Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-07-31

gained the reputation Of . ~uansznyex>
Tor such . lovely orontuxe.
hsd Rot met her hall . dozen tunes
before I made up nay mind that shs was
40 more Of flrt consciously taan the
ugliesS and ero~ssst girl In the world
would be. but the troabls was that nar
tare had endowed her with perfectly
reslstisss power Of fascination She did
not especially care for me. in fact. We
never met after that season, for she mar
ned and went 10 Australia, where she
drove the whole colony mad; bar the
little compliment with which she az
kno~iedged my desire for an inrrodac-
ton Was fox tho moment the genuine ex-
PRECISION OF her feelings. and her wonder
ful charm Of manner added weight and
force u the pretty phrase.
Here. then, was the secret Of Miss
ices being called firt. and here. rs
believe. Is the secret Of great many
other womens gaining the same unen-
viaDle reputation. such a girl or wom-
an has quick sympathies. tender and
pirifnl feelings. great tact and an amia-
BILE desire 70 make everybody content
and happy. Added 10 these there must
be sufficient beauty To give expression
To the face, and sweet, flexible voice.
for the tones Ut voice and glance OF
the eyes are quite as effective as any
spoken words can be. A girl thus con-
stltuted Is pretty sure To be called fiirt,
for each man who approaches her is at
INT.
understand that she Is especially inter-
ested In him. and he is accordingly fiat
tered. Going on this basis he comes 10
imagine his own rights 10 this gentle
sympathy and absorbed attention 10 his
condolences. quite exclusive. and when
he sees some other man receiving just
the same looks and smiles and tones he
Is very much aggrieved and Immediately
stigmstizes his late goddess as fiirt-
This kind Of woman call the newt
able or irresponsible fiirt. She really
cannot help what she does any more
than certain sorts of flowers can help
exuding u gummy sweet, which at
once attracts and enchains the insects
always lowering about them. She Is SO
constituted physically that her eyes, her
smile. her voice, her figure. her motion
and her repose exercise a powerful fas-
cination upon the beholder, and il it is
q man they arouse in him that personal
interest. that instinct Of pursuit, that
desire to attract notice TO himself which
almost every man feels toward almost
every woman with any claim TO youth
or beauty or charm Of any sort.
But this power Of physical fascination
Is only the first part Of the armory of
the unconscious hirt. The victim thus
attracted by this primary power is Sc
cured, bound hand and foot, and some
times imprisoned for life by the mental,
or rather by the sympathetic, charm now
brought to bear on him. Never before
did he lind any one who SO quickly and
% thoroughly understood him; never
did any one 70 sweetly enter into the
perplexities of his business life or his
college career or his professional anx-
ieties. never did any woman show such
Intelligent yet feminine interest in the
political questions that absorb him; and
probably the poor fellow never-even
after he has become emancipated and
speaks Of his charmer as an accomplished
fiirt--never does he quite comprehend
that upon all these topics it WAS he who
did both the talking and the understand
ing, and she only listened and looked
and smiled and murmured soft assents