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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1913)
Ti Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page HE Copyright. 1013. by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved. V Cv a B G M In a M E&l Ms " Happened to Remark That a Certain Jackie's Uniform Was Not Quite Ideal in Fit. " 'Perhaps You Think You Could Show Off a Sailor's Trousers and Hat Better? Do the Girls Wear Them Up No'th?' "That Made Me Mad. 'No, the Girls Don't Wear Them Up No'th; but if They Did They'd Look a Lot Better in Them Than You Southern Girls Would!' "After That, of Course I Had to Prove It!" --HE "girl proposition," illuminated by George Ade, it constantly X acquiring new aliens. uiiu uiuai diiuii3miii uc- velopment alone this Interesting line shows that when a North em Ctrl is challenged by a Southern girl the wager of a box of choco lates is sufficient to inspire her to defy all the traditions and powers of the United States Navy. Navy regulations do not encourage the presence. of young women aboard battleships or cruisers except at social functions in port; quite the contrary. Yet, when the second division of the Atlantic fleet pro ceeded from New Orleans to Galveston early last December, one of its ships reluctantly provided passage for Miss Jeanette Evans, of the former city, but previously of Joliet, Illinois. Just to win that box of chocolates, and to prove that no Northern girl would "take a dare" from a Southern girl, Miss Evans went aboard the battleship Kansas dressed as a Jackie, and escaped discovery until the fleet was well out in the Gulf, headed westward. What happened then and the feminine psychology of the whole adventure are to'd on this paee 1" tne heroine's own sprightly narrative. t By Miss Jeanette Evans (Who Made the Bet) I HATE to brag about it, but tho tact remains that I'm tho only girl who over drossod as a Jackie, boarded a battleship and stayed with the fleot till tho next port was rpaehod. I was discovered, of courso, but not till I'd won my bet of a box of chocolates. It was tho craziest bet over made, and you may bollovo that I'll never make another one like It. It was last December, when tho second division of the Atlantic floot touched at New Orleans and Gal- must havo become familiar to the officers of tho deck. But my blood was up, and I was determined to show these Now Or leans beauties what Just nn averago Northern girl could do when alio put her mind to It I fixed up a dandy jackto suit. Tho girls said, wnen I put It on, that If thoy didn't know to the contrary, I could pass with them for a Jackie In a minute only they thougnt thero woro prob- veston, en route to Panama. It ""ably fow of tho real thing wlio car- was tho flagship U. S. 8. Kansas which enjoyed tho advantage of my unexpected prosonco aboard. Just aak any of tho officers. If thoy tell tho truth but, of course, they won't toll anything, becauso they were fooled. However, they're" a lino lot of offlcors, Just tho same. It was all tho fault of those New Orleans girls, who are perfect loves, 'but so conventional and chaperon ridden that It's a wondor how thoy can bo euro they're alive. Just be cause I'm a Northern girl my peo ple only recently moved to Now Or leans from up In Illinois I was ex pected to hear out the Southern reputation wo have for doing un conventional things, In a spectacular way. This theory prevails In tho South becauso the Northern girl generally knows how to paddle a canoe, row a boat, rldo horseback and find herself at homo In the kitch en, in case of an emergency. Tho average Southern girl, on tho &lher hand though a porfect love is a prodigy It sho knows how to boil water. Why, when the St Ber nard parish schools of Now Or leans inaugurated a domestic science department, you ought to have hoard the howla that went up from the sweet llpa of tho pretty dears. Well, so much for them, and tor my giddy reputation as a North erner. I hadn't denied anything what's the use of wasting your breath? So my Northern halo still Invested my brows when the Atlan tic fleet headed by tho Kansas, came Into port and all tho young matrons and debutantes put their best foot forward to make things pleasant for tho handsome offlcors. Bless you! they had no grounds for complaint They were dlnod and feted and received and danced until they must have longed for the resumption of the cruise, and a chance to catch up with their jsloep. We visited the ships, and It waB during our call on board the Kansas that I got into the trouble I'm tell ing you about I happened to remark that & cer tain Jackie's uniform was not quite ideal in fit Little Leonora, pride of an old New Orleans family, took me up in a minute. "Perhaps you think you'd show off a sailor's trousers and hat better?" she said. "Do the girls wear them up No'th?" That made me mad. "No, the girls don't wear them up No'th." I said, Imitating the Southern girl's antip athy for the letter It. "But if they did they'd look a lot better In them than you Southern girls would you peaches and cream fluffy ruffles." "Prove It! prove it!" half a dozen of them dared me. "I will," saldt, quite reckless by this time. "I'll bet you a box of chocolates that I'll dress as a Jackie and get aboard the Kansas without discovery." They took me up before I had time for calm reflection, and I was In for one of the most Idiotic enter prises a girl ever tackled. You will understand the difficulties of what I had undertaken when you remember that by this tlrao the face of every enlisted