and yet the French prove it is the
best way by using the divorce figures
for divorce is practically unknown in
France. The French woman is the
business partner of her husband and
necessity makes them pull together
just as they were taught to do from
their youth up. She doesn't belong
to clubs any more than her husband
does. She has a great deal Of liberty
and i'm fact is often the head of the
firm.