The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-04-11
THE SECRET OF THE
QUALITY CALLED CHARM.
BY MARIAN MARTINEAU.
On Chicago Tribune.)

y
go on increasing forever, as long as a
woman lived
This man, a millionaire, society
leader "a great entertainer and social
diplomat, once offered, in summer no.
tel. a prize for the best essay on charm;
and when it was awarded he insisted
that the winner, who was a charming
woman, read the essay aloud. In that
essay she declared charm to be the
loveliest flower that ever blossomed in
this vale of tears.
Charm was, to him, the key that
opened all doors to the wayfarer
through life.
Charm is what? Is it anything in
particular? Does ii lie i'm anything
special? Is it a trick of manner? An
infection of the voice? Is it facial
appearance? Is it figure? Is it sug
gesuveness? Is it any one thing which
you can name? You cannot tell what
II is. Yet you know! So does every
BODY else. How charming she is"
IS an exclamation you often hear. And
how often do you think to yourself,
ooh, If l were only as charming as
Mrs. Y. or Miss Y.!''
Edward Everett Hale would tell You
that charm lies within or comes from
within. Mrs. Margaret Bottome would
doubtless call charm Climate" And
she might say that certain people carry
2 climate" about with them. charm
ing climate. Yet there are charming
people who are charming in different
ways. but charming just the same.
They used to tell you that charm lay
in hypnousm, and that there were some
people SO strongly endowed with per-
sonal magnetism as to charm you,
whether you wanted them to do so or
IS exploded. People are not charmed
against their viii, and when you are
charmed" it is because you really want
to be charmed.
They say that to be charming one
must carry, first, a loving heart, or
one that is kindly disposed toward all
persons. The. love rays" as they are
called. must be started in vibration by
yourself, and you must not only be
surrounded by them, but you must be
all the time sending out new ones.
There are many people who are earnest
and ardent believers in the love rays"
The charming person does not get Of
Tended easily. The woman who is truly
faults as though she did not notice
them, and is ready to meet you always
upon a new footing, to start all over
again, as the children say.
Men like this sort of woman. for
She bears no malice. and she is restful
There is no danger of meeting with
that masculine aversion-a scene"
The charming woman may he angry in
Wardly, but outWardly she is calm,
smiling, emi-playful, and willing to
treat you seriously or iocularly, just as
You prefer.
The charming woman must be a wo-
AM -l,o
can laugh she "a yer an hope no mat
ter how hard She tries, to have charm.
The charming woman must have a good
mouth. and she must be able to break
into a smile. This is one of her great
est and best secrets, the secret of being
able to smile.
And how few women can Smilei The
woman who takes life seriously, with
wrinkles across h. forehead and 4
quicker between her eyes. is not and
never can be charming. Her own cir
Gle may love her for her virtues, but
oh, to the world in general she is not
charming
The charming woman meets trying
situations with a smile, When she does
not know what to say, she smiles When
in doubt what attitude TO assume, she
smiles. When things are against her.
she smiles. When things are going
against herr she smiles. She has a
trick of smiling. and she wins the day
A certain charming woman in the
diplomatic set at Washington makes
no secret of the fact that it is her
smile that saves the situation for her,
and in mere cases than one, every day
of her life.
When she is asked questions which
she does not want to answer. she smiles |
a -,
say or do awkward things, she does
them. but she smiles to take off the en-
barrassment Her most trying occasions |
are carried off with d smile. and she |
enjoys the credit today of being the |
wisest the most powerful and the most |
charming of women.
Who does not remember hearing of |
the famous smile Of Kate Chase |
Sprague? Who does not know of the |
gracious, altogether charming. smile of |
that greatest Of young diplomats, Lady |
Mary Curzon? Who has not witnessed |
Mrs. Cleveland's beautiful little smile: |
and who. during her two reigns in the !
White House, did not think her charm |
ing?
Another quality Of charm is grace, |
and here is another thing every woman |
can have. The stout woman who wants |
10 be charming must learn to seat her |
self Sideways, TO take away her awful |
lines down in front. The lean woman !
must learn to sit slightly inclined, and /
leaning toward her conversationalist /
The awkward girl must study the pref |
TEST poses, and the girl who has pro- |
file must learn to display it.
A great charm is impaired to almost !
every face by the habit of lifting the
head. If the chin be tilted back, the
10 al 1.of
Is positively bewildering. Learn to hold
your chin up if you want to nave
"charm."
The charming woman must be we'll
appointed. She must be groomed to a
nicely. At the risk of seeming coarse,
the woman who wants to charm must
impress it upon herself that her hair
must shine. that her teeth must be
highly polished, that her lips must be
red and full. not chapped and sore. She
must understand that there must be
no pimples on her face nor blackheads
IN her skin: there must be no rugged
ness i'm her makeup.
The suggestion may not he pleasant.
but il, is a true one that the woman
with dirty skin never charms any
man: that the woman with dandruff in
her hair never fascinates any living
person; that the woman who looks
dingy. unkempt. or neglected is not
charming. no matter how well endowed
with virtues she may be.
II is true that few women are charm
Ing. And scarcely ever, in private life,
does one find a charming woman.
The domestic woman is too busy scrub
hing door knobs, i'm cleaning brasses, in
washing paint, and in securing her
home 10 devote much time to scrub
hing, herself. Yet would it not pay
FER better in the long run?
II a woman be charming, the chance