Mexico Missouri message., 1905-04-13

OF life. hats that are poems. knots Of
ribbon that are veritable works Of art.
so there are interiors which after their
manner speak to the mind. Why. un-
der pretext Of decorating our homes,
do We destroy that personal character
which always has such valuef Why
have our sleeping rooms conform 10
those Of hotels, our reception rooms to
waiting rooms, by making predomi-
nant uniform type of official beauty
What a pity to go through the
houses OF city, the cities of n country,
the countries Of a vast continent, and
encounter everywhere certain forms
identical inevitable, cxasperating by
their repetition! How aesthetics would
gain by more simplicity! Instead Of
this luxury in job lots, all these deco
rations, prctentious. hut vapld from
iteration. we should have an infinite
variety; happy lmprOvisations would
strike our eyes. the unexpected in
thousand forms would rejoice our
hearts. and we should rediscovcr the
secret Of impressing on n drapcry or
a piece Of furniture that stamp Of hui
man personality which makes certain
antiques priceless.
Let us pass at last to things simpler
still; / mean the little details Of house
keeping which many young people Of
our day find so unpoetical. Their con
tempt for material things, for the hum
BILE cares house demands, arises from
a confusion very common, but none the
less unfortunate. which comes from
the belief that beauty and poetry are
within some things, while others lack
them: that come occupations are dis
tingushcd aud agreeable. such as cult
waiting letters. playing the harp, and
that others are mental and disagree
able, like blncking shoes, sweeping and
watching the pot boil. Childish error!
Neither harp nor broom has anything
10 do with il. All depends on the hand
in which they rest and the spirit that
moves IT, Poetry Is not in things; 1t
is In us. 1t must be impressed on OBJ
iccts from without, as the sculptor i'm
presses his dream on the marble. If
our life and our occupations remain
too often without charm in spite ofany
outward distinction they may have It IS
because we have not known how TO put
anything into them. The height of art
is to make the inert live and TO tame
the savage. | would have our young
girls apply themselves to the develop
mcnt of the truly feminine art of Civ
ing Il soul to things which have none.
The triumph Of wOman'S charm is in
that work. only n woman knows how to
put into Il home that iudclnablc some
thing whose virtue has made the poet
say. The house top rcioiccs and is
glad" They say there are no such
things us fairies Or that there are
fairies no longer. but they know not
what they say. The original of the
fairies sung by poets was found and is
Sti!l among those amiable mortals who
kncad bread with energy. mend rents
with cEccrfulness. nurse the sick with
smiles. put witchCry into ribbon and
genius into n stew.
1t is indisputable that the culture of
the fine arts has something refining
about it and that our thoughts and
acts are in the end imprcgnated with
that which strikes our eyes. But the
exercise of the arts and the COntempla-
tion Of their products are restricted
privileges. 1t is not given to every one
10 possess, to comprehend or to create
fine things. Yet there is kind OF
ministcring beauty which may make
its way eyerywhCrC-ih beauty which
springs from the hands Of cur wives
and Gau9hters Without II what is
the most richly decorated house? \
dead dwelling place. With it the bar.
est home has life and brightness.
Among the forces capable of trans.
forming the will and increasing happi.
ness there is perhaps none in more
universal use than this beauty. 1t
knows how to shape itself by means
of the cIudest tools in the midst Of