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Show ARE THE GIRLS OF TODAY MAN HUNTERS Miss Ida M. Tarbell, says our girls are man hunters and that they use thc-lr sex, consciously or unconscious-I unconscious-I ly, for tho purpose of gaining Influence Influ-ence over men "Women,' 6he says, ' are rarely honest hon-est with themselves about their at-tltude at-tltude toward men I suppose that) if a woman were to go up to anyone of the thousand girls that may be seen on Fifth avenue on n fin" after-BOOU after-BOOU dressed In the present alluring' and suggestive fashion, their cheeks' and lips painted, eery trick and de-1 vice employed which Is likely to attract at-tract the attention of the passershv, and were to sa to such a girl that her chief object in fashion was to excite the emotions of the men, she would profess and often feel the I greatest astonishment and indignation. mil it tne matter la faced frankly, frank-ly, traced hack to Its cause and forward for-ward to its issue, it 1b, missing out some of the Intervening steps, precisely pre-cisely a manhunt, disguised If you will by silks and satins, by lingerie and lcc. by the conventions of society, so-ciety, but none the less a manhunt. Talk with these girls and women and they will deny it indignantly. The I u ! are simply dressing according to the fashions It Is nt this point that WOSl of them refuse to give the niatter another an-other moment's thought, decline absolutely ab-solutely to cam the ides of iashlon to Its logical conclusion ' A correspondent, writing on this s;into subject, takes a somewhat different dif-ferent view, observing: So long a.s wages are less than the cost nf living we may expect serious se-rious labor troubles and to see our girls railing Into depths of degradation, degrada-tion, or rendy to do tlmot any thing before starving to death. Already i Fourteen states are to probe Into the cause of white slavery and I notice thai the investigation of the Illinois legislature Into the relations between be-tween low wago and white slavery shows th.it the girls and women employed em-ployed in the department stores in Chicago receive In wages f! per week or as, and that their minimum cost Ol living Is $S per week An-, won der our girls sell themselves Into vice and slavery?" Neither Ida Tarbell nor the correspondent corre-spondent is without error in reaching ;a conclusion. But lew girls fall pure l through poverty not any great ! percentage of girls are men chasers i It Is natural tor the gentler sex to admire the sterner, but that affection, affec-tion, or the exhibition of that affection, affec-tion, must not be mistaken as suggestive sug-gestive of improper relations. The one great mistake of the women wom-en rf today 16 in not demanding a i higher plane of morality on the part of the men, as the women are absolute abso-lute dictators of the conduct of men loward i hem. Now a to poverty there are comparatively com-paratively few girls dependent on their own efforts for a livelihood There Is as much temptation for a' girl who Is earning $Ki a week as there U 'or one who receives only $5. Bach moves in a class and eacn Is desirous of advancing one stop higher high-er in the realm of fashion Mr6. Smith, whose husband can aiford to pllow her $10o a month as pin money, finds that Mrs Tones wears a better broi aded cutaway coat and a larger ftather in her hat. gives more par-tii par-tii - and more elaborate dinners, because be-cause her husband Is much wealthier, aud as a result Mrs. Smith is as much perplexed with her $ldn a month as is Dolly Dimple? with her S ? week Each can be happv while content to dress within her means, all are most miserable the moment that 'hey hegin to see with eyes of COvetOUSness and envy. The modest contented girl, though eho bo very poor, is as free from temptation as the richest of the rich. If her environment be good. |