Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-12-09
HOME LIFE OF FRANCE
ImmiraIity of France Has Been Ex-
aggersted Says Communication.

shamcfully exaggerated"
Such is the preface to a. bulletin o
the National Geographic Society deal
Ing with the home life of France,
subject of. particular interest becaus'
of the varying impressions Of tha
land brought back by returning sol
diers.
Because, before the war; the for
eigners seeking SIN found it on ccr-
tain Paris boulcvards they concluded
that their frank sexual ADVERTISING wa:
characteristic of France, whereas the
average French girl is as zcaloTslS
shielded from temptation as was ever
the daughter of the Pilgrim father
But to love intensely and passionatcly
is the French girls hope and desire;
and why should it not be-" SAYS the
bulletin, which is based or a COM
municatlon from Carl Holiday.
THE French have long been 4
shreYd. calculating people who have
watched closely every sou. They
may seem romantic to foreigners:
their passionate protestations Of love
may seem too frank to US Of Puritan
descent; but not o2ly in financial af-
fairs, but even in their pleasures,
they mlnutely calculate all times.
Probably there is not in tic world
the equal Of the French housewife in
economy and efficiency. Before the
war wages were astonishingly low in
France and there must have been
continual squeezing Of each franc
but, thanks to the ability of the
French wife, who could tell from out
siGe. evidence that there was unusual
stinting in the average home?
ITO see a French woman bargain
at the market is to learn much in
economics, mathematics-and oratorY
She simply refuses to pay the first
price quoted; her genius for getting
what you can is admirable.
With such women, is it any marvel
that the French home is so admirably
united? The family is the primal So
cial fact in France, and the parents
arc the fundamental raCt without
which the organism Cthe family could
never have come into being Hence
there is n reverence for parents
equaled probably only by the an
cestral worship Of China. Indeed, it
is very doubtful whether the love he
tween husband and wife equals that
existing between the parent and child.
There is constant consultation
with parents and relatives by sons
and daughters of advanced years-a
form of consultation scarcely ever
. heard of in an American family.
IF the Frcnchman or thirty or
thirty five proposes changing his pro-
fession, he may consult, not only his
father and his mother, but the entire
family group; the proposed marriage
of daughter o. q son is often an oc-
Casion for Il council Of tho entire clan,
including diStant relatives that in
America would hardly Dc fncluCcd in
our family tree.
THE world has been fond OF point-
ing out that the French language has
no word for home 1t has word
possibly even more tender. What
meaning is in the sound of foyer 1t
includes the concept of hearthStonc
and much more. 1t brings to the
French mind and heart all the Ideals.
activities, and dreams of n close, in
ncr circle where obedience is JOY,
respect a willing observance, and love
an ever present radiance.
The foyer is not for the outside
world; only behind the locked doors
does it really live and flourish. The
father may deal with the outside
world of business, but here in the
foyer the mother generally rules
supreme, and her Influence is every
where seen in it.
rs it any wonder that when one
parent dies tho other is immeGiatcly
taken into tho home of the married
son or daughter, there to rule as a
sort of benevolent, enlightened dcSpot?
Perhaps some youthful American
reader of these pages has already
asked. How can there he any court
ship in so private a home, where
everybody within tho charmed circle
is consulted about all the affairs con-
ncctcd with that circle.
AS preparatory step toward such
beautiful home lifc one would think
that there should first be 4 most
romantic love affair, with moonlight
walks and whispered words Of adora-
ton and all the other pretty things
found in the sentimental novel
Unfortunately or fortunately-as
You may view it-thCse ac2ompani-
ments Of American match making are
frequently totally absent from French
courtShip. Indeed, in the middle and
higher classes of French society
there is often very little possibility Of
love-making before marriage.
Owing to the family regulations
and tho fact that there are few CO.
educational schools in the county. tho
French girl seldom makes with boys
those confident personal friendships
so common in America.
I'm the main the French mother