Omaha daily bee., 1905-10-22

ushered in--the era of the modern model
Howard Chandler Christy, Henry HUT
Orson Lowell, Harrison Fisher A. B. Wen
cell and host of others have clinched it."
A Perfect Substitute.
young married woman, who was pass
ing the summer alone on account of her
husband having been summoned to Europe
on business matter. had a caller one
morning, who asked IL she were not lonely
without her husband.
"a little lonely" was the qualified
answer.
your husband very much, now he is
away7"
The young woman laughed.
"oh, no." she said. AT breakfast and
at dinner just stand his newspaper up in
front Of his plate, and half the time
forget he isn't there"
why shaker Girls stay Young.
How do they keep so young2" was the
first question that arose to the lips OF
nearly every woman visitor at the peace
convention Of the Shakers, held at Mount
Lebanon last week, relates the New York
Tribune.
The large majority of the Shaker women
are old-70 or 80 years. The women OF so
or whereabouts are the younger sisters.
few of the sisters are really young
women and there are several girls in the
community who have been brought up
there or have come there with relatives
and who have not yet reached the age
when they will decide whether to join
the community or go out into the world.
The average woman visitor gazes with
he rtyhn fanlr i'm
the body Of the Mount Lebanon COM
munity. Nearly all of them are gray
haired There is no effort on their part
to preserve the appearance of youth. The
ordinary dress of the Shaker woman is
one that lends the effect of age espe-
cially the white kerchief neatly folded over
the breast, which has been hers from time
immemorial. The white Shaker caps also,
which are no longer prescribed part of
the costume, but which all the older sis
tiers still wear, add much to the appearance
of age.
The prolonged youth OF the Shaker
woman is not due to dress or to conscious
effort 1t is a natural and unstudied effect
of their mode of life. The quick, springy
step, the clear, bright eyes, the strong
erect carriage, the trim, slim figures, the
clear, delicate compilations and, more than
all. the mental alertness of expression, for
bids any thought of age in connection with
the average Shaker sister of so years.
AS for the young things Of 50 or there
abouts, the average OF woman Of 80 in the
world" looks as old as they.
A visitor asked Sister Catherine Allen one
of those instrumental in calling the peace
convention, for an explanation of this char
acteristic. Intense activity, physical and
- ,Y,a Al a nnfica that IL Is
the less active among us who begin to age
first"
But, dear madam" said the visitor,
there are those in the bowling wilderness
without who work from the cradle to the
grave and are old at 90"
Then they don't work under the right
conditions" said she. They are not inter-
ested in their work. Here every one works
but no one overworks. No one Is burdened
beyond his strength. Association in labor
makes II interesting. We always work In
good company. And we are in touch with
all the great currents of thought OF the
day. Leaders of thought come to visit u.s.
Every mail brings us something new. and
in the family sitting room, in the evening
we always discuss something interesting In
the current history of the world"
The scribe saw two or three stout women
among the Shakers, but none who was fat
and nearly all are without an ounce OF SUI
perfluous flesh. Yet their figures are singu-
larly trim and dainty and there Is about
the whole personality OF the Shaker woman
an exqusitely feminine atmosphere. Their
gowns, of fawn and gray and white, uni
form in pattern but not in color, are the
apothesis of neatness. Their linen is like
the driven snow for whiteness. The snowy
kerchiefs of null or silk, folded across
their breasts, bring all manner OF sugges-
lions OF old lavender and grandmotherly
daintiness.
Shaker women are dainty In the kitchen
or scrubbing a floor. But the Shaker pas
sion for cleanliness shows in their persons
as in their housekeeping. Hair, teeth
hands nails are all exquisitely kept-not so
easy thing when one reflects on all the
hard work they do, the amount OF cleaning
scrubbing, cooking and dish washing neces-
sary in a family of forty persons without a
domestic employe.
Not all Shakers are vegetarians, although
swine's flesh along with tobacco and alco-
holics, are prohibited among all. The North
family is vegetarian. But Sister Catherine
would not claim that the diet was respon-
sible for either the prolongation OF youth
or the absence of fat among the North
= family women. These she said were char
acteristics of all Shaker women. The only
difference in appearance due to vegetarian
| ISM she thought, was a somewhat clearer
| complexion.