Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-16

/
"When first came out in society" said the
young matron, II had already made up my
mind that there we're four ways in which a
woman could be attractive to men, and, of
course, to be belle is girls utmost ambition
! tty-clever-amiable-or fast; one OF these
| at least she must be to gain the admiration of
| the male of her species. As a beauty knew
| that should never be a success-you need not
| try to contradict me for the sake of being
| polite-andI was quite determined that would
not be fast. There is no surer way for girl
to obtain attention than by securing a
reputation for being rapid; but had shrewd
notion, since confrmedby experience. that the
| sort of attention ELECTED in this way was not
| especially desirable. had elder brothers. who
\ brought other men to the house, and l had
! often heard them speak in sighting tone of
women In society whose easy manners and con-
| yersatlon gave them certain mild, though I'M
| pleasant, notoriety. Such women, have since
noticed, imagine that men admire them; but
they would be sadly undeceived, / imagine, if
| they could hear the sneering gossip retailed
about themselves in the clubs with now and
then a risque story, perhaps unjustly applied.
No. L would not be fast, and could not be
| beautiful therefore, If 1 was not to be a social
! failure, must be either clever or amiable, or
| both"
marked the pretty girl at the other end of the
sofa, looking up from the stitches she was max
| ing In her first party dress
| CLEVER WOMEN OFTEN BoREs
! las to cleverness there are two difficulties.
In the first place, have never been considered
more than ordinarily clever; and in the second
place. that particular quality has only modi-
| fed social value. Men are afraid of professedly
clever women-most young men, that IL to say
and girl had better keep her brains i'll the
background if .he would be belle. The
clever men, az rule, like to be listened to- the
stupid men are appalled, by a display of knowl-
| edge or wit in petticoats. No man likes the
! learned woman; she is always voted bore.
| Cleverness. do assure you, is of very little
| use TO a woman in society, beyond enabling
| her to turn her powers of pleasing otherwise to
| the best account. Recognizing this fact. came
! to the conclusion that | must fall back upon
! amiabiity for my reliable charm; whether or
/ not L possessed the virtue Was a matter of no
| importance. inasmuch as it is readily assumed
| And, understand me. | am far from saying that
| any amount OF ami@Dility Will make really ugly
| and stupid giri belle; but il is surprising how
Ear Ii VIII so in the case of young woman Who
| is only fairly attractive in other respects. OF
course mean to employ the term III very
comprehensive sense, implying general dis
| position to be nice"
'Andto devote oneself unselfishly to crafty
| ing others, as you do"
| PLAYING WITH HELPLESS MEN.
at is very sweet of you to say that. but am
not so sure about the unsefishness One should
| appear unselfish, doubtless, but. to be agree
able to the men-and that is what we are talk
| ing of-much real self-abnegGtiOn is not noces-
/ sdry. The first thing to remember is that
| man Is always more interested in himself than
| IL any other bject on earth. Encourage him
10 talk on that topic and he S is sure TO be en-
| tert2lned. EvlDce seeming interest in his
affairs and ne Will inevitably think you charm
ing. If he Is SLOW of speech on ali other things
lie vii! converse readily on this point; and.
| therefore, woman of tact has no difficulty i'll
sustaining dialogue with the duilest man. since,
ii there Is pause she at once falls back
| upon question regarding himself. The
weak point OF every man in his vanity; all you
have to do Is to play upon it skillfuliy and YOU
can manage him as you please. If he is clever
he may even see that he is being bamboozied,
but he will be fascinated none the less. What
ever sort OF man he Is you should make him
feel that he Is the one person in the world
whom, at the moment. you particu arly
anxious to talk to. If he is not especially
| agreeable to you the effort should be made
| none the less for the sake of practice And re-
member that the habit of gushing over every
one does not represent the highest develop
ment OF the art of pleasing. 1t is an art and
well worth cultivating. ANY Young woman of
very moderate attractions who will pursue this
| anlable method tactfuiiy i'll society is sure of
| plenty OF attention from the men. They will
flock about for their iced of fattery like fish in
| pond after bait that is thrown them"
| TIE VALUE OF BEAUTY
"Tm very much afraid, nv dear that have
not much of the sort OF tact you speak Of"
Nonsense. But, any way, it is easily ac-
CURED. And, besides. you are not obliged to
depend upon aniability for your success with
the beauty you enjoy. However, not the most
. beautiful woman that ever was could afford to
dispense entirely with such tact: and even
beauty is not the only great desideratum
Beauty in woman is the lure that serves to first
attract the man; but he does not marry her
usually for that quality Have you ever noticed
that the very ugliest women always get married
and. tUnniiy enough. their husbands are apt to
be handsome men? will go step farther with
the same proposition and say that what
makes man and woman fall in love
with one another, beyond every other cause
beauty. cleyerness, sweetness of disposition or
what you willis in nearly every case nothing
more nor less than propinquity. Observe the
curious and ill-assOrted matches that excite
yOur notice. In nearly every such case YOU
will ind that the woman and the man have
been thrown into each others society by some
accident, and that marriage has resulted
merely from habitual companioHship. 1t is
the nature of the human animal. Accordingly
1t follows that, ii you draw men around YOU
by any means whatever, you are certain to find
lovers among them"
MIDDLE-AGED LOVERS.
"Most OF them unavailable, of course"
THAT goes without saying. Suitors now
| adays seem mostly to be divided into two
classes-young men who are beginning the
world and middle-aged persons of means who
want young wives. The former are especially
plentiful, but, matrimonially speaking they
are entirely impossible. As for the latter the
| most eligible of them, in a worldly sense.
| scarcely fills the ideal of young girls dream.
Young man of thirty who has means to marry
upon is "a rare bird in these times of late graCiu-
alton from college and overcrowded professions.
| So it has come to be the fashion for man to
say that he will wait until until he is about forty
and then take a wife half his age. 1t is very
pleasant for him, certainly. He enjoys q
| long bachelor independence, and then renews
his youth in a bride young enough to be his
daughter. And he is very apt to assume the
attitude Of father toward her, too. For her it
is happy privilege to try to assimilate her
| tastes to those Of man whose youth was past
before the wedding day. and. while still COM
| paratively young woman herself, to soothe the
old gentlemans declining years. Such is mar
riage apt to be in the present epoch"
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
I'm sure / never could pretend to admire
people did not like" said the pretty girl, with
a little pout.
| ..You must learn IN do IN IT, vou wish tn no