Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1909 — RIVALS OF AMERICAN GIRLS [ARTICLE]

RIVALS OF AMERICAN GIRLS

Are Growing Up in the Transvaal and will be Dangerous. The day of the South African girl has hardly arrived yet; but when it ; comes, says a writer in the Queen, let Americans see to their laurels, for they will have dangerous competitors in the field. The Dutch women of the Transvaal are tall and splendidly developed, and there are the two distinct types, the purely Dutch with golden brown hair, gray or hazel eyes and creamy skin and the brunette of French descent with dark eyes and hair and rich dark coloring. But both types are on a larger scale than their European antecedents. The sun of South Africa is a great vltalizer," and the children of that land of vast spaces have more room to grow and develop in, and they lead from their infancy such an out of doors life that they are bound to be an improvement physically on their sisters of the northern hemisphere. Dutch women of South Africa always accompanied their husbands in their large hooded, slow moving wagons. Their nomadic existence tended to carelessness of habits and dress, but it developed in them an infinite capacity for persevering effort, a strength of character, & stubbornness, as well as •great vitality, all of which excellent qualities go to the making of a stroqg nation. The present generation can~be divided into two distinct classes, the inhabitants of the veld and those of the:towns and villages, ; and while the fundamental characteristics are the same—grit, tenacity, levelheadedness, independence—still, there is a wide difference between the Boer woman of the country and the educated Dutch woman of the towns. The former on reaching the age Of 30 are large, fat and heavy. They marry very young and have 1 patriarchial families, and over husband and children they wield a great sway, an influence very much greater than that of the English woman. To a stranger the Boer vrouw appears stupid and silent; she shuts her mouth determinedly and sits stolidly through his visit; but in reality she is taking a detailed memorandum of his appearance, ways, and manners and nothing escapes her notice. If she is .persuaded of his friendliness and good intentions she may relax a little, but the Dutch never by any chance tell you anything more than they wish you to know. The Boer women have always been accustomed to a good supply of Fafir servants on their farms and they are not quite the energetic housewives one Imagines but they generally prevail on their servants to get the work done to their satisfaction and there is one branch of housewifery in which they excel —the making of “komfyt” or preserves, whether jam-making of the ordinary kind or a more elaborate v method of preserving the delicious fruit of the land. Wide as the poles asunder are the educated Dutch women of the towns or those Indeed of the country who have been sent to Cape Colony or to Europe to school. As adaptable as the Americans, with decided mental ability, they are full of common sense, of good tempered gayety and an inherent sense of savoir vivre.

A girl who has been to a good school In South Africa and afterwards In Europe has something most charming and fascinating about her. Handsome, vivacious, capable, with a clear Idea of what she wants and how to get it, she carves a pleasant and useful way for herself through life. Her out of doors life has made her strong and healthy and she sees the advantage of a certain amount of exSince the war, if not before, she has taken a gr«at interest in politics as well as in the work of her father or husband and in philanthropical matters she displays strong organizing ability She has not yet developed the “female bachelor” ways of Independent English womanhood, for In South Africa in every colony there is a large surplus of men and the Dutch girl Invariably marries young and rules husband and family ever after.