The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-21

/ s.o+ures in connection with American
society during the last century, says a
writer in the New York Times in dis
cnssing the grandmother up-to-date, is
the remarkable change in the appear
orce of the fashionable grandmother.
indeed, in less than fifty years the
,,,etamorpnosis of the grandmother is
astonishing. She of cap and kerchief,
The once revered example of grand
motherhood, has practically disappear
i cat least from metropolitan circles
and her successor is a person who,
,.ithout a stretch of the imagination,
i ran scarcely be called reverence inspir-
ing. who, in fact, bears no marks at
all by which she may be identified. In
other words, the modern grandmother,
irrespective of her age, doesn't look the
part.
According to a somewhat threadbare
story that once upon a time went the
rounds, ore of the few disappointments
experienced by the late Lii Hung Chang
during his visit to this country. not
many years ago. was due TO the ap-
parent scarcity of elderly women
among the fashionable folk to whom he
was introduced. In China. as almost
every one knows, to be old is an honor.
Women as well as men in that country
are proud of advanced age. Hence the
distinguished Celestial was slow to I'M
derstand that the people of this coun-
try are extremely chary of assuming
any such honor, that the fashionable
woman in particular is more than will
ing to forego always and forever even
d bowling acquaintance with old age,
and to that end persistently pays fiat
tering court to perennial youth. Doubt
less Ii Hung Chang met more than
one grandmother during his American
tour, but, owing to his ignorance OF
these delicate points he unfortunately
for his own peace of mind, class
ed them every one with in
experienced matrons of young girls.
His mistake is not surprising. When
it comes to a question of her own age
the American grandmother can mys-
tify d much more experienced judge
than a Chinaman.
A transformation, and some people
think a surprising, feature of the
modern grandmother is her wardrobe,
which for style, costliness and elabo-
ratenesS far Surpasses that of her
granddaughter, and certainly includes
none of the homely garments of
particular cut and texture once deem
ed highly appropriate for women of
her age. Believing, as she firmly does,
in the adage, "a woman is no older
than she looks" the grandmother of
to-day, with an eye to artistic effect,
T1DlqQaS the Hntt9On hnnnpf lil<alU
as not, with a Gainsborough hat, and
the untrimmed best black satin gown
with numerous costumes of filmy lace,
gauze, rich silks, or brocades, in turn
bespangled, embroidered, flounced and
befrilled to the top notch of elabora-
ton, being thoroughly convinced that
the latter better match her looks.
From that standpoint, in truth, her
toilets are seldom unsuitable.
Even her detractors-and the mod
ern grandmother has detractors-are
forced to admit that in nine cases out
Of ten her wardrobe is an effect, not
the cause, of her youthful appearance.
They are also obliged to admit that
the secret of the particular sort of
necromancy whereWith she turns back
the hands of time is locked within Ter
own breast. AT any rate, none seems
able to do much more than guess at it.
From sources the best informed,
though, it was learned that some of the
most efficacious tactics of every time
subjugating campaign are an invincible
determination not to grow old, or, in
metaphysical phrase to will youth"
a lively resolve, according to the Ian
guage of the day, Ito keep in the
SWIM" and a strenuous refusal to be-
come acquainted with that inglorious
condition called in the vernacular laid
on he sboIfp MOrpOuar this Ti1rpOSn-
full concentration of thought, which
must be begun betimes, is supple
mented by such commonplace techni-
calites as physical culture, face mas
sage systematic outdoor exercise,
breakfast In bed, etc., few of which
were ever practiced to any extent by
the old-time grandmother. But, after
all, none of these tactics, nor, indeed,
all of them combined, are quite suffi
Gent to account for the astonishing
vitality, power of endurance, and jul
venile appearance of the modern
grandmother, who, if her getting-up
hour Is a bit later than that of her
Colonial prototype, makes up for it by
seldom putting her head on a pillow
again until the small hours of the next
morning, the interval being filled with
a schedule longer, if anything, and
more firing than that of a fashionable
debutante, and one which undoubtedly
would have sent a grandmother of the
old school to a sanitarium inside of a
year
In fact, the more crowded her sched-
ule the better a fashionable grand
mother is pleased and the more Justify
she seems to thrive.
I am convinced" said one of this
class the other day, that the early
aging of my own grandmother was due
more to rust than to wear and tear.
Sne had few recreations, no dissipa-
IONS. She went to bed with the chick
ems and got up with them. 1t is only
since that once-respected max
I'm, Early to bed and ear
~ to RISE has become a dead
letter outside of ruraldom that grand
Ihothers are found at the helm of al
most every entertainment incidental to
social life"
The leader of New York society, it
WIN De recalled, has granddaughter
VINO are married, and many of the
names famous in conjunction with re-
cent balls, banquets, operate perform
Il ahces, and so on in New York belong
70 grandmothers whose decollete gowns
ana Jeweled tiaras are the despair of
younger women and the joy of the So
B elety reporter.
1t mas come to pass that it is grand
mamma who now sits in the front row
a. the horse show, enthusiastically pro-
NOTES the dog show and never misses
Iie races; who plays golf and tennis
"ith the youngest, and who, whether
AZ nome or abroad, generally proves to
oe one OF the jolliest members of what
yer company she finds herself in.
. 81, Ill t.