The evening times., 1898-06-23
WHEN a WOMAN
Is At HER BEST
American Woman Usually At
tains Perfection at %.
When Her Beauty Is on the
Wane.

To the simple question, "At what age
does a woman reach her greatest per-
fection. physically and mentality" there
must be a complex answer.
The woman. the environment, the cif-
mate, must all be considered The horse.
the dog, the cat, have their stated period
of perfect development, subject to few
variations. Man himself can be relied up
on for certain conditions at certain ages.
He is in the pin-feathered period at four
teen and despises all girls: adores mature
ones at eighteen. knows everything at
twenty. begins to realize that he knows
nothing at thirty, is delightful and dan
gerous at thirty-three. and charming at
fifty. Woman. more variable and elusive
in all things eIudes and evades classffca-
ton in these matters.
She may be Gree at fourteen. with
amazing wit and charm: or she may re-
main an undeveloped anaemic until twen-
ty-five and then bloom into glorious Wo-
manhood. l have seen in one family the
two extremes: the young girl OF sixteen
who was at the perfection of her physicai
womanhood, and an older sister just COM
ing into her heritage of voluptuous beau-
ty at twenty-four
The Southern girl natures sooner ana
fades sooner than her sisters In temper
ate climates just as Southern roses bloom
and fall earlier than with us; and as with
the roses her bloom is more brilliant, her
beauty more dazzling while it lasts
Lovely as early youth is. there comes
a later time in the life of a perfect wo-
man when heart, brain and soul unite
to render her a thousandfold more at
tractive than when she was in her early
morning.
AS the perfume to the flower. so is the
expression of the inner nature shining
through womans face.
There must be something more than
the hope and animation of youth to pro-
duce this expression; there must be feel
ing, already ripened by some of LIES
maturer experiences. and sympathy al
ready awakened regard for humanity.
Unless her early youth has been marred
by ill health or disaster to her nervous
organization, our American woman
usually reaches the perfection of her
physical development at about the age of
twenty-eight She is in full possession
of all the charms of early teens; her
bloom is unimDaired, her eye is full of
luster. her figure retains its slender
roundness. But added to these charms
is the subtle fascination of heart be-
ginning TO experience the deeper joys
and sorrows of life. 4 soul beginning to
mind beginning to contemplate the serious
questions Of life.
II is after her twenty-fifth year that
the average American woman begins TO
attain her physical and mental oerfec-
ton: and for a period of eight or ten
years she seems TO retain her undimin-
ished charms. Then begins an almost
imperceptible change: ii is the curled
edge of the rose-scarcely noticeable TO
the casual observer. but il is the remorse-
less forerunner of decay. Ii may be a
period of years, even decade, before
any eye but her own will discover it. so
skilled is she in the arts of preservation
of her charms; yet all these years she
carries that saddest of all said secrets
in her heart, that her sun has crossed
the zenith and that her long day of beau
ty is on the wane.
Happy Is she who. when the admiration
of the multitude is no longer to be ex-
pected. can fall back upon the respect
and affection of her friends happy is
she who uses her noon time of life TO
prepare for a calm and peaceful evening.
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.