The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-21

Z and can continue TO DC, only Us lale piiooT
duct OF struggle and pain--only as the
outcome OF endless battle with tho pow
ers OF the universe. Let pain and It's
effort be suspended, and life must shrink
back, f1rst into protopastic shapelessness,
thereafter into dnst."--I,afcadio Hearn.
one OF the things about which women
OF the present day hear most, Is the lack
OF time to fulall tho demands of life,
which have grown from simple to COM
piex, and have quite broken.in upon me
atmosphere of serenity and peace that
formerly enveioped womnnly occupation
In Virginia, at lenst.
One is beginning to be Informed, IN
connection with tile lack of time. OF
many OF the polite arts and accomplish
ments which were but yesterday consid-
} cred as essential In the rounding out and
perfecttng OF all true womanllness, ana,
to-day. are declared to be !rrctrieHably
lost, because existence has become TOO
strenuous for their cultivation.
Prominent among these Is the art OF
letter.writing, Probably the sense OF
this especial loss was accumulated re-
Gently BY the reading Of some letters,
written during the latter part OF the
eighteenth century. from sister IN
this State to brother In the West,
letters that were brimful of all the pleas
mt gossip about home people and friends,
that reflected in charming manner the
social customs Of the day TINT touched
lightly. yet intelligently, on politics, ana
that breatletl. above everything else, the
shirt OF honest pride In reversioni to an
Il ccstry TINT linked the pioneers of that
period so strongly and cnduringly with
the State they left behind them, while
they were seeking elsewhere new ana
broader fields for the exercise of their
activities ~
In the twentieth century the intimate
acouaintanceship with home. that the
I little post-revolutionary maid displayed
as lacking. Women have less home,
nowadays. than n house. Too much time
has to be spent outside of 1t for 1t 10
become as formerly, q center of IN
terest, not only for those sheltered at
its hearthstone. but for others, far DIS
4 tant, to whom whatever went on within
Its walls developed an additional bond
In the chain of sympathy and affection.
holding past and present together. The
long distance phone the telegraphic
message and the cablegram now supply
the place of the foolscap and the gull
pen, and are II great saving OF time, II,
less sentimental and readable.
Polite Converse Obsolete.
The polite art Of conversation has
grown obsolete, along with the art OF
letter writing just discussed Women
are still ready enough to talk, but they
haven't time to converse and they lack
the inclination to lose sight OF their own
affairs in becoming a responsive COM
&panion to a friend or an acquaintance.
Cards club life, philanthropy, society,
all these claiming mistakenly their rights
to be considered have crowded out con-.
,yersation and Mad:ime's cleverncsS and
Monsieur's wit are no longer perpetuated
through the courtly Interchange OF
commitment and bon mot In the draw
ing room and around the social board.
So it is that Iafcad'o Icnrn writes
of all thinking and feeling existence as
the product of struggle and pain" quite
eliminating from it the sense Of repose
and the element Of res'fulness! without
which. its burden Of activities would be-
come insupportable. For Lafcadio
Hcarn to the contrary If effort be in the
right direction, and If the aims ana ten
denotes of the woman My. mind be suhordl-
mated to the dictation and guidance OF
reason and Judgment, then, indeed. q
womans endless battle" will have It's
intervals of peace, and even IN the
{ midst of her work. the center OF ner
being will be encompassed with calm"
soul, "and to be outside of her feverish
fret and strain that should never be
permitted to encroach upon alsl destroy y,
K her self-pose and power OF efficiency"
An American apostle OF nature which
E Is considered by55him as the eXcmpli-
acation Of both calm and strife in con-
Guiding a chapter on strenuousness,
solves a problem for women. when he
Bays:
1T may be. we shall find wise
philosophic blending OF too Ideals IL IS
aomahow possihle, think. To be rs
\ strenuous and efficient as nature herself
+ in action, and yet to have In mind al
ways, as a standard Of normal being
! the inflexble scrGnity q, the Wheeline
tBun." 8. =.
QUERIES AND ANSWERS.
4 ouery-Plcase give tho name and I nd q !:
dress Of good designing n, s 81 I, nno