man on the Kansas rled off tho trouflora part so sym metrically. "You'll havo to smoke a cigarette as you go aboard," thoy Bald. "All real Jackles do." I said I'd accept tho antl-clgtfrotto handicap. I had planned to go aboard tho Kansas in tho dusk of the ovenlng before tho morning sot for her departure. Throo of tho girls voluntoored to witness my exploit from a discreet distance Thoy did. Knowing their oyes woro upon mo, I marchod down tho plot- with what I felt to bo tho ideal jacklo roll In my gait. Straight up tho gangway 1 marched. Just then, fortunately, tho officer at the rail turnod to answer a quostlon put by another who had JUBt sauntered up. So ho ropllod to my salute and turnod away without seeing my face I'm euro It was au rod as tho sun set had boon a quarter of an hour carllor. Just then something happened that sent my hoart into my throat A Jackie going ashoer had to satisfy tho officer that ho had proper per mission to do bo. I was on board the Kansas, but how on darth was I going to got off. Suddenly every offlcor In sight lookod llko a Bluo board to me. I simply hUBtled for ward and hid, all aahako till my teeth chattered, behind ono of the big guns. There I stayed all night, catching a cat-nap occasionally, between re connolterlngs which always con., ylnced mo of the Impossibility of leaving the ship undiscovered. I was enjoying ono of those cat-naps In the morning when some one shook mo by tho Bhouldor, and I awoke with a start In ono glanco I saw a young officer looking me up and down suspiciously, while tho Louisiana shore receded In tho dls tance. Suddenly the offlcor Bald: "You're a girl! What doos this moan?" "I'm doing this on a bet." said I, qulto boldly, now that I knew I was In for tho worst. "I suppose the Kansas won't turn about and take me hornet That was-a very ,nlco officer no I wont tell his nnme. He arrested me, of course that was the only thing ho could do. I was taken bo fore another officer, who lookod mo over,, then got rod in the faco and gave a muttered order, and then turned away coughing spasmodically, well, I was locked up In a dinky lit tle room with a bunk In It, and for half a day no one came near mo. Well," I said to myself, "they haven't put me In Irons, so I guess It won't be very serious." After a while I wanted to cry. Oh, how I wished I'd never started any thing so crazy. I almost wished I was a fluffy Southern girl tied to a chaperon for life. As I'd had to glvo the officers my name' and toll them all about my people. I didn't want to make a spectacle oT myself; so, Instead of bawling' and getting hysterics. I began to warble. I sang "Dixie" In my best manner, followed by "Roll, Orean. Roll." and kept it up till sevoraj officers gath ered outside my door and rewarded me with their applause. 1 " ( ' ' ''' V' V 9 j8-v -f PARDON ' I discovery .C -tr AJ 6 CT) ica, . I r Just to "Show" Those Southern Girls, and Win a Box of Candy, Pretty Miss Evans from Illinois) Smuggled Herself Aboard the U.S.S. Kansas at New Orleans as a Jackie But Never Again! THE DISCOVERY l'rotty soon thoy offerod to let mo out if I'd play and sing for them. "Indeed, I will," I said. "But please got mo somo girls' clothes." That remark was silly of mo. con sidering I was aboard a cruising battloshlp, and it mado tho officers laugh. Ono pt them unlocked tho door, saying: "It's all right Just keep on re membering you'ro a real Jackie. We'll do tho samo, and wnon wo put In to Galveston you got tho girls' clothes." There wob no other way. At first I wouldn't leave ray dungeon, I felt too porfectly silly and embarrassed. The offlcors reasoned with me. "You'ro roallrin great luck," said ono. "You deserved arrest and got It but you weren't put In Irons" "Rut you ought to have been," said another. "Tho regulations call for it It's not too late yet" "No, no," said tho other, hastily a vory nice officer, whom I'll reraom 1er In my prayers "you'll Just con sider that yoii'vo beon In irons." "Do you consider that you've been In ironB?" In a chorus. THE PENALLY "Thank you," I said. "I'll consider that I've beon In irons, and that I richly deserved my punlshmont" "Brava!" said 'a very young of flcor. Then I left my prison and pro ceeded to "work" tho rest of my paBsago to Galyeston on tho U. S. S. Kansas by singing and playing everything I could remember. It shames mo to think that nevor was a perfectly woll-bohaved girl treated more respectfully than I was I, tho only woman on that great warship, masquerading among hundreds of men In sailors' clothes! - When the Kansas steamed Into Galveston my father and mother woro waiting for me thero in a tremendous stato of oxcltement I Above Is Miss Evans As She Usually Appears Surrounded by .the Scenes of Her Exploit. And Below Is Miss Evans, as She Appeared When Discovered on Board the U. S. S. Kansas, When the Fleet Had Left New Orleans and Was Steaming To ward Galveston. THE TASK fully expected what M richly de served a good talking to! But when my parents bad talked with the officers they let mo off, Baying that they dreaded nothing hut the notoriety of the affair. To keep tho matter quiet for the present I was taken to the home of my aunt In Galveston Mrs. Mar garet Montgomery whoro I re mained for two weeks. On New Year's Day I returned to New Orleans and there my story leaked out in various fanciful forms. why telling the That's now. You'd hotter believe there was no protest about paying that bet! But you must also understand that I was no longer so eager to champion the Northern .glrls with regard to