The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-09-29

Only hand that is slender and white
Held close In one larger and stronger;
Only wish breathed into the night,
That the fast iecting moments were long
Only three words in her listening ear,
In low tender accents are spoken:
Only the CLEAN of il circle of gold,
On her hand, as loves beautiful token,
Only two hearts that are beating as one,
While filled with loves luminous glory;
Only N.Y., th e., bliss Of y lovers tirst kiss,
-Lucius Perry Hills.
New Opening for Women.
Among the new avenues OF livelihood
which are opening up to women, that
which is re-eminently fitted for the gen
tlewoman is the office of private sccr,-
tary to some woman active in IL career,
either literary, social or philanthropic,
who finds her duties greater than she can
cope with single-handed," writes Virginia
Tatnall Peacock in the Woman's Home
Companion. The requirements of 1h,.
position are frequently in the actual DOS
session of Il well-educated intelligent
woman. In Washington they arc per-
haps more eXacting than elsewhere, cSle-
cially when society woman is the en-
ployer With the change of every adj
ministration women go there strangers
to the peculiar requirements Of their po-
sition. which, being official, places them
III the very front ranks of the social lif..
of tho city. Hence. the demand has
been for secretaries of superior Qualiticu-
tions. The secretary of one woman con
spicuouSly identified with the present adj
mnistration is herself Il daughter Of IN
eN-cabinet officer. Foremost among the
attainmentS of Il woman who would fill
such Il place should be Il good clear
chirography. Furthermore. to be able to
fill the office with that intelligence which
demands Il proportionately high salary
she should know how to write any form
of note that the requirements of good So
ciety may call for; should know how to
accept or decline every form of invita-
ton. and should possess Il knowledge rf
an additional language, preferably
French: \ communication, if one livc,
up to the letter of good form, should he
answered in the language in which it is
delivered. In Washington many menu
hcrs of the diplomatic corps send out
their invitations in the court langllay,
French. There is also an extensive syS-
tenn of bookkeeping pertaining to tn"
duties of the private secretary. There is
visiting list to be kept with the dates
of calls made and those returned; Il reg
ord of dinners, luncheons and evening
functions given. and a similar record Of
those to which invitations have been re-
ceived. with an additional note to be
made of acceptances and regrets
Secret of How to be Forever Young.
1t is now thirty years since Mrs.
Whitney made her deliciouSly quaint Pa
thence Strong say:
Il don't think there is anything really
nicer than old ladies together The white
caps, and the Spectacles, and the slow,
gentle ways that people get when thew
are old, and the Sabbath peace that they
sit down in, and the neighborinesS of
souls that have lived so many self-same
years on the earth, and that may expect
to begin young again so near together
Is such a really beautiful thing But l
am afraid we are losing our old ladies
out of New England, just as we are los
tumn time Nobody seems to realize it.
People are so taken up with looking for
the coming woman that they forget all
about the going One'
Well-and if? Women used. at 81
or So" continues Mrs. Whitney's Pa
tience, TO put on modest. delicate, sub
mlsslve little caps, and then they could
grow gray or bald under them without a
separate agony for every hair. They
Wy ~ AiA1u Jul way VI ll6llONl1lS ana
Soberlng III their dress, too, as the woods
90 IN September, and so have their own
especial beauty as we'll as the green
June hers. There We're things once that
We're too young for middle age to be-
dizen itself with; and there were things.
also just as pretty i'll their time, that
young girls had to grow, too
Those of us who were children as long
ago as this book was written remember
the gracious, happy old ladies who wore
caps and had the contest corners in the
room, and were waited on with abso-
lutte devotion by the younger members
Of the family. They had done with the
action of life and were sitting with fold
ca hands waiting for the great change
Whlcn should make them. according to
PATIENCE Strong. begin to grow young
again."
me women of today do not sit with
folded hands and wait; they employ ev-
cry energy of mind and body. and find
rest in study, in keeping abreast with
the times, in being an active, integral
part of the world, and not an idle look
er,on' When a woman masters a diff
cult foreign language after she has
passed the allotted ':tnree-scorc years
ana ten so that she may read it's liter
allure in the original, she certainly has
proved her right to find some physical
reJuvenatlon comes through the cultiva-
ton OF youthful spirit, which must find
expression.
Eternal freshness of mind and pro-
ionged beauty Of face and Of form
these are matters which concern and i'll
tereSt every woman whose desire is, not
TO cheat age, but to see that maturity
preserves its legitimate charms instead
OF letting them fade away and be lost,
For maturity is charming and lovablc,
IN different degree and kind from
youth to be sure, and it should be kept
at it's best for the sake of the world by
which it is surrounded. as we'll as for it's
own enjoyment and happiness.
There. are certain things one can do
when she finds the habit of increasing
age growing upon her, and she sees the
shadow of the chimney corner. while
shrinking from entering it. First of all,
she should east away sadness-for that
is hateful to youth and opposed to it
and should cultivate instead a real in
tterest in whatever is going on, whether
IN the world just about her. part of
which she u.s. or the great world outside,
with its many problems which just now
are seeking solution. and which chain
the attention Of the thoughtful and OBJ
serving person. There is no need of be-
ing dull or apathetic with all the happen