The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-08-08
D()NE LIKE OLD FOOLS
Ella Wheeler Wilcox Shows
Why This is Thus.
GR0WN-UP- WOMAN FOOLS
PIentier Than FooIiSh-Little-
Girl Fools, and Whence.


n We are accustomed to think of earl!
youth as the age of folly and indiscre
ton; but while this may be true of men
it hardly holds true of women. Tn,
8 study of people and the records of the
divorce court lead one to think that wo-
: men between the ages of 50 and 80 are
more restless and im2a tent Of restric-
tion, more prone to yield to the tempta-
( ton of the senses, and reader to listen
: to and believe the voice of fattery than
young girls in their first season.
There may be reasons found to account
for these facts if we carefully consider
| the subject
| The young girl is timid, afraid OF her
self and of her own emotions, and often
reared by her parents and guardians to
d tstrust men and doubt their intentions
Slle flies from temptation without know
ing what she flies from, only conscious
that she must not jeopardize her peace
of luiDid or her good name
She hides a dream in her breast from
which she does not wish to awaken too
rudely She gazes on life through veil
of illusion, and she fears to have it torn
| from her eyes even when she is longing
! to know more of the world and to widen
her expe rience.
The wd man who has passed her third
de cade is not timid. She believes in her
self, and thinks she Understands men.
All too often she has awakened from
her dream. and almost always life has
pulled the veil from before her vision.
She Is frequently restless and anxious
for new ser sations. Her husband has
settled into the routine of business or is
absorbed in Clubs politics or pleasures in
which sf,e has no part.
He provides for her comforts gives her
liberty to do as she pleases, and expects
her to believe that he loves her. He told
her he did once upon a tine, and he is a
man of his word. Like Shakespeare, he
does not repeat himself.
Her children are either so young that
their time is spent with the governess
and tutor in the school room, or they are
out in society, absorbed in their own
pleasures, and she feels quite alone in
the world many hours in the day, many
hours in the eve uing.
She loves; her children and her husband
perhaps-perhaps she only feels gratitude
or friendship for him and is conscious
that she has never known the real pas
sion. and the thought makes her discon-
tented with life and with herself
She sees nothing ahead of her but the
sad and the prosaIc. Her children will
60 into homes of their own, and will not
need her Every year the beautiful flu
sive land of youth and romance is Slip
ping farther into the distance. The
ha- n n fr5aSpriho
onv of loneliness, and the sound of music
often makes her want to cry-for what
she does not know.
Her children, her husband and her
friends imagine her to be quite satisfied
with her life. She is at an age when ro-
nance and vanity are supposed to die a |
natural death, like the daisies and vioIets |
Of spring, and when the practical, solid |
qualities are expected to dominate in |
their stead, like golden rod and asters in |
the verdure of autumnal earth.
If she possess a well-balanCed head, |
strong will and layer of good, common |
sense no one will ever know that she IS |
craving admiration, love and romance as |
much or more than she did in her teens.
II she does not possess these Qualities, |
she IS liable TO 90 some very foolish |
things
Perhaps her folly VIII take the form OF |
extravagant, inappropriate dressing. She
will evince a desire to attract attention,
10 be noticed. She viii grow intolerant of
the care Of a home and want to travel
constantly. She Will crave excitement,
and If she has that autumnal beauty, like
the splendor of October like many Amer
lean women possess in late middle life.
she viii invite fattery and enjoy compH-
ments with a too evident relish We have
only to read the daily papers to find how
frequently she figures in serious entan-
glements-far more frequently than do
young women under so.
It is the ripe fruit which falls when a
south wind shakes the tree.
Men are cruelty severe and sarcastic re
gardinS such women. and small sympathy
IS shown them by their own sex.
"Old enough to know better is the YER
dict. but alas. how rarely does time teach
the wisdom we expect 10 either sex
Tho woman who is more mother than
wife by nature. the devoutly religious or
the purely phlesmadc woman and the
woman with an occupation and a pur-
pose IS not likely to rank herself IN the
lists Of the unsettled and restless
Neither is she whose married ure has
kept the sweetness and warmth Of COURT
ship and whose husband IS at once and
always her lover and ccmrade.
But they are few compared TO the greet
masses or the mismated. the unloved and
the widowed
When the mature woman makes
fool Of herself" MS we are prone u ear
#. let us not be too ready with our
s1asrs mr. cur rlG.cule
Let rs rather think % TIRE causes which
NAV have lea O. ~ and he s7-rv f-- he-