Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-17
THE PALM
OF BEAUTY

written for The Star.
-T would seem, according to the society
press, that beauty is g. very common
article Indeed, If we to accept
III the innocent ebullitions of the callow
youths who drink beer and play skit-
ties In the social paragraph line of
Journalism, and who In their soft guileless-
ness are taken In and used" by certain
ladies OF the type resembling Miss Skeggs
and Lady Blarney in THE Vicar of Wake
field" we are bound 10 believe mat beau
tiful women are as common as blackber-
ries, only more In the columns devoted
by newspaper editors to the meanderings
of those intelligent persons, male and fe-
male who sign themselves as Onlookers,
Observers. Butterfys, Little Tomtits and
what may be called 81 Spys" generally.
one hardly ever sees the name of lady
without the epithet beautiful tackled on
TO IT. especially II the lady happens to have
money This is curious. but true. And,
supposlng the so-called Beautiful One has
not only money. commonly speaking. but
heaps of money, mines of money. she Is
always stated to be young a. we'll The
heavier the bullion the more assured the
youthfulness II unkind Time shows her
10 be the mother of family where the
eldest sprout is some twenty odd years OF
age, the C0fnpialSdut spy Is eQudi 10
the occasion and writes of her thus: The
beautiful Mrs. Juno Athene brought her
eldest girl, looking more like her sister
than her monther." Whereat Mrs. Juno
Athene is satisfied. everybody smiles and
all things are coy and comfortable. II
any one should dare TO say. especially in
print. that Mrs. Juno Athene Is not beau
tifur' at all. nor youthful" in either looks
or bearing. there would be ructions. Some
body would get into trouble
Nevertheless, despite the II Spys'' and
the perennial charms of Mrs. Juno Athene.
beauty is rare and choice IA thing ever
II was I'm the days of old when men went
mad for II and Greeks and Trojans fought
for Helen. who. so some historians say.
was past forty when her bewitching fair
set the soul OF Troy on fire. really
beautiful woman is scarcely ever seen, not
even In Great Britain. where average good
looks are pleasantly paramount Pretti-
ness-the prettiness which Is made up OF a
good skin. bright eyes, soft and abundant
hair and a supple figure-is quite ordinary.
1t can be seen every day among barmaids.
shop girls and mllliners' manntkins. But
beauty-the divine and subtle charm which
enraptures all beholders-the perfect FORM
united to the perfect face In which pure
and noble thought Is expressed in every
feature. In every glance of eye. In every
smile that makes sweet mouth sweeter-
this Is what We may search for through all
the Isles of Britain, aye. and through Eu-
rope and America and the whole world be-
sides. and seldom or never find It.
Nine-tenths of the women who are styled
beautiful by the society paragraphist
possess merely the average good looks
The rest are generally more particularly
distinguished by some single and special
trait which may perchance be natural and
may equally be artificial such as uncom-
mon coloIed hair (which may be dyed) a
brilliant complexion (which may be put on}
or a marvelously "svelte" figure (which
may be the happy result OF carefully de-
signed corsets. well pulled in). Most OF the
eulogized beauties OF the upper ten to-
day have. or able TO get SUFFICIENT
money or credit supplied to them for dress
ing we'll and not only WELL but elaborately
and extravagantly, and dress is often the
beauty instead OF the woman To Judge
whether the woman herself is really beau
tiful without the rnodstes assistance IL
would be necessary to see her deprived Of
al her fashionable clothes. Her bought
hair should be taken of and only the natu-
raj remainder left She should be content
to stand sans paint. sans powder. sans
back coli. sans corsets in q plain white
eown, falling from her neck and shoulders
! 60 her feet and thus cheaply yet decentiy
4 clad submit herself to the gaze OF her male
fiatterers In full daylight.
Now Il Is absolutely impossible to moot
with any sunadornsd" sort of beauty Ia
those circles OF rank and fashion where the
society paragraphist basks at his or her
pseasure. On the contrary, there IL 20 much