Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-02-07
FREAKS or FASCINATION. !
Zach Man Has His cal. aud. Very FOR
tunately. Ia ties Diner.

Zach Man Hss His cal. and. Very FOR
tnnateiy. Ia ties Diner.
Dame Nature plays strange freaks viii,
mems minds. II one Of the many en-
terprising newspapers of the day was to
inangurate competition in WHICH every
man had to give an accurate description
Of the kind Of woman most prone TO fas-
climate him, many readers would,
think, be astonisiied
Noah Webster's definition Of the word
fascination is. THE exercise Of a power
full or irresistible influence on the affec-
tons and passions, and he gives as
secondary explanation, Unseen. mex
plicable influence. witchcraft, enchant-
ment" In the words .sinexpIicable in
fuence' the learned doctor seems to
have summed up neatly the whole ques-
ton. Who can explain What is FREE
quently the case, that Of two men of as
nearly as possible the same cast Of mimi
the ore will find woman irresistibly
fascinating. while on the other she
might not exert the slightest attractive
infiuencei Such problem Is as hard to
solve as why the guileless rabbit, instead
of putting his best leg forward and max
ing bolt. circles round the snake, which
he knows only too well intends to make
a meal of him.
The wise heather Aristotle said: .No
man loves but that he is first delighted
with comeliness and beauty. and beauty
is for the most part the bait which lures
victim into the meshes Of the snare.
nj my Oh T1r NJ -
seems to imply by his definition that in
the power of fascination. whether exer-
cised by man or woman, there turks q
certain sexual affinity. Yet one Of the
most fascinating women of history was
Gernaine Necker. afterwards Nine. de
Stael, though conteaporaneots record
tells US that she was anything but a
beauty, and that her dress was not only
hideous. but sirlned against every princi-
pie of good taste.
Women, however, whose names viii
be handed down to posterity as having
founded noted salons, or having pro-
vided the magnetic influence to gather a
brilliant coterie of wit and talent. have.
for the most part. been beautiful. Beau
ty is the common object of all love: as
jets draw a straw. SO doth beauty love"
Beauty will always attract; at any rate
momentarily; but most men. if they find
that lovely face is but a mask cover
ing void Uranium, will cease to Hutter
around the fame. There are ho,vever
striking executions tn this ruIe on rae
ord
Perhaps the best instance il that of the
infatuation of Prince Maurice do TaIIev-
rand. once Able de Perigord and bishop
of Aut1n. for that lovely blonde Nine
Grant, afterward Nine. Tallevrand. Her
.,ross stupidity was proverbial and fur.
nished amusement for tho sa1ons Of
Nine. de Stael and others. which her
husband freouented
But in the majority of cases sometime
more is necessary than comeliness Of
face to really fascinate men. especially
such men as the prince of DIPLOMATS.
and this something is the instructive
faculty which enables a woman to adant
her mind to and enter into fine shirt Of
her COMPANION for the time being.
Thus. in my own exDerience 7 have
seen learned professor discoursing elo.
ouentlv on the sculpture of ancient Greece
to a young lady whose tastes were in
reality centered in dogs and horses. Had
he known her true proclivities. he would
have stood aghast at such utter barbar-
ism: vet such was her genial. symna-
thetic influence on his mind that he nro.
nounced her the most charming of bar
sex-second only, of course. to his stout
and learned wife Had the intercourse
been indefinitely prolonged, doubtless
the potency of the spell would have van
ished: for, in reality, there was little or
nothing in common between the two
minds.
The power of fascination inherent in
woman may. however, be divided into
two kinds. All of us have seen the old
lv vlaaeant fa,t,,ras ~, ,.h;.b t;,,,o 10,
set no unfriendlv mark who still retains
all her attr,ctivenass Nora how tho ~
and girls adore her. they will e,o 10 no,