Arizona republican., 1908-02-12
NO MORE MIDDLE AGED WOMEN.
The Evergreen Matron-Effects of the
 New Health Cult.

l
 The mature enchantress has been
 with us through the ages. but the | complete disappearance of the middle aged woman is a saliant feature of life
 in the twentieth century. The socie- ty world seem now divided into girls. young married women and old ladies who are great -grandmothers. Every
 one is fresh. and no one has wrinkles
 and the fair. fat and forty type of
 matron has become as extinct us the dead and gone Victoria era. Modern mothers look as young as their daugh-
 ters and we are now familiar with a
 race of juvenile grandmothers.
 One notices this on all sides-in the parks, at the opera and at dances and dinners. Every one has bright eyes, a flower face and a slender form. and all are dressed alike and dressed to per- lection. And the same style seems to
 be equally well suited to a girl of IS
 and her mother of 40. Youth and beauty count for much, but no one can deny that We have arrived at dead level in looks and at a monOtonous type of womanhood.
 And the same can be said as regards interests and amusements. Women of 50 or so yacht hunt. shoot dance. play golf and hockey, ride bicycles and drive their own motors. A certain peeress who married forty-seven years ago still rides her bicycle in London's
 street. and a dowager duchess who Is
 a grandmother led a cotillon last sum-
 mer with splendid success. And these evergreen matrons not only share the sports and pastimes of youngsters. but they show an equal verve and go and the same unceasing energy. They
 are seen at the opera night after night
 attend balls, do week ends, hold stalls at baZars and play bridge into the
 small hours of the morning. In fact. they call a halt to time. renew their Iyouth and remain social queens for two generations. And one wonders how the trick is done and if the world
 gains on the transactions. For as a
 natural sequence it means young girls find rivals in smart married women, who now keeps their places as beau ties for an indefinite period. And 1t
 also affects the marriage rate, as the number of men who marry women much older than themselves has of
 late increased in a marked manner. The case of Lady Castlewood and Harry Esmond is a common one in the
 London of today.
 The secret of eternal youth would
 make a multimiliOnaire of its lucky possessor. But the precious recipe is
 still unknown and society women just
 keep their looks at the cost of time.
 much trouble and more money.
 The modern health craze has done great good in this direction. Temper
 ance is a watchword of the moment, and smart society goes in strong for the simple life. and for so-called veg etarianism. To my mind. plenty of
 sleep and the avoidance of meat and alcohol are safe to preserve ones youthful vitality. And a few women
 have adopted this system for their
 spiritual as well as bodily betterment.
 If you want to grow in grace you
 must diet" said a certain wiseacre. Then the don't worry" doctrine has
 common sense on its side. Worry
 makes wrinkles. and as for bad temper
 we'll that is the root of all evil
 Rest cures have come to stay; and
 the deep breathing exercises, which
 hail from the states. are another sov-
 ereign remedy. Massage also does
 wonders and so does the much abused
 system of face treatment. Anyhow,
 the fact remains that middle age is at a discount in the twentieth cen | tury.
 King Edwards reign has brought us
 many new things. and among others | the cult of the gray haired beauty l ;,, la,
 to arrive in early middle age-indeed
 in some cases. when a woman Is at l the zenith of her youth and loveliness. In fact. a young face framed in white | hair has a peculiar and very piquant l fascination. But 1t must be admitted that the blanched brunette gets the | innings. Her dark eyes and vivid col | bring tone in well with gray hair and give the poudre effect. so successful. Taste in dress is on the up grade and has done much for gray hair and also for the middle aged sistcrhood. Women who have passed their first 1 youth are no longer doomed to wear black, brown or some other sOmber colOrlng White is now as much used | by mothers and grandmothers as byl | youthful debuntantes; and royal ladies who have reached middle life show marked fondness for white and cream color This Is specially noticeable in the case of Queen Alexandra and of her sister. the dowager Empress of | Russia. Gray Is good to the white haired woman and she often wears it to perfection. Pink is also kind to her and these soft shades combine charm ingly. An artist in color can do won ders.
 Everything in life-art, dress, mod ern rules of health and toilet inven- tions-tends toward the disappearance of the middle aged woman. And she is no longer to be met With even in fiction. In up to date novels girls take back seat. and the age of heroines goes well into the forties and fifties BalZac's Femme de Trente Ans" seems a back number. and we read of lovely ladies with a lurid past who