Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-02-22

cialcorrespondence Of Gazette and journal
NEW York, Feb. 16.-L believe some
one has written q book intended TO ex-
plain fully why married women are
more attractive TO men than are blush
ing maidens. There may be a sufficient
number of reasons for this to make
book, but am rather inclined to doubt
it. Married women, and under this
heading, of course, come widows, are
attractive to men for the simple reason
that they understand them. If they
are fortunate enough to have met good
men, In the capacity of husbands, they
have great belief in mankind in general;
il they are unfortunate enough to have
met bad men, then they lack all belief
in mankind, but they have learned how
to conceal their own feelings. The blind
confidence of the young girl in man
is only pleasing to tbeextremely young,
or the extremely old; that is to say, to
those who are just out of long clothes,
or those who are reaching the state COM
monty known as second childhood.
A MAN OF THE WORLD Is ATTRACTED
by young girls pretty face-he has
long ago given up dancing, and he pro-
poses to show his courtesy to her by
saying 10 her all the complimentary
things he can think of In the best turned
phrases. But the young girls eyes
wander over the room; she wishes some
body would ask her to dance; she is
restless and preoccupied, and looks
vastly relieved when the man, who only
shines as far as his feet are colfcerned,
comes up to her, rudely interrupts the
conversation, takes her off and prances
her TO her satisfaction. Now matron
or widow would not make such mis-
take as this; she knows there is more in
terest shown in you when man wishes
| to talk to you than when he wishes to
dance with you. The young girl is too
apt to be worried and upset by little dis
agreeables, and makes the men around
her conscious of her crossness and dis
pleased by her expression of it.
To sum 1t all up, the matron or the
widow is like lion-tamer-she knows
the beast, and she knows how to manage
him. She knows that he likes being
made much of, that he wishes to be
thought of first, and that he likes to
think that he is the one who is loved
and not the one who loves. Unlike the
lion-tamer, the adebt in ruling man does
not have q hot iron to touch him with
| whenever he grows restless or disobeys,
but she has an iron that enters his soul,
and which can only be described by
calling it the iron of femininity; that
is to say, when fattery does not
prevail, when tyranny is useless,
the best OF all weapons is called
into service, and the woman avows
herself the weakest of all humanity,
so that she may gain what she
wishes, for he who believes himself
strongest is he who will be most lenient
to those he considers lack his power.
Then, too, the matron or the widow
realizes that, wheE the busy day is over,
and man is out in the social world, it
interests him TO listen to that idle chatter
OF women compounded of some non
sense, q little sense, little sarcasm, q
little wickedness and little wit.
| Whereas, the young girl continually
wants to know" and expects the man
who is closest TO her to explain all un-
known situations, and to give her in
full the histories of the various people
whom she has never seen before. The
other woman understands the appetite
of the man and caters to it. They don't
ask him to criticlse plays or books while
he is eating terrapin; they don't want to
discuss the newest fad in religion during
his dining hour, and they don't ask him
to q supper at which chicken salad, iced
creams and punch that might be
called mystery constitutes the menu.
The truth is,
THE MATRoN AND THE WIDOW ATTRACT
| MEN
by having that which has not come to a
| young girl. G., experience. Expert
ence might be called the social sand
paper. 1t 10 rubbed over one mentally
until there are no sharp corners left,
and one is made curiously unselfsh, not
from q particularly high motive, but be
cause tits found that il one wishes to be
| popular,one must consider other people
first and ones self next. l don't believe
this would make a book, but | think il
is the truthful answer to the question.
There is nothing that delights my poor
soul more than to hear man talk abou,
the fashions. He is by no means bad
critic, but having discovered one woman
who dresses to suit him, he thinks every
other one would look equally well in
her clothes. Generalizing, he has q
| great fancy for blue in colors, and that
some rosy-cheeked woman he knows
can wear it and look well in il, seems TO
him sufficient reason why all women
should assume tue color that makes
those who are pale look paler, and those
who are beginning To have wrinkles on
their face LOOK ten years older than they
really are. ln the summer time, he ap-
proves OF white cotton frocks because
he thinks they are simple; probably he
would change his mind If he paid a
few laundry bills. just now he is quite
happy because the bonnets at the theatre
are small, and as he gleefully approves
OF them, he wonders why they weren't
put on years ago. He calls them a sen.
sible fashion, whereas in truth they are
absolutely ridiculous, for, leaving the
top of the head entirely uncovered, they
afford a lovely opportunity for the cold
breezes to go through ones hair and
gives one that most dire of complaints
neuralgia.
MAN ON woMAN's BELONGINGS.
He says he likes to see woman
with dress trimmed with lace, because
it is feminine and pretty, and he doesn't
work out in his own mind the problem
SO familiar to woman. II one can
only have one frock during the season
shall that frock be trimmed OF
plain? He likes to see woman carry
a fan, and yet he is the bitterest enemy
the fan has. He can manage to hold
everything else, but hand him a tortoise
shell or pearl fan to look after, and he
either squeezes it to pieces or lets il slide
away from him and steps upon it. lie
has always said that he didn't like
women to bleach their hair, and yet
when your hair begins to darken little
he has the impudence to wonder why