El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-14
TEARS.


A call to battle. and the battle done
Ere the last echo dies within our ears;
A rose choked ia the grass; hour OF
fears;
The gusts that past darkenirg shore dc
beat;
The burst of music down unltstenfng
street
L wonder at the idleness of tears.
Ye old, old dead, and ye of yesternight
Chieftatns, and bards. and keepers OF the
sheep,
By every cup of sorrow that you had,
Loose me from tears. and make me see
arighf,
How each b ath back what once he stayed
to weep;
Homer his sight. David his little lad.
-Lizette Woodwork Reese, in Scribner's-
There Is frequent discussion OF the
proper spheres of the usefulness OF the
terms, lady" aud woman but as a
rule those who think of the matter a.
all, prefe the use of woman" for the
addresses, because "lady" has been SO
sadly m sussed by our generation. that
it has lost It's purity of meaning. 1t
has now become careless title.
Women who do not in the least merit
1t, use the title most ostentstlOusly
and protest with loud Indignation
against being denied it.
Lady" ought to stand for gra-
ciousness, gentleness, sympathy. fine
ness of thought and speech, reserve
and control, for that fine cSpability
taa at makes life in the new home Or on
the streets, at work or in leisure, ease
full, serene and quiet. 1t ought to
stand for devotion to life's truth and
beauty The lady may flower in OBJ
scurest poverty or in glamor and lux
ury. An overworked house mother
with nine obstreperous childrea and
with the butchers and coal man g bills
continually overshadowing her. may
show forth the loveliest blossoms of
lady hood in the midst of life's direst
stress and confusion. The lady may
shine like q jewel q offices, laboratories
or shops, Ii is not money nor position,
nor necessarily birth and education
that make q lady. In all tine wide
world one cannot mark off any terri
tory where the lady may not be, nor
anv where she will surely be.
But as surely rs there are ladies
everywhere and under all conditions. so
surely there are the others. the frOwsy,
loud voiced. scsndal-besring, unclesn:
ostentatious, overbearing, ungracious,
cheap perfumed women, women of
untidy finger nails, ten o'clock curl
papers, and OF gossip over the back
fence, and these are the ones who
misuse the title aud for whom others
misuse it These women also are found
in the highest as we'll as the lowest
degrees of our society. 1t may be
q millionaire merchants wife who
buys Paterew ski for an afternoon of
exquisite music but who will quarrel
with her m aid or with the butcher
until sha gets red in the face and
who makes life for her seamstress
black with anger and terror, but she
has to be called q lady. Ones cook
who refuses to wear white collars, who
goes off with half pounds of our but
ter and cups of coffee, who refuses to
boil the sheets and towels, and tells
tales to the neis Il UOrs, has 10 be called
q lady. High and low We. have to call |
women of this unlovely sort ladies 10
keep peace in the house and in society. |
So the poor word lady has fallen |
from its high estate and is dragged 10 |
the dust until it Is almost refused by |
those who have a right to it. Occa- |
sionally, in a choice circle of scquaint- |
apces who know, one can use it in its |
the use witch the world a large, the
homelier title woman is thu
word one uses and wants.
The stories of Lily Langtry's simple,
gracious life, in her English village
home, are quite idyllic and If she did
not play THE Degsnerates," flirt
with Wales and put ice down his back
and do other unlOvely things in the
q 1orable. But at least one may consi-
der her two claims for mans gratitude
first this she has the loveliest shoulder
blades that our generation has seen,
and second for her Lady Bountiful life
at Kentford. Kentford is a village of
sixty thatch rooted houses to which
Mrs. Langtry has added her own home,
a big school and church. She chose
the village of Kentford for her home
because of it's nearness to Newmarket
where race horses are tried for the
great derbies. Mrs. Lsngtry keeps up
her many stables of race horses and
makes quite a business of their care
aud speed.
Tales are told of her gifts to her
neigh bors, of the petticoats she gives
Did ladies, of books to the children,
pipes and tobacco to the men, and of
the fete days that she makes for the
whole village. It Ia said that she new
er will spend Christmas elsewhere
than in Kentford and gives herself up
wholly to the Joy of the villagers, dis
cakes and presents and romp-
ing with the little folks. Also it is
told that she renounces all of the
pomps and vanities of Worth frocks
aud all the gaiety and ceremony that
would be hers II she chose to have it,
instead the simple rural life,
the work with her horses, and the chats
In the late afternoons with the village
folk.
Lizette Wordsworth Reese writes
some verse of exquisite spirit aud al
though she ranks only among the minor