Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-19
WST GOSSIP ABOUT PEOPLE
Nancy Wynne Explains Her Reasons for Criticisms OF
Society-She Praises Warmly Those Who Go
l. Agdinst the Tide and Does Not Knock
for the Sake of Knocking

yesterday morning / received
lottor from the mother OF debu-
sbe said: "As I have debu y
'D to dongbter. what you said in Mon
s,r,s EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER hurt.
W. W;,l YOU not through your paper say
ord for the girls who do not sit |
,ho foyrrs Of the hotels with their
-, nm the edge Of the sofas and who
hoyc had their shoulders and upper
deccntly covered by every evening
,, worn this winter? ] assure YOU
"'. orc many of this kind besides my
daughter. and it is not fair that
v ,,oy should be included in the sweep
ing criticisms made of this season
debutantcs.
BE just as hard as possible upon the
n.,--they and the women who
,.lsrate these things deserve all you can
.i.o them-but please let it be known
~, ,bere are u number of young girls
tn's .,n tbc debutantes 81 1919 1920 who
illlOds Odesserying of the respect that should
iiu ,iusvs he given girls of this age. y
YNDEED ] will say a word for the
-;r,s who do behave well and have
t.,ssrnd well through this past season,
tsr Geni in nv opinion they arc to be greatly !
lpoa,,rod loL H 1t is no easy thing to fight
aunG au;nst n current of laxness. Aud those
aSa,rd n do are ant to suffer from the sharp
,snuues WV of others. They are called
uassiu,5 .onsu,55 and said to have mo pep and
Pitn thc other slurring things that the
,Ih,argbtless II, boy or girl will say. but
Jov,n nUu dcep in their hearts they. admire
ibem, and above all respect them, in
,pite of themselves.
AND am very glad to print the
"A letter, as quite agree with the
writer, and I think if the readers VIII
20 over what ! said in MONDAY
solumn. they will see that ! was care
mi TO state that what | said was not
General indictment Of the deouMnte
that as a matter of fact most OF them
were as sweet and ladyiike as c0u'a % oe,
Rut that is just the trouble. Inc lnno
cont suffer for those who do the vulgar
tb;nos but those who do not do the
th;n9s spoken Of know that they are
not In the indictment and | hope they
viii feel clad that there is some one
brave enough to speak out III meet
ing" about those who do the outrageous
things. hoping it may make some one
stop and think, g Al.
II is perfectly true that many OF the
rirls this year have been we'll behaved.
I'm fact. their behavior and their modest
frocks have been a silent lesson to the
others
NHE article did not say definitely
L that the girls spoken of were debu-
tsntes II happened that some were
and some were not, but the fact remains
that they did it and their hostess stood
for it.
I happen to know that the d"bu
tantp whose mother wrote to me is and
has been one of the very sweetest ana
most adylkc of the buds this winter
and ! could name many others with
her. but by not naming all-and ] might
forget some through inadvertcnce-it
might seem that those perhaps who were
no. mentioned were blameworthy.
MO, was careful to say that most
~ of the debutantcs were we'll be-
hayed in that article on Monday. but
the fact remains that some did do the
"
such things before and. unfortunately.
are still doing them. There have been
four calls on the telephone from moth
rrs of daughters who are well behaved
thanking me for being brave enough
10 say what I did. because they tell
me their daughters have really had a
hard time keeping clear of the trend of
things. and one said that on two Occa
Sions her little debutante daughter had
gone home and actually cried over some
Of the things she had witnessed.
WELL. don't let's dwell on it. be-
w cause YOU know what the wise poet
says:
"Thcrc's so much good in the worst
of us.
And so much bad in the best of us.
That it hardly behooves any one of us
To talk about the rest of us.
I cant vouch for the absolute accu-
raCy of that quotation, but that's the
Sist of it, anyway.
A Nd the whole point is that. above
"A all and everything. l do not want
70 hurt any ones feelings. and when
the cap does NOT fit feelings really ought
not TO be hurt. And when it does fit
hope it may help. I did not write in
the spirit of criticism. ] asked if some
thing definite could not be done and
suggested a remedv which could be fol-
lowed. not harshly. but politely and
tactfully. and 7 feel sure much good
could come of it il it were carried out.
NANCY WYNNE.