PRAISE OF ENGLISHWOMEN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3383, 25 November 1911, Page 3

PRAISE OF ENGLISHWOMEN.

AMERICAN AUTHORESS ON LIFE IN ENGLAND.

A TRENCHANT COMPARISON

Those who arc in the habit of decrying Englishwomen and pointing to New York women as the patterns and paragons of womankind, would do well to hear the opinions of Anne Warner, the brilliant American short story writer.

This lady has settled down in a Dorset village because she grew-weary of the shallowness of her countrywomen and of the perpetual hustle of American life.

“I came here to live,” ' she told a '“Daily Mail” representative, “because I discovered that the petty trivialities of American daily life were too much for me and interfered with my work. “In Marnbull I can invite my friends to come and visit me from Friday till Monday, and then they go away and leave mo the remainder of the week in peace and quietness to do my writing. "In America my friends used to come and stay a month, and so much time was taken up that the only way I could get my literary work done was to sit up till two or three in the morning, and that was far from satisfactory in the results. A COMPARISON. “Englishwomen friends take such a broad view of life in their daily occupations that their conversation is much more entertaining and intellectual than that of my own race. “For instance, Englishwomen take an interest in all kinds of healthy outdoor sports—hunting, riding, golfing, tennis, etc.—they do parish work, understand politics, know the career of every living man of note, have a knowledge of music, including the latest operas, and books, and the merits from an artistic standpoint of the paintings of note in the season in the Royal Academy. “On the other hand, the average American woman politely yawns after ten minutes’ conversation oil similar subjects, and breaks in with the remark: ‘Listen, did I tell you about my troubles with the last cook?’ and then follows with a full description of the illnesses of herself and her friends. AN ARCADIAN LIFE. “In tin’s peaceful old village J can lead an arcadian life on a modest income. r i hero is no peace or rest for the middle classes m America. “'Even housekeeping is charming in England. Last year .1 lived near Salisbury, and bought everything at the blacksmith’s: this year here one gets bread at the post office and hires bicycles at the baker’s.'’