Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-03
WAR MAKES ENGLISH
GIRLS SELF-RELIANT
more Like Americans Now-Gain
IN Chic and Common Sense
Through Experiences
BY ELLEN ADAIR
~ N7H1197gNN
Rriten srectntlr for ths Everirc Ledger

LONDON, May All was walking yes
terday in Fleet street, meditatlng on tn
many changes which this war has brough
about, and finally dropped in at We old'
Cheshire Cheese for lunch. This ancient
eatlng-piace has been beloved Of Journal
lists for many years. II has a mellow at
| mosphere all it's own. But up till recently
II was almost exclusively the haunt Of men
Women seldom entered
Now all this Ia changed The place is
filled with women, the New Women who
work all day at mems occupations, who
with the war have cast aside all their
former dHldence at entering restaurant
alone and unescorted, who, in a word, have
| at last evolved"
A bigger surprise was yet in store
| these women we're actually ordering excel
| lent lunches for themselves, lunches that
showed an almost man-llke discrimination
| in the ordering
"T'll have some grilled sole and some
chablis. please" heard one girl direct
| walter And I'll have oysters and-let
me see-a half bottle OF Hiedseck- Mono
pole" said another, wrInkllng her pretty
brows thoughtfuly, "I feel in need of a
pick-me-up after the big government deal
we pulled of this morning"
EFFICIENT NEW WOMEN"
listened in amazement All around
were smartly dressed, efficient women or
derlng well-balanced meals with. a quite
epcurean instinct. Could this be really
England, that one spot where the insufi-
cient and unsuitable food Of business girls
has always been the subject of Just COM
ment? And big Government deals'2 Had
the men of England really come TO realize
that women have business sense and can
carry on" and carry out" as well as any
one7 1t looked remarkably like II.
In the old days these same girls saved
on their lunches In order to buy cheap
fOth Ia orin kn 70 rnaI
anemic faces and an under r-nourished ap-
pearance are but poor accompaniment to
gewgaws. Now all has changed. The day
of that soulful combinaton-the orange
and the omnibus ride for lunch-has passed,
never to return. The glass of lemonade
and the chocolate eclair once so beloved of
the London worker have vanished-she
can eat her roast beef with the best of
them-and she does IT, too.
Some of the sangfroid of the American
maiden has recently entered into her COM
position and considerable amount of that |
young womans self-confldence For now
the little English girl realizes that She
and no one else-is the most important fac |
tor in the business world at the moment. |
The men are fighting over yonder." Who, |
Client little self?
And as for clothes, here. too, she is bor- |
rowing some of the distinction and chic of |
the American. She dresses so much better
than she used to do. There's a note of in
dependence in the very tilt of her summer
chapeau, in the jaunty adjustment of a rib
bon or bow
THE English girls surprise NO." said an
American man today; they've changed SO
much within the last two years. There's
lutte different note in their manner, a |
more attractive air about them. always
hought them pretty, but Just little bit
nsipid, both in dress and ways. They |
hadn't the courage of their convictions
lot like our girls at home. But now they're
Iuite changed-and quite charming They're
more companionable-less of the angel,
'erhaps, but more of the pail
They're twenty times more interesting
'hey can think and talk and be amusing. |
wouldn't mind marrying the new type OF
English girl. for she'd almost manage to
onvince me she was Americana
A young British officer. home for a few
ays' leave after many months spent In the
renches. was speaking on this very sub.
ect, too. AT first when / read about the |
'omen police the women chauffeurs, the |
'omen gamekeepers and the women por-
ers l must confess I frankly shuddered"
e said "and the other officers In our mess
lso We even sat down In our little dug.
uts and wrote epitaphs to the girls we'd
1T behind - -
But now that I'm home and can see that
ne dinerence is for the better, I'm glad |
he timid, solely ornamental hopelessly
seless woman of pre-war days has vanish
d. and In her place is far more attrac-
We person. The new woman seems even |
rettier than the old-she thinks, you see, |
nd has intelligence in her face I'm not
Iamlng the pre-war girl at all-it was {
rgely the fault OF us men that she was so
seless. We thought we liked her best {
lat way. The doll-baby type was what I
sed to please u.s.
Now we're different-and so are the
rls. They're better dressed. for one thing,
ore sympathetic to each other, broader. t
inded They're freer and finer in their
ays. They're far less shy. less self !
'nscious. They're 30 generous. too, and I
lch good pals. find il in my heart 70 G
We them all !" I