A CHAT WITH HOPE TEMPLE.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 42, 17 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

A CHAT WITH HOPE TEMPLE.

♦ In the course of an illustrated interview in The Young Woman, Miss Hope Temple says that cycling for ladies is so much the rage now in Paris that she could not resist it. "I have seen a good many ladyriders of the two-wheeled machines in London, but there are twice as many in Paris. I have ridden only three times, but I am already in love with my machine. The second time I came to grief in riding downhill ; I got between two vehicles, but managed to escape with a few bruises." " Was the accident due to the obtrusive skirt?" enquired the interviewer. "Oh, no. To ride a bicycle in petticoats is madness. But, on the other hand, it is quite unnecessary to weiir knickerbockers I ride in a short skirt, just short enough to avoid the pedala, and gaiters, with a tennis shirt and a sailor hat — just the same costume that one has for glacier climbing. The costume is not unbecoming, I can assure you; it is universal in Paria ; and if English women would wear it, I am sure bicycling would soon become much more popular among them. It is such an exhilarating exercise. lam fond of pretty well all sports — riding, rowing, shooting, and mountaineering. And, for my own part, I don't see why women should be debarred from any of these things if they feel themselves physically fitted for them. Let all spheres of action, all professions, be thrown open to women; in those she is not fitted for, she will not succeed. For some professions she is obviously well fitted — tho doctor's, for instance, and more especially the accoucheur's. Then, if a woman qualifies herself for the Bar, why should she not be a barrister ? There may be a certain class of cases it would not be nice for a woman to deal with, but she could confine herself to other kinds of work." " You proclaim the faith of the 'New Woman,' Miss Temple?" "Not of the New Woman as depicted by Sarah Grand. To my mind, Evadne was an insufferable prig."