The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-18

air. loving the sun and the breeze for more than the easy chair and the open fire.
 We can hardly realize what an out door life and outdoor sports have done for our women until we gaze on a col lection of gowns worn by feminine progenitors. One may well believe that Oft-told tale of tying the stay-laces to the bedpost in order to pull the stays in sufficiently; and even thus, those scant-skirted, straight-bOdied gowns looks as if designed for maidens whose slender frames had been crushed in the embrace of the Iron Virgin before a fit- ting: but tennis, golf, horseback exer- else, basketball and the wheel have changed all that.
 To-day, the typical woman of fifty is possessed of ripe beauty. charm and in- te4lect. Her face does not exhibit the unwritten page of lovely sixteen; and it is inscribed with the sensitive, beau tiful lines of character, thought, expe- rienee and sympathy, but no disfigur- ing wrinkles. It is generally conceded by wrinkle specialists that this bane of hOIIAdlh1ilu dIASSS ptiiACip0Alg AtohA NAAS indulgence of moods. of temper, dis content and worry. In a nutshell, wrinkles come from lack of self-con- trol.
 To-day, the woman of fifty who is not a tolerated nonentity stands for something in her particular world. Her opinions are no longer tentative or in the formative period. She has had years wherein to observe events, to study persons and conditions, and to weigh and test the value of her be- liefs. She is careful, however, not to let them solidify. She holds them flex- ible, ready to be extended or contract ed: but they are definite. 'They say" is a phrase which has no particular weight for her., Her 'T say' is assured and perfectly satisfactory to herself, although never imposed on others.
 The charming woman of middle life is very tolerant, and very chary Of passing judgment. In fact, she has greater horror of intolerance than the devil of holy water. Why should the rose cavil at the catnip? The world is wide, and 1t would be extremely mono tonous if this earth were one vast gar den. Neither is the delightful woman sensitive. That is a form of egottsm which may be excused in sweet eigh- teen, but it is impossible at fifty. She has learned, with patience and humili- ty, life's most difficult lesson-self-con- trol. She has also been courageous enough to cultivate the "art of forget ting" and she seasons all the dishes at the banquet of existence with her sense of humor. Without 1t, the feast would be as flat as a vegetarian dinner. The man who said that woman was not worth looking at after thirty, nor worth talking to before, would have no standing for for sincerity in regard to his first clause, although he was right, in the main. on his second. Many young women desire to make social | history for themselves by being con- sidered brilliant conversationalists but the woman of riper years is able to ex- ert far more subtle attraction. She understands that the true art of con- versation is the ability to draw out the best in a man or woman. The light of her sympathy is so clear and perfect that all the dull facets of their wit re- fiectit.. A. ....5/g...
 But the last and crowning charm of the ideal woman of fifty is repose. She does not fuss or bustle, She has sowrli for many years, now 1t is time for her to begin to reap some of her harvests. to gather up "her fruits and tears. And she is content. because, as MT. Howells expresses it in one of his most charming stories she "has glimpsed, in certain luminous moments, an infinite passion, encompassing our whole being like sea. where every trouble of our sins and sorrows must cease at last, like a circle in the water. Will son Woodrow in the Cosmopolitan.