The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-25

| mating medium of expression. For If the
| peerless American fiirts with word and
| gesture. the Cubanita subjugates with the
darts of her soulful eyes and the subtle
| charm which emanates from her magic
! fan.
At her will il floats on tranquil sea or
losses in storm, heaving with her signs
| and futtering with her displeasure; in a
| fash it furls and unfurls it,; canvas, and
its soft breezes- cool her Heated cheek.
while the sparks that fly from it ignite
[ the sturdy hearts nearby.
| OF all the adjuncts to the feminine toilet
| 1t is the most artistic. Vatican, Bouch-
er, Carolus Duran. Madrazo. and host
| of great ones have not considered 1t be-
meath their dignity to decorate these
dainty playthings for fair white hands.
What Jewel can compete in true beauty
with one of those semi-circles of kid or
parchment wh=reon masters like Meis-
sonier or Fortuny have stamped their
: genius?
Notwithstanding It's fragility, the fan
has held its own through the centuries;
even the blind whiriwind of fashion has
respected its gentle zephyrs.
To be sure, the intervening Power"
| has done its best to destroy old customs
! in Cuba and reduce everything to the
monotonous level of modernism. The
faithfully darkey, whose duty it was in the
| good old days to cool off the atmosphere
and brush away the blue-tail fly. is being
rapidly pushed aside, and one more poetic
! figure is trodden under foot by the spirit
| OF machinery on its iconoclastic march.
| Horrid electrical contrivances are sup
| planting throughout the island the pic
turesque bunch of peacock feathers and
| its dusky motor power. But it is easier
to snatch the fan from a submissive negro
| than from a woman; she knows too well
| its value; and, then, in the tropics the
| fan is part and parcel of the person
something like an appendix to the hand,
used at all times ana on all occasions.
| 1t is said that every little Cuban girl
| comes into the world holding a tiny fan
| tightly clutched in her baby fist. This.
! of course, cannot be vouched for, but what
| is most certain is the fact that midgets
OF three or four years manage their aban-
leo most dexterously.
| OF an afternoon one may see these lit
! tie cherubs sitting on the balcony, fresh
| from the bath. in vaporouS white gowns.
| with bright ribbons, a goodly daub of
| rice powder on their chubby faces. rock
| ing to and fro on their little chairs by
| the side of their mammas or big sisters
their very, counterpart; in parvo-and
welding already. with the EXPERIENCES of
society queens, their future scepters.
J To find favor in the hands of a Cuban
4 woman fan must fold easily; the sticks
| should CITRATE on the rivet without effort.
| If il is at all stiff or clumsy 1t is immedi-
| stely discarded. as one of the principal
| resources of the fan lies in the trick of
| opening and closing 1t. now slowly, now
rapidly: sometimes to use il shield
! to hide smile blush, at others a
\ sword to command.
Like an instrument for an artist. il
l must be so delicately constructed and so
sensitive as to respond to the slightest
| touch and interpret every mood.
| What "a reVealer of character IL is, and
how il betrays ones personality Beware
| OF Impotence or displeasure If you are
| handling a fan, for II is tale-teller and
often proclaims what you would conceal.
| The calm and majestic damsel waves
| her fan slowly and with placid stateli-
| ness; thu nervous little body has a short,
| abrupt, rapid way of agitating it.
| Mime. de Stael once said that by the
| manner in which Il fan was used one could
| easily distinguish a princess from mar
! chioness. countess from simple lady.
| Evidently she did not know the girl from
| Havana, or she would have added: And
| n Cuban from a woman of any other ma
| tionality."