The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-07-02
4


vent this catastrophe, she would have
a law passed preventing the papers
publishing anything about age, and
forbidding people to ask each other
how old they are, or to speak of age
in any manner whatever. In fact, she
would make age the one taboo sub |
ject in the world, and she thinks that |
the result would be that everybody |
would be young and happy, and kit |
tenish
I'm sorry that l can't undertake to
push my correspondents reform along, |
but 1 can think of nothing more hor-
rible than a world in which everybody
was young and foolish, or aping the
manners and the appearance of youth.
1t would be like a picture without any
softening shadows, like music without
any minor chord in it, like a day that
was all garish noon without any pur-
pie haze of twilight.
1t takes age TO ripen humanity, to
give it flavor and sweetness, just as
much as it does wine, and the society
of the intelligent man or woman of
fifty or sixty who has seen and known
boy and girl of eighteen or twenty as
the vintage of 1858 is to that of 1912.
Youths Desire.
Naturally, all of us desire to keep
young in the sense of keeping our bod
les vigorous and our minds alert, but
barring that, what have we to fear
from years, why should we so dread
! the coming of age? Especially why
should women worry about growing
old. until they reach the point of dis
traction, as my correspondent AYERS
that they do?
If woman has been raving, tear
ing beauty, we can understand her ag-
ony at age robbing her complexion of
its fairness, her hair of its lustre, her
eyes of their brightness.
But not one woman in a thousand
is a living picture, and it is an actual
fact that the great majority of wom-
en- are better looking as middle-aged
matrons than they were as girls. Often
and often age is the sculptor that CHS
els rough features into symmetry, or
gray hairs soften a hard face into
comeliness, and many times just the
mere expression of goodness of an old
womans countenance gives her beau
ty that her youth never knew. It's the
soul that we see as people grow old
while it's only the flesh be behold in
their youth.
AS for being interesting, certainly
all the advantage goes with age. Near
ly every young girl is a bore to talk to.
She has no conversation worth listen
ing to, because she has not had time
to read anything, or see anything, or
have any experience of life. You can
amuse yourself for an hour playing
with her as you would with a kitten
with a ball. but after that, Heaven
help you if you have to depend on her
for companionship.
The Great Problem.
On the other hand, practically ev-
cry middle-aged woman is interesting
because, no matter how stupid she is,
something strange and thrilling has
happened to her. She has had some
experience unique to herself. She has
touched the great problem of human
existence at some new angle. She has
taken her part in the tragedy, or COM
edy of life and has at least one story
of absorbing interest to tell.
Age also means to the average wom-
an the playtime of life, and in this
country it generally brings with it
comforts and luxuries. The early years
of most American married women are
strenuous ones They are busy bring
ing up their children and working and
economizing, trying to help their hus-
bands get start in the world, but
by the time they are fifty years old
their task is done. and they are ready
| to spend the balance of their lives
enjoying the fruits of their labor
Look over the middie-aged woman at
any matinee or any woman's club gath
ering and you see about as comforta-