The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-09
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. HER POINT OF VIEW ::
1MNMMMMM

THB AVERAGE GIRL would rather
have beauty than almost anything
- else in the world. 1t is all very
well to quote to her the adage, Beauty
is only skin deep, or, to repeat the
words of wise old Socrates, that
Beauty is a short-llved tyranny" She
Is willing to have 1t go no deeper than
the surface, IL she may have 1t at all,
and believes 1t better to enjoy the tri-
umph of q short-lived tyranny rather
than not feel the thrill of power which
great beauty gives. The average girl
realizes that old Diogenes knew a
whole lot when he declared that per-
sonal beauty is a better Introduction
than any letter. After all, most of the
people we know are scarcely more than
introduced to us, we have no time for
closer acquaintance, and therefore the
truth of the saying is made more sig
nificant. They cannot know that we
may have under a plain exterior love-
ly nature, a rich fund of humor,
gentleness of soul which they would
admire more than the most ravishing
beauty. SO ii is small consolation to a
girl to be told that Keats said Beauty
allies all too we'll that the truth is she
is hopelessly plain, the poets version
of the matter to the contrary notwith-
standing, and that she receives neglect
instead of the attention she would so
much appreciate and which goes in
prodigal measure to the beautiful girl
who has more than enough of joys and
pleasures.
1t is so true that beauty hath a
| strange power" and whether or not we
| acknowledge it's truth, the fact remains
| the same and we are daily proving it.
| Do we not love at first sight a beauti-
| full child, with it's tinting of rose and
snow, the gold of its hair, the clearness J
! of its glance? Do we not instinctively
| shrink from the little one with crossed
| sight with a blotched skin and heavy
| features?
| I shall never forget the sensations
experienced by group of women en-
| gagged in a routine of charity work,
| where many children wer the subjects.
A little girl of five years was brought
into the room. She entered at a door
| so that her face was seen in profile,
and all involuntarly exclaimed at its
beauty, set off by bright, curling hair.
| Suddenly she turned so that the other
side of her countenance became visible,
and the onlookers shuddered with an
| uncomfortable feeling of horror, for
the fair little child was q miniature
Janus, in that the one side of her face
was perfect in contour and coloring,
while the other, through some strange,
|
twisted and scanned as by dark red
scars, which had entirely oblterated
one eye and dragged the lip far across
the cheek. Those who gazed were ac-
customed to al sights of ugliness ard
fearsome blight in the waits which NJ
times drifted into their horizon. They
had grown to look deeper than the sur
face, but they turned aside their eyes
in repugnance at the sickening spec
tacle of such CHASTITY trick of nature
| The innocent little face that smiled uu
at them from its beauty side was over
whelmingly obscured by the lingering
memory of that awful Disagreement.
Perhaps we know some beautiful
woman whose loveliness of personal
appearance is enchanting. Perhaps we
had admired her for years and accred-
tied her with virtues and qualities
which closer acquaintance prove never
to have existed We may lose the illu-
sions, may cease to care about hei
even to the point of dislike, but he,
beauty still holds our unwilling admin
alton. 1t is certainly a great power
and it is not at all wonderful that the
voice of the facial masseuse is hearC
in the land, and that mothers are takinG
more precautions with their daughters
features, complexion and hair to i'm
prove on nature as far as possible.
\ lady desirous of social position anC
leadership found herself hampered by
more than an ordinary degree of plain
ness. Her brow was lined and ugly
her mouth not attractive, and she haC
no especial style of figure or carriage
But two things she had, a great dea
of ambition and n low, musical voc
in speaking. The great difficulty wa
that she could not speak. That is, sh
had nothing to say and was unable t.
say it well, so she rode backward il
her friends carriages and sat in cor
ners otherwise with little companion
ship.
Finally, she had a plain talk wit
herself. such as she couldn't have wit
anybody else and as most wome
avoid in their own case, and sh
argued thus: II have beautiful
thoughts. l can enjoy the keen pla
of wit as exercised by others. | hav
read more than most women. / hav
few prejudices to cherish and n
, grudges to pay. l am too sensitive t
comment to achieve the doubtful emf
nence of being daring in speech, but
, am going to overcome this stupiC
blundering method that has been min
and | am going to have something {
say" So she procured a notebook
tiny affair, which would tuck into he
, glove. and she took surreptitious notes
When she heard a bright remark sh
jotted down a word or two, enough {
call it to mind. When she heard
fresh, clever story at a dinner sh
; formed the habit of placing it in he
notebook as soon as sne reached hom
. When the anecdotes We're original sh
' noted the name of the raconteur, an
E this little incident on her road to fam
e made big stepping-stone later on [
help her across unpleasant places.
Next, she began to practice on he
! husband. Now don't say "Poor man!
for he really enjoyed 1t. Hitherto h
had been regaled at their own table b
relation of details pertaining I