The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-04-26

garded by him as a virtue. He prides
himself upon the fact that he IS gov
erned by his reason rather than by his
emotions. All the same he would like
to have his cake and eat 1t, too-that
is. he wants to marry a girl who is
his ideal in every respect, and he also
wants to be in love with her. But
this, of course, is putting the cart be-
| fore the horse. The natural way is to
! fall in love first after which follows
the inevitable discovery that the Be-
loved is also the Ideal.
The prudent man, who having care
fully planned his life, has decided
that marrying on impulse is bad bust
ness believes himself conventional in
his tastes and his ideal, If put into a
| descriptive paragraph, would sound
like the heroine of am old-fashioned
novel: not over twenty very pretty,
preferably in the Dresden figurina
style, pious, inexperienced, romantic,
| affectionate and accomplished. This,
he imagines is what his wife should
be, and when he finds her he intends
to fall in love with her and marry
her. But unfortunately, since that
ideal was created and laid away in
his boyish mind. many years before,
| until such time as he could afford to
take 1t out and dust it off. and set 1t
up for comparison with the flesh and
| blood candidates for his favor, many
| changes have taken place in his dis
position. tastes and requirements.
| The women he has known, in the
years which have interviewed, have not
| been of sort to cultivate taste for
! the pink-and-w white either in COM
| plexions or temperaments. His de-
termination not to marry until he
| could we'll afford 1t has obliged him,
in order to avoid embarrassing COM
! plications, to seek the society of
matrons and Ladies Not Better Than
They Should Be, and his associations
have, in spite of the Dresden fgurina,
| somewhere in the background of his
mind, formed his tastes.
In short when he meets charming
| young girls, beautiful and fresh and
| delightfully."- gowned, well bred and
not over-educated. of irreproachable
position and all that he finds that it
| is impossible for him to interest him
self in them. He likes to sit off and
| look at them, to watch their pretty
| airs and graces, but when he tries to
| talk to them they bore him un-
utterably Their interests center in
no more enter into their diversions
and amusements than he can eat
! their ice cream sundaes. Inspired by
their beauty he pays them assiduous
| court for a little while, greatly to the
excitement of their ambitious
mothers, but although they are fiat
tered by his attentions really, you
know, they find it easier to talk to the
| calloW undergraduates whom they
meet at the college hops and who, al
though they haven't any money ex-
cept what Father allows them. are
such Perfectly Good dancers. And. so
| it happens that, after a little While
he finds himself sitting back and look
| ing on. comfortable and contented
| while she dances with the younger,
more energetic and enthusiastic men,
| and, as before, he goes for genuine
| interest real mental and emotional
stimulus to women old enough and
| experienced and un-ideal enough to
appeal to his intellect, his Imagination
and his senses. Still he refuses to
draw the natural conclusion and say
with one chap of similar experience,
| "Ain't it fierce that a fellow can I
love a nice girl /" He will not dismiss
the dream of the Dresden figurina. He
| sticks to the fond and fatuous nope
| that he will find in one woman the
| freshness. the bloom, the innocence or
youth, and the intellectual ana
emotional development of maturity:
He won't love where he might and
| can't love where he would. And his
is a sad plight indeed unless his
| sense of humor saves him, or a widow
comes along who realizing much bet
ter than he what he really needs, re-
Iieves him of further trouble by
marrying him herself.
| A IODeKa SlIl WHO ISCSnbiy AHdIAiCN
a Perfectly Good Gaping in the army
land lives at Fort Leavenworth asked
some of her Friends From Home ovel
to the Post for a hop last week. Nc
girl feels that she really knows Life
until she has gone to an army posi-
hop. After that she is ready to say
with the ancient Egyptians, that she
has seen everything except the source
OF the Nile and that If death must come
it will find her resigned. The fascina'
ton which army life has for most wo'
men has been explained by some ont
in these words: There is always music
and there is always dancing" And il
is probably true as those qualified t(
judge have said, that no place else doe:
one dance with such perfect partners
to such perfect music as at an army
Irost. At the Post the middle-ageC
dance as enthusiastically as the youth
full, and the older officers are even bet
ter dancers than the young chaps. TIT
!. dowager,s row is almost deserted ant
. there are few who sit out. The For
Leavenworth hop Friday night was thu
first since Easter and it was UNUSUAL!
large and gay. Pope hall where tn
hops are always given, was crowded ant
there were visitors from Leavenworth
and Kansas City beside the Topek'
!, party. The hall was deliberately decor
ated with Japanese lanterns over tn
lights, and many flags hung on wire
that crossed the ceiling diagonall,
from corner to corner. The stage wa
banked with towering plants, the gal
lery where the military band playe'
/ surprising program, was partl,
] screened with palms. and the scene, I
which the brilliant uniforms of the of
ficers so largely contributed, was strik
ingly beautiful. Fort Leavenworth /
really, as you probably know, two dis
j tinct posts, of which the regular arm
l post is one, and the service school 70
| the student officers is another. Genera
l Funston is in charge of the latter an
4 Colonel Loughburrow of the former
I The two divisions make up the larges
4 military post in the United States wit
I over 200 officers and 1000 men, Tn
j service school is to be enlarged an
increased in the near future by tn
addition of classes in other branche
49, ~