The New York herald., 1922-04-30
Are Few Steps Behind Eastern Flapper
When It Comes to Feminine Emancipation


gin when it was fizzing. They make a
good deal of noise, these dover ladies
Of the buckskin and bandanna. and
they usually throw very wicked fe-
male barytone in the harmony closeups
on tho homestretch.
But at heart they are absurdly femi-
nine, since not one in ten can bring
themselves to abandon French heels
even for mountain scaling. 1t is de-
lightful to see these modern Dianas
faring forth in khaki and leggins. with
q gay kerchief wrapped bandit fashion
about their heads. like as not a vicious
knife In the belts, but wearing boots
with high French heels. There is
something theatrical about this last
touch which reminds one OF the lady
smugglers In the third act OF Gar
men," Yet, the marvel Is that they
essay real mountain trails instead OF
stage runways. That Is always the
amazing thing about women-the
things they achieve under handicaps.
The fact that in this case the handicap
is self imposed doesn't alter the truth
of the matter. or course, even in Cal
ifornia. there are some lady mixers
who go in for bobbed hair and sandals,
but this type is quite apart and so far
a mere leaven in the lump Of the un-
practical.
In an age of Standardization it
grows increasingly hard to discover
variants even among such q complex
group rs women. Certainly high heels
make them all kin. Yet there are
moments when it does seem as il there
were still types far removed when you
consider the Chinese maiden yearning
for the skirts which her white sister
Is slowly but surely abandoning. But
il you scratch deeper you will find the
same state OF AUX back Of either i'm
pulse. Women want, or think they
want, what has been denied them--in
the yellow girls case 1T is skirts; in
the white girls, trousers! The only
reason they both cling to French heels
Is because no man has insisted on 1t.
The California girl built up her own
code and tradition when others were
still accepting what their forefathers
had passed upon. think the chaperon
was abandoned in San Francisco a
generation before 1t went elsewhere.
] don't know the history OF coeduca-
tion. but fancy that California broke
down the barriers Of sex in such mat
ters as soon as any other State.
Women voted in California years be-
fore they did in most States. All this.
you are doubtless saying. is poor proof
of conservatism. But my definition
of a conservative is one who moves
only after he is persuaded that he is
going in the right direction.
Smoking for Women
Came Late Out West
One Of the slowest moving innova-
tions has been cigarette smoking
among women. At late as 1908 a
famous San Francisco heiress who
had adopted New York as her home
stopped the traffic in a cafe by the
simple act of extracting a cigarette
from her gold case and proceeding to
smoke it. This startling fact was
headlined in every paper in town next
morning.
As late as five years ago the ladies"
OF Spider Kelly's saloon and dance hall
were not permitted to pass over the
deadiine which separated the smoking
section from the strictly drinking COM
partments.
Oh. yes. there was a code even
among the bright lights of the Barbary
Coast! Which Is not such a fiippant
statement az II would seem at first
blush. All codes are more or less
divineiy foolish and beautifully incon-
sistcnt But they are better than
none at all. The outstanding fact
about tie "Limehouse Nights Of
Thomas Burke is quite beyond their
exotic charm, or their brutality, or
their melodrama, or whatever you
will. The big thing that looms up In
all these tales is the tremendous code
to which. all the submerged characters
cling. Mistaken from our point OF
view perhaps, but still code for all
OF that.
A California girl can handle a golf
stick or tennis racquet or fan with
equal facility and wickedness, and she
has the supreme gift or humor. In
short. she has a way with her, and
In this, dare say. she doesn't differ
from her Eastern sister: that Is some-
thing which even lipstick and squash
hats and pony coats can't totally
submergA