Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-10-10
SOCIETY

tho fall season we'll on in Richmond
and plans are going rapidly forward
for brilliant social season. The
stage Is set for tho pretty little play
OF Ones First Winter Out" and an
indulgcnt audience OF Interested rela-
tives and friends are gathered for
the entertainment. Somehow. ono i5
rather breathIess in expectation OF
what the coming winter Will bring.
The girls to be presented are such
charming. pretty things. All over
this broad land. from the biggest
city to the smallest town. men and
women are talking OF what the
debutantes and the younger set and
that very much discussed partition
OF socicty-the young married set.
have been doing in the season before
this and the season before that
Wild extremes In every direction
seem to have swept over our coun-
try. Bad manners are the rule and
not the exception a girl or man
viii sit barely two places from her
hostess and entertain II dinner part
ncr viii carping criticism OF the very
people who are entertaining them.
all forBetful that even savage In
tho desert Will not turn ard rend
you. once he has eaten your salt"
Perfect orgies OF dancing and drink
Ing and smoking seem quite the nc-
cepted mode OF entertainment and so
the tales run OIL.
Youth must have /; Ming. TO bc
sure happiness is It's right and privi-
iege. but who would want IL flower
that has been trn:n2lcd in the mirc
and crushed beneath the unhceding
feet OF the passing throng. Surely
youth may have It's fling. but IL must
also pay the piper and the world to-
morrow must give In bond and note
oil all that is precious treasure. TO
make UP for the wasted today,
Everybody shrugs and lays II on
These Wild Young People" this city
or the other. godiess mothers ana
fathers. movies. jazz and motor cars.
and then ali around hack in the circle
again. One man Of the world. and
no plaster saint at that. grew quite
eloquent on the subject after
noon ago. Ee5arosc in his wrath and
Indignation from his comfortable
place beside the sitting room fire and
his sentiment was all against the
youth OF his dag 0or he belongs to
this generation. even IL he is half
fast twentyhvc). OF course he laid
4, on the girls. though YOU Will md
JUS, as many who say It is All the
fault of the .Eea.
who wants 70 marry one OF
them" He exclaimed. II don't, and
! suppose am fairly eligible as men
60
"Ah. but that Is where you make
your mistake" said his hostess. who
believed in the world and the good
In IL, too. when you go to dance
or any sort OF entertainment for that
matter, to whom do you pay the
most attention. II is not the nice.
sweet thing. though l grant you that
some OF them have n good time. baby
yamps TO the contrary. You are put
Ing a premium on the risque stories.
the gay and sporty type OF girl,
whom you claim disgusss you al
every turn, whom you vow you
would not marry were she the last
woman on earth, and yet you de-
lIbcrately encourage the girl you say
YOU despise by making her the belle
OF The ball and leaving. except in
rare instances, the demure. quiet girl
to languish on the side lines.
The eligible bachelor m erely
enorted by way OF taking note o.
the comment and continued his own
line OF thought II know one girl
who wore such extreme clothes one
season that the first time l saw her
vas sure her mother and father
must have been out when she started
/, the ball. otherwise they would
not have allowed IT. But tho winter
went on and she wore even more
outrageous costumes as time went
by. so / gathered that her parents
must have an linking OF her appear
ance. as they do not stand with their
heads in the sand all the time"
And now you have hit the nail
squareiy on the head" said the wom-
an. THE cards are on the table SO
FAR as what mothers and fathers |
know that their children do and do |
not do. so they can no longer pretend |
Ignorance. Really. the girls and
hoys are not to blame; they simply |
do not understand. they do not really |
know what they are doing. Kate |
Douglas WigEin said once that until |
mothers cease to think that their |
children came into the world with |
elections tied around their necks, |
all these deep problems of life will |
SGITCclS oC SoiNSo- boh Sou SSt |
that II Is up to the parents to put
on the brakes?
"The winter is just beginning and !
the mothers and fathers of Richmond |
and Baltimore and Washington and |
Philadelphia will be tho chapcrons at |!
most OF the functions given. All the |
sky-rockets and bonflres in the |
world will not stay the tide OF things.
IL must be real and understanding |
love. that burns clear and steady as |
altar flames. Books that you know
are filed with the heroic deeds of !
mothers and fathers who have bar
red the way to disaster and saved |
the lives and bodies of the children
precious to them by their own sacri-
fee And II seems to me so much
more Is at stake than just physical
Disagreement or even death. It
seems to me that the mothers may |
bar tho way and hold back their sons
and daughters from the moral disas-
ter that threatens
Maybe you are right" said the
man. softly to himself. Mothers