The Washington times., 1901-11-17
W0MAN'S PERPETUAL YOUTH.
work enthusiastically and You
VIII Nnnuuish Enfher Time.

Work EnshusinsticaIIy nnd You
VIII YanQuish Father Time.
From Paris comes the story that Nine.
| sarah Bernhardt complains that she has
not sufficient work to do. and is bored.
10 satisfy her craving for action. a series
Oh Thursday matinces has been planned
by her at her new theatre At these she
VIII present the plays in which she has
! made her greatest triumphs in The past.
When 1t is remembered that the French
actress personally manages her theatre.
studies new roles constantly, reads plays,
makes plans with her business agent each
day, and entertains constantly, it will be
seen that she possesses not only hstrionic
! genius, but also a gift for work. She is
/ over hity, grandmother, and still
! charming in manner and appearance.
Not only on the stage, but also in every
other field of work in which women nave
| distinguished themseIves of late, it will
I be found that they have a marvellous tall
ent for hard work and an endurance that
grows with its cultivation. Certain lines
of work especially keep them ever youth
full in mind, appearance and figure. The
emotional work of the women of the
| stage has been cited as a means of re-
naming youthful, and certainly this doc
trine has many charming exemplars.
Drudgery and, routine, it would seem,
are the only things that feminnity need
dread likely to bring on premature old
age 1t is only within the last decade
that women have learned the secret of
eternal youth. Men grow old as usual,
and their faces show, the lines of age.
Some of the wealtbiest of women,
| whose lives are dreams of luxury, Will
age rapidly declared woman physician
to the New York Sum-" but the active
body and emotional nature do much to
keep the face young. The American
stage offers some notable instances Of
this-beauty of face and form marvel
| ously preserved, although the wear and
tear of stage life are great.
| Take the average farmers wife of half
| the age of either of these women, and
you will find her prematurely old, bowed,
| her eyes dim and her hair grey. The
reason is not that she works hard, but
| that her life is without color and without
| change.
THE actress and the society woman
work as hard as the farmers wife, for
while the latter rises early, the former
are obliged to turn the night into day
But they have a constant change of
scene.
Then they value their good looks and
naturally. It cannot be said that artistic
endeayor alone will preserve a wonan's
charm or youth. For there are many in
stances to the contrary.
Rose Bonheur was tireless worker,
but a close student. She cared nothing
for dress society. She allowed her hair
to whiten and her figure to grow heavy
without giving them a thought.
"Ouida has grown very old-looking in
late years, although she has striven val
iantly to retain her appearance. But in
earlier life she was very much OF reader
and recluse.
"It seems to be the activity of life on
the stage and in society that produces
the result. Women writers age, in ap-
pearance, rapidly. Their lives are more
sedentary. They think much, rather than
feel, and their faces grow lined, their fig
ures stout and their hair gray, and they
frequently value their feminine charms |
but little, apparently.
"As to the women of the stage, their suf- |
ferfrgs in the attempt to reduce flesh are |
pitiable. They are veritable martyrs. 1 |
know of one beauty who is threatened |
with collapse unless she gives up the |
heroic measures she keeps in practice.
They diet and lace and go through |
hours of torturing japanese massage.
Their gowns, like the frocks of their sis
ters in society, are worn for display more
than as mere clothes Their hair is not |
allowed to show the silver lines or their
cheeks TO wrinkle. They are always ex-
periencing change of scene.
THE society woman fits from her house
In town to her country place There are
yachts and theatres, dinners and dances
for her amusement, 4 routine of calls and
int Oh. Sz
lively hard work. But society women
have talent for it. ana enjoy it just as an
actress enjoys her neyer-ending work.
The average wcrking woman could not
stand the strain.
In reality, it is all youth-compelling
1t keeps the blood, as well as the facul-
ties, stirred up; accumulates charm by
the perception of other womenS attrac-
tions, and cultivates repose and reserve
in the one case and emotional enthusiasm
in the other.
I'm other vocations, also, women show
a marked talent for hard work. Ii is al
ways in evidence. Women stenographers
and typewriters have practically driven |
men out of the business, not that they do
better work or do 1t cheaper; but because
they are willing to put work first. A wo-
man will invariably remain at her office |
to finish a piece of work, while a mans |
social engagements will be pleaded as an
excuse
in the same way the women employed
as sales clerks in the shops outnumber
the men. not that they can sell more |
goods, for slen are still kept in the more |
important departments. Men clerks as |
a rule, are preferred by shoppers, but the
women clerks VIII work harder and will
not haggle about overtime and details of
their work
THE men who have attained promi-
nence in finance, in literature, and art as
well as on the stage, look older as a gen.
eral thing than they are. Mental scien-
lists say that women keep younger be-
cause the spiritual nature is better devel-
oped than in man.
But the woman who works is the wo-
man who keeps her youth and good looks
even to the half century mark II her
work be either the social routine or in the
dram attic field she can retain her charms
long past that age. 1t is invariably the
Idle wcman, with nothing to occupy her
but dress, that gets wrinkled and old.
She has neither work nor pleasure to keep
her busy nor an interest in life other than
the cost me for dinner each evening.
she rails at fate. but never gets at the
secret that il is lack of occupation only
that is tiresome. She usually nurtures
soma pet complaint as an excuse for her
idleness, and takes her maps, lolling about
her rooms without a thought except her
own dreary existence