The Colfax chronicle., 1903-08-01
w0MAN's AGE LIMIT.
she is No Longer Branded as .'0la
Maid- nj Twenty-Five, and at
Thirty II Not Hopeless.


A few years ago 25 was regarded al
the age at which woman became a,
old maid.
The limit has now been set at 80. II
other words, at 30 is the imaginar,
line which separates the term Of
spinsterhood into halves, the frs
stage being that of eligibility to mat
rimony and the second that of forced
or voluntary resignation to single
blessedness.
Although the cry of 'old maid" ma j
still be heard, it has ceased to alarm
indeed, there are no old maids in the
sense in which the expression was
once used, and the idea that marriage
is the chief aim of woman no longer
EXISTS in the minds of sensible peo.
pie.
NOR is woman supposed to have
lost all power of attraction because
she has entered her third decade,
Balzac has laid down the theory that
woman at 80 is at her most fascinat.
ing and dangerous age-dangerous,
that is, to the hearts of men.
She cannot boast, perhaps, of long
train of admirers. Partners at balls
are less persistent and fewer in mum.
Der. The delicate aroma of fiattery
mas become fainter, and now and then
very young man may make her feel
Ike her own grandmother by asking
ADVICE about his love affairs. Never.
tneiess, many women who have en-
tered the thirties are the center of
drama upon which the curtain is not
likely to fall for many year.
In all womanly honesty, it NAV be.
she revels in her part of heroine. and
IN the disturbances and agitations of
which she is the cause. This kind of
woman, as Landor puts it, "warms
both hands at the fire of life."
1t Is not only a fact that women
marry later in life than they used TO.
but it is equally true that everywhere
the more mature woman is to the fore.
The young and inexperienced bud has
ceased to be the reigning queen of the
hour. She has been forced to Weld
her place to the maturer woman. the
woman of broader experience and
wider knowledge.
AS matter of fact, the woman of
80 or thereabouts often has a feeling
which is akin to pity, for the sweet
young thing of 1s-a feeling which
would doubtless surprise the wide.
eyed girl in muslin and blue ribbons.
who thinks the whole world lies at her
feet,
"One thing I am thankful for" saws
the bachelor maid, "and that is / am
no longer bread-and-b butter miss.
There is no period of her existence,
think, wherein woman appears ia
less advantage. 1t is almost impos.
sible for girl of Is not to be con.
sciots, and she has so little knowledge
81 the world that she is unable to hide
her awkwardness.
1t is amusing, even pathetic. to see
The efforts of the poor thing to appear
natural and at her ease and to saw her
title say without betraying that she
las prepared it beforehand"
A word to the glorified spinster of |
'o-day-let her take her stand boldly.
irmly. Let her never pretend to a
lay less than her years really number.
let her look as pretty as she can and
s young as she can as long as she can:
.et her preserve all the graces ard
oquetries of womanhood that possess
o potent an attraction. This is her
prerogative.
But no httenishness. No juvenility,
% shyness. That is not her role.
hyness in a young girl is charming.
ut it weakens the position of the un.
iarried woman. 1t makes her seem
and this she should never
eem to be, as her position needs nc