"If a girl is alone, temporarily or permanently, can she build a happy life without a husband? And what is the secret of her success?"

This question was put to more than seventy girls who live on their own, and the answer came in seven parts. It appears that the modern girl is of strong mind: she does not believe that marriage is an institution for the girl incapable of work; rather she is a believer, confident of her qualifica-tions, and she will make a compe-tent housewife in her future! But during this period, while she is finding her life's companion, she lives a happy and active life!

She is single because she has not met the right young man, and she will accept no substitute for him; or she is delighted with her free-dom in order to pursue a particu-lar goal; or perhaps she is waiting to test herself further, to under-stand what she asks of marriage.

The girls I spoke with range in age between twenty and thirty; every one of them would like to marry, and looks forward to it, but she has laid out seven means to a contented single life:

1 — The modern single girl has a dwelling of her own: like any grown creature, she asks to feel this confidence and self-suffi-ciency, and that is not possible for her if she lives with her family, for she becomes dependent — or, as one of them put it: "I ride at the back of the cart."

The family may object to "the girl living alone," just as she meets

difficulty in moving from one place to another to follow her work; and she may share the dwelling with another girl. But the hardest situation she faces is if she moves to another dwelling within the same town, for then she wounds the family's dignity. One girl com-mented on this, saying: "Dealing with parents and persuading them is harder than raising children."

This one lives in a dwelling with a colleague from her work, whom she came to know six months before sharing quarters with her; the two are alike in taste, and each has arranged her program so as to be able to help with the housework, and they have set a

date at the end of every month to discuss whatever changes the home requires.

The proportion of girls who prefer solitude to sharing a dwelling is very small, and it may be the result of an unpleasant experience with a companion whose thinking and conduct did not harmonize with the other's.

Sharing a dwelling with another girl who is close to one in company and temperament is an economy and is socially prefer-able: half the bill is easier to pay, and she feels a thrill of gladness when she reflects that there is someone waiting for her at home