NOTES ON AMERICAN WOMEN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12287, 20 June 1903, Page 7

NOTES ON AMERICAN WOMEN.

f:,\\ (Black and White.) v Thi2 American, woman, unquestionably j considers herself^ a queen, and as. in this world people are for the most part ' taken at their own valuation, she is possibly well ad^sod in doing s<\ American, girls whom I have met, on being introduced to strangers adopt immediately a deliberately fascinating manner, and plungec into personal je; iQiniscences and r self-revelation^ , w£tn so simple an art add bo Ingenious a belief in the kdmiring sympathy of theic audience, tfiat tbo audience, in spite of . itself, ;,f alls into, the expected aHitude of appreciation. American gh^ls assume, almost inyai % iaWy» " nil tHe men thatLthey know or' mee;t ' are their admirers, and insensibly this -seenis. tjQ' .become joaore .or less the 3ase. While iitn English gM assumes for an indefinite period in the acquaintance that the men that she meets are mere casual strangers, arid hides a really , modest diffident feeling as regards her own charuis^under "a mask of reserve •'sTnd'shyricl's^^he' American girl tteps in, and with *ah. airy assumption of the all conquering manner which is natural to her, ' she wins, apparently without ad effort, a : certiun amount o£ allegiance! For this sort of thing English gills are apt to be jealous of Americans. A fit of this nature I treat with consoling words. "Burely/' I say, *'you wouldn't :ars tc be Mi--3 Penelope It^ Browney sitting? there nud. holding forth in taat dictatorial manner through her nose, even th.6ugb.-it is , a ptfetty one !" . * The sel^-consciousnoss- of American, women in; .theses ,day& is noticeable. Seldom have I met one— and. l have met a good tunny— who ha>" nofc bee^i ready to ana)yse',feiie : type ** American Moraau," and to : throw "all tLe^ light of .which she is capable- on her psycholoworkiugs.. Kqnietiir»es ■it is a elesr and penbtr.tting light, but often it is more than a little misty. To me this self-consciousness ij rather repellant. The practicality of the American girl is admirable, and her knowledge of the world astonishing. I think it I niay be said that most American girls i of eighteen' cotild inform most English j women" of thirty on the workings of the irader-cm-ients and submerged forces in life,,.ffnd^with complete .sangfroid/anda soi^of cyni^d philosophy .they^ wjil^peui With, topics left Very often untouched even' in thought .by ■ tfifi - EtighVh' lady. Yet we? mnst: in justice admire. the, plain-spokeimess of American Tronseb. - It is welL^o call a "sjwde a spade, and* to let the fresh air into' unnecessarily mysterioes '^corners. .-.There ? ia a blatancy,. however ? m the way many Americans.; speak of their girls and their education I;hat sometimes grates on Britiohr 'reserve of feeling. We English like, , our* prle to be > t*ll and healthy and weli-develQped, but we still have the grace to appear to. allot .to physical training a secondary importance to mental and ' moral graining. The Americans, seem' to .fee unblushing . materialist^ in their instincts. " "Physical culture"' is their passion and constant topic. ATgnba* deportment is tor them a solt of asset more than an ud- j conscious grace in life. This constant \ taking stock of them- elves and their pointy physical and mental, seems to j & have a subtly vulgarising effect on Ctheir minds.. I-X'-nave met with singu/Jo^ littfc^eefc simplicity of "being* as onp pf^en: sees in English girls | ;s(nou. ia thei^Wart* *«et.) out of Mary j a^dlkitts ond-.tfiese-aealmdstly j with a humble^ and' secluded classini the Amfeticaity edinmvLtiifyt ; ■ c^' n B«t -all itiftslpfaKlmire the result of thk culture." The erect j carriage, the graceful waistline (per- j haps the result of the straight- fronted ; corset) !),'?re, indeed, ifco imitated by many of our stooping an I bunchy En ?lkh 'girls. Thiscarriage insidiously ari'ogates to its 'possessor a certain importaifce in her sphere. I was much amused;" by a Ofafeago girl I met in Munich. ; She -was studying for^the operatic stage. the stage the art oi depqracenfc is certainly of primary importance. But this girl wanted to assign if possible, almost too much importance to it as all element that goes W,ma£e-up..what sh£ called. J Va dominating personality.^ - . In . her walks abroad she practised' freif mannerisms of deportment with such effect as to necessarily arrest the attention of passers-by;; - This she'then ascribed to her dominating personality, to feme subtle magnetism that she . diffused . around her 1 Evidently inwardly deploring that I scorned •to hav6 ,no claims to a similar domination, she would 1 say with a cheerful smile, ".Now then, Miss .Smith, throw out your chesty and', look on the .bright side !'' Not batf advice. I think the majority of the American I have mcc thrdw out their chests and look at tie bright side of things, and f^/r a constant attitude of mind this is good and bracing to themselves and all around. ' We may hope that sonietirues in private, they .neglect deportment and drop a sympathising tear, tut they do so, I shou'd say, le3s frequently than JSnglisn woiDen, : With all their (julturV; and smartness there is often in Americftii women, as in v/omen of other^ nationalities, «t' strange limitrttiou in point of humour An American inotner-thntf 1 knew?was constantly extf^lihg the charms of/.her obviously plain.bat uttaccountably||fas-cina*-tng daughter. She kept me^for 1 long supplied with a sort of history ■■of Julie' - real ov imaginary conquests. This culminated at one date iv a letter 1 received f ronr New, York Oity giving new;* of her forthcoQiing marriflge. *■ Julie's choice/ wrote the apprecia-, tive pnrent, ''is in fcvery way satisfactory. Mr George W Harrison'- ii* a' l.Jonde, a^d, fyaA „<l*. Natui-e!" ■ Tbix striking antifliiim liDgur^ ,in »ny rocollection,.'and I have often given a thought to the domestic' felicity of the

S blonde and wondered if he has fair opportunities of indulging his taste for Nature ?