The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1907-09-13
BLUE EYES AND BROWN.
which Are Truthful and Honest and
which Cruel and Treacherouss


Northerners have an invincible tend
ency to assign virtue or goodness to
the fair complexion, wlckedness or
falseness to the dark. If one could rely
upon the test of novels 1t might be ar
gued that this prejudice is weakening
for the william, whether male or fe-
male, is sometimes blonde nowadays,
and the heroine brunette. One might
almost venture to say that 1t was nev.
er so formerly. Perhaps there is no
sound reason for thinking that the blue
eyed are truthful, honest and loving
In the sense Of affection and constancy
rather than the brown.
But the striking reports on the asso-
citation of complexion and disease In
hospitals which Dr. Beddoes suggest
ed long ago, and DR.. Shrubsall, fore
most among many, now Is carrying out,
have a certain bearing on the point,
says the Pail Mall Gazette. They prove
that dark hair and eyes are supplant-
ing the light In this country-a fact
which all thoughtful persons have OBJ
served. But also they demonstrate the
reason-which is, shortly, that the
blonde are constitutionally untitled to
endure the conditions Of town life, and
actually perish in the foul atmosphere
and the barbarlsm of the slums. Adults
enter the hospital In proportions far too
great and children die. They must have
fresh air, wholesome exercise and de-
cent surroundings to keep In health.
But these are the conditions of rustic
life, which, as universal experience in
all ages, agrees, preserves, II 1t does
not generate, such virtues as simplicity,
truthfulness and honesty, which town
life, favored by the dark, corrupts
Upon the other hand, the brown-eyed
peoples assert that the fair are treach-
erous and cruel This is common
belief In Italy, where it might be traced
to popular reminiscence of the blonde
northerners who ravaged that hapless
country from generation to generation.
But 1t is much older. Plutarch cites a
contemporary epigram passed upon Cato
the Censor, who was red-haired and
gray-eyed, which shows that it was cur
rent even then. And it Is an article Of
faith all through the east.
Sir Edward Malet tells in his biogra-
ply how he once called at Alexandret-
ia, and the population assembled, be-
lieving him to be the new governor of
Cyprus. To his dragoman he expressed
hope that they were favorably I'M
pressed by his appearance at any rate,
but the dragoman honestly replied that
lit was not so-a blue-eyed governor
they thought must be harsh and cruel.
And he added that the feeling Is gen.
eral all through the Levant. BY the
famous code of Menu, an orthodox Hin
doc is fatty forbidden to marry wom-
an with gray eyes or red hair-perhaps
for this reason, though none Is assigned.
In all cases it may be that tradition
of ruthless invaders from the north has
caused the prejudice, since many At
ghans. and many Pensions of the Wild
er tribes are fair-not to mention the
British in modern times. But that is
an assumption.
/ We are using the term blue-eyed In a
conventional sense. AS matter OF
fact, that color is the rarest by far of
all Some assert, indeed, that 1t does
not exist, and many doubtless have new
er seen 1t. Perhaps the rarity Of blue
is not to be regretted, unless by enthu-
siasts who set beauty above charity and
humanity. For all animals which have
blue eyes are more or less hard OF
hearing" This is generally known In
the case of cats, ana 1t Is equally true
of horses and wild creatures. 1t Is an
Instance of correlation, as Darwin term
ed the mysterious law, and one would
expect to find it apply to human be-
ings as is alleged. Also we must admit
that blue or green or gray eyes have
narrower range of expression thar
dark. Perhaps, indeed, the fair do moi
respond so quickly to the Impulse OF the
} moment; Of more sedate or cooler tenn
perament, they cannot meet word o.
thought halfway and fash back thu
answer Instantly. At any rate, brown
ewes, which we call black have an ad
vantage In power of expression.
1t used to be taken for granted tina
savages possess a wider range of eye
,sight and keener observation than civil
] lied men. Common sense favored th'
belief, and report published by th'
: surgeon of the Western opthalmic hos
pltal some years ago gave an alarming
picture of the State of things amoni
school children. But persons who speal
with authority have contradicted th
popular notion of late-especiall,
: Messrs Spencer and Gillen, In thel
: great work on the Central Tribes
? Australia" and DR.. Engelmann. Q
course. these witnesses may have un
| usual powers of vision, but their re
r marks show at least that the Europea
| may be equal in this respect to Austria
{ liam savages, who are famous for thei
!, eyesight, and that exceptional capacit
t among them Is by no means universe
> Crow of victory.
: DR.. George A. Gordon, pastor of tn