THE WOMAN OF TO-DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 4229, 14 September 1876, Page 4

THE WOMAN OF TO-DAY.

(From, 'The World.') The tight-fitting; skirt of the dayforbids the construction of a bicycle-i upohdwHch girls oould ride ; but, with the sole exceptipq. of the bicycle, what masculine pursuit is__there in which th.ejf <do not join t . It is whispered that tapered! fingers cling tightly to the alendjer^cshampagnje-glass,.andcruel tale-, bearers inform us that there is hardly one woinan in ten who escapes the itnpufetion 9f secret drinking; . an abomiin the majority of •aaes» irata lieiihat would not "give tongas*? SO loudly if the aceit,%>& not hot irij places. " To let that pass as so foul a blofcxas'it6 be beyond belief—a. fire will itself in: its own is- yet another •harge in of the devil's advocate/ ri was 'when here and there • lady and blushingly — as if it were just a • little spice of naughtiness .only—take a, bet upon a ferorite racehorse in kid gloves merely. Such an innooent " plunge " lent a Best and a laugh to the lunch-on the top'of t&e :( drag. Where is the man now'whoihftM;not experienced . the" cunninganft diiifoniatic pumping pf : .soine irrestetable creature, worming; from %\bl secrets of the stable and of the trklstOn the breezy down, and who has not been over-persuaded by the sweetestof pouting lips just to .lay five to two. when the lists -said ••<'*- evens/' in.order that the temptress might make her book square? They have a terrible advantage, these elegant gamblers, ,over weak' males. Some [.naein scarcely stir from their clubs, an<£ci|,r.ej|ully avoid a possible tfie-'ihtei*' withaii lady during the week preceding the' great races. -Novels of /the teri.years.- since—rand scandalous chronicles fOfittooie days record how fashionable matrons pledged family jswels, and •applied 'j&eir -placd with paste, in order to meet extravagant milliners' bills, contracted without the knowledge of their husbands. In our time whispers have gone round that jewels and plate have been pledged secretly, that fair gamblers may meet therr 'debts of Tionor; imaginary thieves called in to cover the loss, and rewards the agony columns Of the newspapers to divert suspicion. To speak in downright English, there is a wide-sptead belief that gambling is extremely prevalent among the sex. Nor is the mania confined to those who are sneeringly denominated "fast" by their compeers. When a middle-aged well-to-do matron exultingly exclaims that a rise of'three shillings per ton in the price Of coal means a thousand pounds in her pocket, what are we to Bupposeexceptthatshehas speculated for the rise in colliery shares? A keen observer, writing of the United States not long since, said that the very servant girls invested their dollars in shares, and it was with their money that'half the financial schemes of New York,were .floated. If London /stockbrokers were to open their mouths, society would stand aghast at the amount of speculation. Theyi are good judges, as a rule, of the turn events : 'are about to take. ' Woinen have always been credited with an instinctive insight; and ancient nations consulted them before marching to battle. , But they, are too bold; they go too far \ they do not understand the art of le'aving off, which is one of the great secrets of success.