A GLANCE AT OUR AMERICAN COUSINS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2504, 19 March 1902, Page 61

A GLANCE AT OUR AMERICAN COUSINS.

THE FOOLISH VIRGINS

The wise and foohsa virgins of one gieat social woild — the American — were most happily described and cleverly illustiated .i .short tim; since in the pages of the Centuiy. I'her* is not, of course, much loom for cumpaii^on between the actual livl-> of Amciican girls and our own, be-c.ni'-e of the extreme difieicnce in the tone of oui sinrcmndings. The light tin own upon the influences that surround the American giil is however, strong enough t>j show collie points in common with our own tenduis-its, and the-e point*- in common aie of couise tho"-e which apply to women's interc-ts all over the world, and are a part of the " Zeit^ei 11-1,"l 1 - 1 , " or 'pint of the a^e, which throbs h)) e\ en in Japan that it h.i-= II > i (,<>im; a itcog-ni-m factor in the adjustment of the woild's affairs.

But to return to our Amenun toir-in and her dtvelopment. Let me quote .i sentence to start with: "letting aside a.s above criticism tho-e modest workers who, at home or among the pool, aie ".trujwling w it'll life's problems, and, like hdppv rations, have no history. Ainencan maids to-d.iy may be divided into two croups. Ctith "of which c«in a^ain be sub-divided •ad inrinitum.' In the first group aie tho-e who take themselves and their occupations seriously, being convinced that they weie sent into the world to conect parental faults and levolutionise things •.'enerally. The '-ccond — perhiip* the largei c ] ass — on the contrary, emancipate themslves from home duties as fai as circumstances will permit, looking upon household cares as beneath their notice, and re-•-entinii as dn inju-iice any attempt on the jiait of patent"- to iesti.nn their liberty. * Thtn follows a biiijhtly-written and .ibiupin^ sl:ctch of various types of gills, and the lioVou-ij wiLdi ia their -ufcy idleness!

they transform into pursuits. The management of their parents a.id their household, the arranging of the yearly tours, the limitation of the visiting list, and finally the disposition of shares and investments : these matters all settled to her .satisfaction, the American girl of means and position, whose favourite saying is " II faut etre de son siec-le."' looks around for fre*b Seld« for her activity. " A woman," she says, " must have some serious object in life." 'Forthwith she devotes her time to " organising a kennel for the 'breeding of bulldogs of some particular form or colour " or some equally up-to-date pioject. "There are.'' says the writer in question. " hundreds of households in our land to-day where parents, from indolence or ignorance, are allowing themselves to be mn by their daughters.''

It is also self-evident that in all classes of society, except ceitain conservative circles where Continental standards are observed, -the Yankee giul has seized the helm. With father find mother comfoitubly installed in the cabin and mule members of the crew forbidden even to approach the bridge, she is guiding the family bark, sunimei and winter, according to her pleasure.

" He walk*; on thin ice who ventures to criticise feminine shortcomings iff this country. Not or.i'y do I'he ladies themselves . . . but those willing slaves, the Jui'bands and brothers, are apt to consider any such conmient as little short of treason.

" It is perhaps just here that the root of the trouble lies. The Yankee is certainly the most unselfish, industrious, 'and longbuffering of beings. He asks nothing but her love from the girl of hi« choice, exactb

r.o nimitige portion, and, no iratt'i- hcv. humble Ins station in life, dicams not of associating her with nis toil, winch is vastly to his ciedit. Yet it looks sometimes n> if this exaggerated unselfishness uaj working about as much harm 'as good."

Then in the class of moneyed Americans another factor which makes for deta'jhmenfc fiom home inteiests and ties and must ibe considered. This is the extremely transitory natuie of the life, the constant moving on. "Ihe knowledge that next veai her family will be living Himewliere else, or wandering homeless in foiei^n lands, ' because housekeepinLT tati^ues poor mamma,' naturally <letachfc.s the d.iuifhtci fium any plan she niav » avo foimed foi <-tudv or of charity."

Now tlu« n. a \ery diffeient condition of th'iigs to that uhu'i siiiiotmds t-iie English oi Cur.tincntal yiil of mean- and po l-!-tion She i> born, as it wc-re. into a ilcailv (h-tiiifd cjicle of iJut le- and lej-nonsi-bilitie.s She le.uus eaily that in airy \"t (»])lc are dependent on her, oi look up to iier as then model. The ti editions of her family eiii(im[w-« her. <i!)<l are inwoven with the neighbourhood of her country home S'lie uncons'.ioiifsly lives up to ideals -ct by geneiations of her family — country life to hei is no mere programme of amusejiunt undei taken with a crowd of society friend'- as a nece<=«ary scheme for killing time dunnir cettain months of the veat She enters into the pleasant hospitality -of her couniiy home, but behind social gaieties .md country 'hospitu.hty lies the hubit of thought into which both the English and Continental girls are bora, and which makes country life such a different thing to them. " The poor in the neighbourhood fall to her lot; it is she who aids her mother in the finances of the house, or when food, and linen are being sent to ■ > ottage < « where there are new arrivals Invalid old women have to be assisted, the rector tails on her to furnish mu s ic for his village club, m help enteituin his j_'iiK of .i S.ituidav ni^ht. The fact that life is not all holiday is early impie^-ed upon tuem i.ie work that bet ieady to their hands, is a

matteT of tiadition, and fan no more be sLirked by sudh maidens than a presentation at corrt or n first communion."

The American girl s ulca of country lifs is mainly very different, — in most o«*e;j s'mply summer quarters engaged at r -oina fashionable mountain or seaside resort i.nd carrying with them neither association nor responsibilities. In order fully to realise the relation which the American girl of means occupies to her home, I shall betake myself once more to quotation, thinking thus to do more real jartice to my topic :

" The average New York miss .to-day is little better than a 'parlour-boarder' in hei home, than which it is difficult to imagine a position more detached. From the time she wakes in the morning till retiring foi the nigat she takes no part in household matters. To get through her morning she join« some art school, or attends a reading club, wheio she lunches if possible, or else war/dors home hte for that meal and disturb.-* the routine of the kitchen.

" After a hearty lunch my lady accomplishes a 'quick change' and is out of the house again for the rest of the afternoon. Calls, receptions, or aimless trapesing-— it doasr't matter what — fill her hours, tlie great point being not to get home until dinner time. If there is nothing 'on' for the evening she- parses it over a novej. as undisturbed by any domestic convulsions that may be in progress below stairs as the most self-respecting 'stay-boarder.'' . , . lou may put this down as deliberate exaggeration, but if you take the trouble 'to look into the matter you will find homes where daughters strum the piano while imsbmma cooks the dinnei are distressingly numerous."

From which last sentence, as well as many others, no less than the spirited ancl dainty illustrations winch accompany the article, it is evident that these foolish virgins whose lamps, of household love and light have gone out are by no means confined to the moneyed class, but have their representatives in that middle class of modest means where the daughters' idleness is purchased at the price of the mother's toil — a heavy price, indeed, to> .pay ! Time and space fail for that glance at the way of life of the " wise virgins ' among our American cousins. Some other' day. if the topic interests you, w-e may glance through the article devoted to them in the January Century. \Ve shall find much that is sweet, stimulating, and suggestive — much, too, that is as typical of the spirit of the age as is the development of the foolish virgin, whose life we have just considered. Extremes meet, and noth< ing is more true than that " on half tfhe world does not know how the other half

lives." Thus side by side with the hovering of the butterfly goes on the busy toil of the ■bee, the perfect type of the altruistic ideah