Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-07-11
SOCIETY

lctlcally established Tor the sum
season at its fnvoritc resort. The
intry clubs mark the few gather
IS of note during the week and en-
tanning In town Is reduced to the
allcst and most informal of affairs.
ese have n charm all their own.
mellow. 1t Is rather pleasing TO
k occasionally I'm conversational
he's to the person to whom you are
reduced mt an entertainment, in
lad OF having your best stories
owned inconsideratcly by tho jazz
tho band. Once at Il club last sea
n a witty woman whispered to her
ighbor: THAT oss-looking old
fdcr OF the orchestra seems de-
fmincd that no one shall get n
'rd In cdgewise and that dance VIC
all and must. SO IT'S death to all
chatty conversation We used to
in In soft nurmurs while the
blins 'sobbeh' out their waltzcs"
At small dinners you really talk to
people ut the table, instead OF
Ing the "rctort courteous" until II Is
Dyed with wear and uninterest-
nothinEa People. after all, are
much more Interesting than Il
ccially arranged program OF Jug
ers or entertainers for an eve
ms. There Is so much to talk about.
much Is happening In the world
erywhcre. One OF the things that
being most talked about just now
that remarkable book, This Side
Paradise" II is supposed TO have
en- written by Il young man Just
OF college. II is u most revealing,
catise on the modern boy and girl
ID one would like to suggest t,
hand-bood TO soft-cycd, sweet
others who seem so blind TO the
ays OF their daughters and the
ad-lonS pace that some of them are
ping. They are such precious.
fct;y little things. too. that you can
Il believe tho evidence OF your own
les and ears. The discourse is on
G subject OF the baby vamp" and
10 "parlor snake" an IL far from un-
3nmon typo OF girl and boy are
imed in the chronicle. Both boys
I'd girls arc shown up impartiaily.
one scene OF the Girl and boy be-
feen tho dances as they nit in some
les Limousine outside the country
lb you get rather bald statement
facts. They didn't care AT all;
hey were only bored. The boy says
pc girl expects to be kissed and the
FRI shruGs and says she won't have
good time II she doesn't spoon. The
f'ok has no literary value TO speak
in I'M III "a,
nc spotlight on certain phases Of
|ir present day life that need the
Fld steel OF the surgeons knife.
aguc mothers who do not under
and need TO look matters in the
|acc squarely and know: Where is
by daughter? Who is she with?
lust exactly how does she spend her
me? What are her idcals in life
nd just how far am responsible for
hose ideals?
An. the book does not picture them
III! All girls and boys are not tina;
'ay. You are sure OF 1t. just as you
re sure that the bulwarks of truth
nd honor and faith will forever hold
p our civilization. but il shows a
angerous drift in the tide that has
cached alarming proportions. There
) no need to drift further.
So This Side OF Paradise" is being
,uch discussed by mothers and
auEhters. AS well. There Is much
ruth in II. Many crudcly expressed
ieas, bat II is a timely thing. We
ave had enough OF my line" and
he cold calculation OF it all, it's time
he world turned back TO the sim
!tcity OF real things and away from
ne mad rush after nothing at ali.
'ver and over in the book the boy
ONES back to the homeiy truth that
omen make the standards, that
'omen hold the honor and faith Of
ne world in the hollow OF their slcn-
er hands. You can't look for honor
nd faith in the hands of n girl who
annot wait to finish her dinner or
ance for cigarette; you cannot
uild home on the shifting sands
( pleasure-madness and self-indulg-
nee. and thus the story, or treatise.
ocs on to It's rather anti-cIimax.
tut 1t is an dictment OF the girls
nd men OF today. as we'll as the mild
'ictorian mothers. who, busy with
heir own lives and pleasures, let the
rail barks OF their children's day
rift without anchor upon the rapids
nd rocks Of eternal despair. Under
ne title OF the book is inscribed the
notation from Oscar Wilde: lex
erience is tho name so many people
i've to their mistakes"
BRENT WITT.
knitting in the West.
Miss MerceTi Walden left last week
Or Lake SiMichisan to spend
ne summer with har on,t A., =,