London, Jan. 19.
We are gradually awakening to the existence all round us of the "very new woman." 'The Jane Austen creation vanished long ago, but to the "new'' has succeeded the "very new.' Let me merely chronicle incidents of the day. the burglar breaks into the country house; two young girls capture him after a chase through the various rooms. A ruffian attacks a honely country residence but the sole female occupant, rather advanced in years, proceeds to batter him over the head with a mallet and takes him to the police station.
One quarter of the motor drivers on the streets of the day are women; they play every game there is except Rugby football, and that will come. They are earning their living in every branch of life—they are found training for every profession. The latest demand is that they shall be admitted to the ranks of diplomatists and you can take it from me that they will be. They are the keen politicians-—far keener than the men. They are the workers in the constitu-endes and if men will not have in ce-operation they start organizations of their own.
No sane member dare neglect the Woman's vote and the women's influence. They do not seem keen as yet on Parliament but they are standing in numbers for all branches of municipal and kindred work. They are often returned. There are plenty of women magistrates—no town is without them. They serve on juries and this week three—at Aylesbury—were on a jury which condemned a man to death and as the proceedings were lengthy were locked up every night by a female janitor at a local hotel. How their families got on in their absence is not stated. 7 Independence is the note of the character of the modern girl. Often she knows as much as her mother about the realities of life and though it may make her a little harder in tone it improves her self-reliance. Any girl seems able to go anywhere and to do anything—to take her holiday alone or to attend a dance alone since the idea of a chaperone is almost dead. Her independence is respected in the streets; far more so than before the war. Ladies alone never meet with rebuffs from hotels. Practically all Clubs, even the old and stodgy, are - opening their doors to her. No longer docs she expect to take your scat in the crowded railway trains or buses—if you like to offer it that is another matter though some girls refuse even elementary courtesy. Her circle of acquaintance is vast and varied. The telephone rings all day long for. her convenience. At last she is a factor in the house—in fact she is the factor. One feels that she has come to dominate pretty well everything and one's only hope is that she will do it t much object and it's no use if we do,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.