The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1898-07-15
WHEN A WOMAN Is AT HER
BEST.


TO the simple question, "At what
age does woman reach her greatest
perfection physically and mentally?"
there must be complex answer.
The woman, the environment, the
climate, must all be considered. Tho
horse, the dog, the cat have their
stated period of perfect development,
subject to few variations. Man him
self can be relied upon for certain
conditions at certain ages. He is in
the pin-feathered period at IA and de-
splses all girls; adores mature ones at
Is, knows everything at 20, begins to
realize that he knows nothing at 80,
is delightful and dangerous at SO and
charming at 80. Woman, more yaria-
BILE and elusive In all things, eludes
and evades classification in these mat
ters.
She may be Circe at IA, with anna
zing wit and charm; or she may re.
main an undeveloped anaemic until
"a and then bloom into glorious wo-
manhood. l have seen in one family
the two extremes; the young girl OF
Is who was at the perfection of her
physical womanhosd, and an older
Sister just coming iHtos her heritage
Of yoluptuous beauty at "a.
The Southern girl natures sooner
and fades sooner than her sisters in
temperate climates, just as Southern
roses bloom and fall earlier than with
US; and as with the roses, her bloom IL
more brilliant, her beauty more daz-
zling while it lasts.
Lovely as early youth is, there comes
a later time in the life OF perfect
woman when heart, brain and soul
unite to render her thousand fold
more attractive than she was in her
early morning.
AS the perfume to the flower, so ia
the expression of the inner nature
shining through a woman's face.
There must be something more than
the hope and animation OF youth to
produce this expression; there must
be feeling, already ripened by some Of
lifc's maturer experiences and sympa-
thy, already awakened regard for hui
manity.
Unless her early youth has been
marred by ll-health or disaster to her
nervous organization, our American
woman usually reaches the perfection
of physical development at about the
age of 2S She is in full possession of
all the charms OF early teens; her
bloom is unimpaired, her eye Is full
OF lustre, her figure retains It's slender
roundness. But added to these charms
is the subtle fascination of heart
beginning to experience the deeper Joys
and sorrows OF life, soul beginning
to reach forward to the invisible, and
mind beginning to contemplate the
| serious questions OF llte.
1t is after her 25th year that the
average American woman begins to
attain her physical and mental per-
fection; and for a period o9 eight or
ten years she seems to retain her un-
diminished charms. Then begins an
almost imperceptible change; it is the
curled edge of the rOse-scarcely no.
ticeable to the casual observer, but it
the is remorseless forerunner Of decay.
1t may be period of years, even a
decade, before any eye but her own
will discover 1t, so skilled is she In the
arts of preservation of her charms;
yet all these years she carries that
saddest of all sad secrets in her heart,
that her sun has crossed the zenith
and that her long day OF beauty is on
the wane.
Happily is she who, when the ad-
miration OF the multitude is no longer
to be expected, can fall back upon the
respect aud affection Of her friends;
happy is she who uses her n0ontime
OF life to prepare for calm and peace
full evening.