tho reputatlontfor Independence and daring they have in the South. I was quite willing to havo the whole episode forgotten and I must say my New Orleans girl friends have been yery nice about it What Shall the Suffragette Emblem Be-Spider, Toad or Phalarope? THE National Committee of the Equal Suf frage Leaguo Is now trying to select an emblom. The donkey, elephant and the bull moose holding exalted positions as tho sym bols of Democrats, Republicans and Progres sives, the Suffragists bolleve that they ought to pick something somewhore in animate creation to patch upVlth the men's parlies. An emblem Is really neoesBary in politics. It 1b catchy, In dividual, useful and ornamental. At tho head of the ballots It shows one wfcero to vote and It Is Indispensable In parades, meetings and all tho other paraphernalia of pre-election activity. But it Is also immensely important to get Just tho right symbol to arouse popular enthusiasm. To dotermlno this right emblem tho commit teo has had exports working on natural history tomes and has invited suggestions from scien tists. It was felt that the creature chosen for the omblom oughi to have peculiar characteris tics which would undeniably show that wero tho said creature human would be a loyal fol lower of the suffrage cause. Prominent on the list from which the winner will be picked is tho bird called the rod phala rope. So superior in every way is the female phalarope to her mate that a famouB naturalist has aptly described her as "male in all but the prime ossentlals of her sex." Tho phalarope has very Interesting habits, ine female shows tho male where she wants the nest built .He meekly builds it, while sho alts Idly by and bosses the Job. Then she lays her eggs In the nest and immediately calls In , the male to do the hatching. During the entire porlod of Incubation the female Is absent from tho nest She hops around, in the neighborhood If she chooses, vlsltlnn her "friends." and at tending to her various "Interests.'1 And woe be to tho male If ho daro leave the nest at a critical period. He receives a sound drubbing from his better half, for she Is much larger and stronger. Tho phalaropes are often called "little swim ming sandpipers," for they rest and sleep on the' ocean about half the year. Thoy are often seen In flocks far out ttt sea In the North Atlantic, and when on land inhabit Northern Canada and the lslandst about Baffin's Bay. The tomales are of much brighter plumage, and in the mating season two of them always vie with each other In their efforts to win a certain male's affec tions. Finally, one of the females withdraws in a jit of jealously when she realizes that her rival has the insldo track. So, in questions of court ship, it is always leap year with the phalaropes. A well known suffragette onco proposed that "woman's leap year rights" be In effect every year Instead of only once in four. This idea was propounded as a remedy lor the declining birth rate. Of almost Identical family habits and "cus toms" with tho phalaropo are the bustard quails or hcmlpodes. Tho bustard quail would like wise mako an Ideal emblem for tho suffragists. Tho female Is seven Inches in longth, while the length of tho malo Is never over four and one half Inches. Like tho phalarope, the female bus tard quail leaves tho entire Incubation and care of the young to tho male. Likewise, tho femalo always has the much brighter plumage. Even the militant suffragettes have -their rep resentatives In the realm of tho bird world. Suffragettes break windows, but crows break nests. They even break up homes, to say nothing of the havoc thoy work with tho farmers' corn fields. Through pure deviltry crows fly about from tree to tree and smash the eggs of other birds. And, curiously enough, it is the female crow which is most addicted to those warlike tactics. Why should not a lUBty female crow grace tho banner of Emmy Pankhurst? But of all birds. In whose ravages be- llgeront suffragettes may well seek a paral lel, the female rook Is as much to be feared aB any. These rooks leave their "husbands" behind to guard the, "house hold" while they flock on a rampage to tho nests of less formidable birds. Then with concerted offorts they proceed to tear asunder the nests of their .neighbors. Th$ rooks get their "rights" with a vengeance. Turning to the animal kingdom, the suffragist emblem soekers found in the case of the Surinam toad that the female does not submit to any In difference or Idleness on tho part of her 'humble mate. During tho mating season the femalo toad lays about sixty eggs. Then the male is forced to do what Is really to him a most ob noxious duty, or ho will die without "heirs." A very remarkable spongy layer' is formed on the female's back at this period, and the male has to take each egg separately and carefully plant It In this spongy bed, In order that the young toad may hatch. And it a good majority ot the sixty eggs Is not hatched out, Father Toad had better "makes tracks for Reno." Not the least ot the creatures which would make an Ideal symbol for the cause or suffrage Is the spider. The female spldor of all species takes good care that her mate does not forget her Im portance. After tho mating season the female often shows her gratitude to the father of her children. by turning him out of tho parental web, never to return un der penalty of being devoured alive. But before the young spiders hatch out the old fellow is al lowed to make hlmseir very useful as a home builder. facte jjfttti BBBB&BBH!vsif!&v &3mE" tlpBJF'.aSs