The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-10-14
CHARM

Women endowed by nature with the
undesirable quality we call charm,
Tor want of a better word, are the SUI
preme development of a perfected race,
the last word as it were, of civiliza-
ton; tha Hower of their kind. crowning
centuries of growing refinement and
cultivation. Others may unite thou
sand brilliant qualities and attractive
attributes, may be beautiful as Astarte
or witty as Madame de Montespan-
the women who discovered the secret
of charm have IN all ages and under
every sky held undisputed rule over
the hearts of their generation.
When we look at the portraits of the
women history tells US have ruled the
world by their charm, and sWayed the
dsstinies of empires at their fancy, we
are astonished to find that they have
rarely been beautiful. From Cleopatra
or Mary of Scotland down to Lola
Montez, the tell-tale coin or canvas re-
veals the same marvellous fact that
they were not beautiful women, these
historic charmers. We wonder stupid
ly how they attained such influence
over the mem of their day, their hus-
bands or lovers. We would do better
to look around us, or inward and OBJ
serve what is passing in our own
hearts.
Pause, reader mine, a moment, and
reflect Who has held the first place
in your thoughts who has filled your
soul and Influenced your life? Has she
been the most beautiful woman of your
acquaintance, the radiant vision that
H. 1rxIo L Oh r70t
rather been some gentle quiet woman
whom you hardly noticed the first time
your paths crossed, but who gradually
grew to- be a. part of your life, for con-
solation in moments of encouragement,
for counsel in your difficulties, and
whose welcome was the bright moment
in your day, looked forward to through
long hours of toll and worry?
In theI burly-burly Of the life We lead
in these latter days, we lose sight Of SO
many things our fathers and mothers
chung to, and have drifted away from
so many of their gentle customs and
simple, home-loving habits, that one
wonders what impression we would
make on woman Of a century ago.
could she by some spell be dropped
into the swing of our modern life. The
a far cry from the quiet pleasures
of her youth to the ladies amateur
bicycle race that formed the attrac-
ton recently at a summer resort.
That we should accept it as a matter
of course, and have come to think it
quite natural and proper for a young
wife and mother to pass her mornings
at golf lunching at the clubhouse to
save time" and finish a match, re-
turning home for a hurried change of
toilet, only to start again on a bicycle
or for a round of calls, which occupa-
ton will leave her only just time to
slip into a dinner gown, and then for
her to pass her evening in dancing or
at the card table, shows, when one
takes the time to think of 1t, how all
uncOnSciouSly we have changed. and
with all apologies to the gay hostesses
and graceful athletes of today not for
the better
1t is just in the subtle quality of
charm that the women of the last ten
years have fallen away from their elder
sisters. They have been carried along
by love of sport, and by the set of
fashions tide, and probably do not stop
to ask themselves whittier they are
floating. Nor do they realize all the
Importance of their acts or the true
meaning of their metamorphosis. The
dear creatures should be content, for
they have at last escaped from the
bondage of the ages, have succeeded
in breaking their chains, and have
vaulted over their prison walls. Their
lords and masters have gradually be-
come their very humble and obedient
servants, and the love, honor and
obey" of the marriage service might
now more logically be spoken by the
men, for on the lips of the women of
to-day it is but a graceful "facon de
parler," and holds only those who
choose to be bound.
1t is not my intention here to rail
against the shortcomings of the day.
That ungrateful task / leave to stern
er moralists, and hopeful souls who
naively imagine they can stem the cur
rent of an epoch with the fragile bar
rier of their eloquence, or sweep back
an ocean of innovations by their logic
] only want TO ask my sisters one ques-
gamers by these changes? Do they inn
agine, these sporty young females in
shortcut skirts and mannish shirts and
ties that it is so very seductive to
lover or a husband to see his idol in
q violent perspiration. her draggled hair
blowing across a sun burned face, or
painting up a long hill in front of him