The San Francisco call., 1903-09-06
lNpZONk TATE

kindred tender epithets, that are often
more ridiculous than affectiOnate, and
which somehow do not impose on people
as successfully as she would wish
Her heart IS set on an advantageous
marriage. and the eligibles OF the coterie
are sought out and marked as recipients
Of her own Establishments. She keeps
tight rein on the fancies Of her brood and
the youth who has the teme-ity to brave
her wrath must be fashioned the stern
est kind OF stuff. She plays a small ANA
teur detective part by ferreting out the
Bradstreet rating OF the youth who dares
to aspire TO her daughters hand, and the
girl herself Is nOurtshed on a steady DIET
OF worldly wisdom until she Is fairly ready
TO choke
II she rebels as girls have q way OF ro-
belling, maternal wrath falls with duh
cold thud that is paralyzing.
The widow who is more attractive than
her daughters, and there are many such.
keeps society guessing, and Il not infre-
quently happens that the young man
whom It was natural to suppose enam-
ored OF the daughter Is found TO be mad
ly infatuated with the mother. The
mother Of the day, either as wife or Wild
ow, does not play tho bass violin to her
daughters charms
And then falls into line the pathetic
little widow who Is 50 young, 80 lonely
and so fascinating.
She Is dainty from the ground up. and
her soulful eyes play havoc on the mas
culine adjustment. One glance from such
orbs has been known to cause fatal heart
failure.
She cuItivates q sweet pathetic little
voice and manner OF referring 70 poor
Jones'" that makes a fellow feel like
taking her IN his arms and petting her az
he would a helpless child.
She plays the memory OF poor Jones
until she entangles the poor fellows heart
strings In all sorts OF love-knots.
Now, poor Jones may have been the
loveliest kind Of fellow or he may not
have been all that he should have been.
But no matter what sort OF chap he hap
pened to be, she invests his memory with
a glory OF romance that magnetizes her
present adorer.
She laments her loneliness IN such .
sweet. pathetic. ehild-liks way. that the
man who listens envies the dead chap IN
his coffin for having won so much love-
And she prates on until he feels that
angel husbands must be quite satisfac-
tory brand and almost wishes that he,
too, were in cold storage II his widow
would give him such a beautiful send on.
Oh. the young and tender widow. with
her pathetic, child-like ways and pleading
eyes, could demoralize anything in the
masculine line from a major general or
a rear admiral IN all his gorgeous deco
rations, down to the cop on the corner oe
the messenger boy IN brass buttons.
And II she bemoans her loneliness she
can marry anything unapproprtated In
the male line within sight
Young girls speculate tearfully on the
widows charm and spend sleepless nights
guessing its source. The answer, IN 4
nutshell, lies In two words-worldly wis
dom
The widow has had experience, and this
experience has taught her "a thing or
two" as men say.
In the first place she Is older and has
more tact. The brusquerie Of the school
girl or the debutante has toned down.
and In its place is the suavity that at
tracts by its catolery or dattery.
A young girl cares little whether she
pleases or not; she Is more selfish. She
wants a man to cater TO her whims; the
widow caters to the mans whims. The
young girl Is exacting; the widow Is COM
plaisant- The young girl IS abrupt and
says what she thinks: the widow Is tact
full and aims to please The young girl
IS easily shocked; the widow can't be
shocked-that IS, large and elegant ma
jority Of them. In fact, the young girl
Is crude, the widow the rectihed spirit
And yet, despite all we might say, We
know nothing more OF the widow than
when we started out
Each and every one Of her is a unique
figure that carries about her an atmos-
phere Of her own.
Women never will understand her. and
the man who thinks he dOes-weil, he
often wakes up with an awful shock