The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-28

reader, never having seen her, wcul,
nevertheless worship her rich, silky hair
dark with tats of red, dressed in Gwt
wayy bands over her ears? Even to sa!
that her black eyebrows command, tina
her smile is ravishingly sweet, that he
brown lashes are immeasurabIy long, tina
she dances with the grace that poets hav,
tried TO paint would not bring lovers t,
her shrine.
One may say, however, that in tn,
midst of table glistening with glass and
silver great tree was planted 1t was
midsummer Christmas tree. Its branche.
concealed jewels priceless and exquisite
Each one was marked for a fair guest
not in prosaic letters, but most grace
| fully, most delicately. It was feast O,
| beauty, where beauty concealed beauty
| Behind each picture was a diamond,
ruby. pearl, selected by the host to Il
the style of the belle for whom it was des
tined.
The roses that graced the banquet hal
were like the beauties that We'd witt
them Each one was selected for pecu.
liar charm. Thousands that any bella
would be glad TO carry and kiss in ecs-
tacy were discarded because in their very
centers there may have been hidden
flaw, an irregular leaf. The eye of the
| artist selected to superintend the fora,
labyrinth detected at once any imperfec-
ton
The famous restaurant Cabat. formerly
the palace Of the Countess de Pava, built
for her by her adnirer, Napoleon III, on
the Champs Elysees, was transformed
into a garden lit with glory of colored
/ lights.
| Beneath them beauty dazzled.
| Lame de Pougy, Otero's greatest rival,
| was the day after the banquet the most
| talked-of woman in Paris. She had the
| distinction, without Jewels that dazzled,
in a gown diaphonous in texture that re-
veaIed discreetly. to sit on the right of the
host.
She sustained with perfect composure
| an avalanche Of glances.
| Some Of them caressed her. They be-
| longed TO men.
Some of them defed her They belong
| ed TO women.
She was simply gowned in white with
| natural violets. 1t is her pose, as 1t is
her conviction that beauty needs no
adornment She has but to stand with
her hands on her hips, the tip Of her
tongue just visible beyond her dazzling
teeth, and one may understand why
Harry Thaw placed her at his right
What one cannot understand is how he
is still Mon cher Harrie" to all the
others.
But much may be forgiven, after all, to
man who feeds his beauties under the
direction of Cabot, the greatest chef in
Paris, an artist who formerly served the
Gar Of Russia Then. too, how can one
bear i'll will to a host who has made it a
staudy to select for his guests entertain
ment the man she loves best? And again
when a man showers jewels upon her be-
cause she did him the honor to grace his
board, how can she believe him to be
other than friend?
Every one could not sit at Harry Thaw's
right The other beauties all shared
equally in the flow of wine brought from
vintages that had never befor placed their
wares upon the market They listened to
music furnished by the most costly gypsy
band in Paris They spoke with respect
of host who could give them champagne
OF 1884, Johannesberger of 1885, and brandy
of 1926 Under the influence of such
liquids they made new conquests and re-
called old ones.
1t was then that the Belle Otero raised
her arched brows and wondered what was
so attractive about Nellie Neustretter,
who. some years ago, attained fame and
fortune too, as the lustrous-eyed Nellie.
She was at Harry Thaw's banquet, not as
an artistic, but as a beauty Of the blonde
type.
But as Otero glanced and glanced again,
with eyes that challenged, her escort
whispered in her ears words that brought
a smile to the Spanish dancers lips.
Truthfully he could tell ner Of her SPLEEN
dor. She was, as she believes all beauty
should be, sumptuously adorned. She is
barbaric in her gorgousness. Her cor
sage that night was plastron of diam
onds. About her waist pearls hung in
ropes. She had flounces formed of rubies;
her frills were studded with saDphires
She wore bracelets to her elbows and
necklaces which descended and descend
ed-as far as one could see She prone
naded the table finally with eyes in which
there blazed only the light of triumph.
Near her, two Americans-Yvonne de
Treville, the singer, and Anna Robinson,
the actress-smiled serenely. So apt were
their escorts that American loneliness
was never more radiant Anna Robinson
has long been famed as a conueror of
masculine hearts. For years the gossips
assigned her to marry Stewart Brice; then
beQueathed her TO the Duke of Manches-
ter and later to Comte de Ganets
You may have whom you choose"
whispered her escort the other night, and
the lovely, dark-eyed Anna with the Ma
donna features. which would make any
man forgive her anything, became the
more lovely.
Thus by discrimination rare did Harry
Kimban Thaw. Of Plttsburg. make his
beauty bankuet success.
He made it in the first place a distinc-
ton TO be invited. He selected his beau
ties with as much care as his decorator
gave to his roses. No merely pretty
woman, as any one may see by the list,
was admitted Yet. remember Bacon's
assertion that in irregu,arity there is fire.
quently beauty most potent, he invited
some whose lips dig not form q CuDid's
bow, and others whose, eyebrows were
not curved by an artists rule
It was at the race at Auteuil, where,
among the great crowd OF spectators. the
Plttsburg millionaire had been almost
consigned TO oblivion. that he conceived
the idea Of surrounding himself by beauty
in all her glory. Every one was there. He
seized the bull by the horns and made
his pick. Into each fair and she!l-Ike
ear-in speaking Of beauties this is per
miss.ble-he whispered his scheme.