The Cairo bulletin., 1907-04-22
OUR WOMEN OF FIFTY
EUROPEAN CRITICS CLAIM THEY
TAKE A BACK SEAT.
She May DO Much 10 Make Herself
Charming In Dress and Manner
Should Not Resort 10 Articles To
Disguise Age.

Our European critics are iond o
saying that American society !
dominated entirely by the younl
person. This used TO be prett.
nearly true, but 1t Is true no longer
On the contrary. 1t may be claimed
and unanswerable arguments ad
vanced to prove It, that the woman
of fifty holds the controlling socia
hand In most American communities
Probably NO one who has no
studied the work Of the womeni
clubs and patriotic and philan
/ thropic societies has any idea OF The
extent to which they have increased
the capacity and the happiness OF tho
! midde-aged woman. One OF WI
! liam Morris most striking lines IL
this
The happy are the masters Of the
! earth.
In China, the older woman be-
comes the happier she is. The same
thing is gradually becoming true,
as It ought to be, in this country.
And when you become happy, you
become powerful.
The woman Of fifty among Us
might as we'll appreciate the fact;
She is now chief factor in the
higher civilization, and 1t behooVes
her to seize her scepter and make
the most of her position.
To this end. let her beware OF the
ways of the kitten. They may do
for the maiden of seventeen, but
they become ridiculous when mated
with gray hairs. Cooling and frisk-
Ing and giggling are not for the wo-
man of fifty, except in the retirement
OF her own home Even II she be
incurably light-minded she must
learn when in public to express her
frivolity in a staid way. or be in
sufferabe AS the Duke OF York
said of himself in the play, she must
have mot a thought but things on
dignity"
1t has been fashionable during
late years for elderly women to wear
delicate pinks, blues and layenders
and even rather violent shades OF
these colors, which Is all very well
for the handsome ones but re-
member that these light tints make
one very conspicuous. You cannot
usually bear them, unless YOU are
good looking
The woman Of fifty, If she amounts
to anything at all, will probably have
a few wrinkles. BY cultivating en-
bonpoint she can escape them. But,
since slenderness and delicacy OF fig
ure are fashionable. the face must
share in this general meagerness r.
and the thin face is bound 10 wrinkle
by the time the late forties are
reached.
Gray hair comes with wrinkles.
Fortunately, the old-time hair-dye
has largely disappeared among de-
cent people. Gray hair is often n
disadvantage TO those who work for
a living but, for others it may be
desirable.
Women who try hard to rub out
their wrinkles and color their hair
forget this sound rule Appropri-
ateness and consistency are great
perhaps the greatest considerations
to keep in mind in matters of this
kind. Wrinkles and gray hair and
certain unmistakable angles, and pc
culiarities of figure 80 with adyanc-
ing years A sense of offensive ar
tificiality marks any case in which
the usual accomplishments OF par
ticular times of life are wanting
There are, as It were. anachronisms.
The qualities do not compare, and
the artistic eye is shocked
1t is we'll enough for the woman Of
fifty to use a certain amount of
"cerate" on her face Though it is
probably useless and will only make
II downyl to he careful when she
sleeps, that the flesh of her cheek
is pulled up. and not down; to take
massage and physical culture" and
especially TO devote attention TO the
niceties of dress, being careful not
to oyerdo It, But she must remem-
Der that she has reached "a certain
age and, however she may de
plure the fact and determine to con-
ceal it, It will not
There is something contemplate
in trying to hide ones age-unless,
perhaps. ones living depends uron
It. In most instances. all such
efforts are useless. There are vague.
but sure, indications which. TO the
observing eye, number your years, O
woman and the most undignified
thing which You can do is to try to
deceive the matter.
In short. the main effort should
be. let us say. TO make ones appear
ance a symphony. as it were, OF
which ones age is the keynote and
OF which the details arc lost in the
beauty and distinction of the
whole. u is the snly way in which
one may. TO use the pleasant old
phrase. grow old gracefully. "-Bos-
ton Post.