The Washington herald., 1917-06-22

/ Strictly speaking a woman's age 10
q triangular secret between her mir
ror.. her makeup box. and the family
many many winters 1m s have passed s sea over her her
head IL her own anair, and II 10 no.
body's business whether she Is as
feels.
The greatest modern discovery. so
far as the fair sex is concerned.
Is the finding OF the Fountain Of Per-
petual Near-youth. so that the wom-
an OF today who has drunk of Its
waters il anywhere from twenty 10
forty years younger than the woman
Of the past was at the same age.
At the time when her grandmother
felt that>she was through with life
and retired to the chimney corner
with her knitting to prepare for the
Other World, the modern woman just
begins to really live, and buys her
self q circular ticket around the
globe. and fares forth to see what
OF course there was never any
greater absurdity than to measure,
age in terms of years. How many
birthdays one has celebrated has moth
ing to do with the case. Age is not
fion Of mind and heart and tempera-
ment, especially with women. There
are those who are born old and are
senile in the cradle, and there are
those who are eternally young and
are debutantes at ninety.
Therefore, when you would know
woman's age, seek not to ascer-
tain the year Of her birth. for that
Is Of no consequence. Judge not by
crows feet, for they may be but
the fine print In which experience
has written the most interesting chap
ter in her history; not by. haltlng
gait, for that may be rheumatism
which has all ages for its own. But
judge of her age by the wrinkles
on her soul, and the stiffness and lack
Of elasticity of her mind. These are
Also there be these signs which
never fail to tell how old Ann is.
Apply them to the lady next to you
and see how they work out. Also
and likewise use them as a Binet
test to really find out how old you
are yourself.
The first indication that a woman
gives that she Is beginning to grow
old Is when she commences shying at
date as nervous country horse
does at an automobile. After a wom-
an passes her thirty-fifth birthday,
chronological charts cease to exist
for her and she never remembers any,
thing, no matter how interesting. that
happened later than last year.
A middle-aged man will greet an
anu say .Dy
George. Bill Smith, Is that you? Why,
haven't heen you in twenty years"
Or he will recall that fifteen years
ago he met Jones in Europe. But
Mrs. Smith and Mrs, Jones indulge
in no such incriminating reminis-
cences. They indulge in glittering
generalities as to dates and content
themselves with an elusive reference
to a ''long time" which commits
them to no specific number of years.
OF course when a woman aban-
dons hope and becomes the Oldest
Inhabitant she renews her connec-
tion with the calendar. Then she
remembers all about the cold win
ter of rs, or the hot summer of
'96, but in the interim wild horses
couldn't drag from her any date
that would give you a line on how
old she must be now II she remem-
bers all about the soldiers starting
for the Cuban war. When she re-
feFs to such matters, she always
says that she has heard her mother
tell of them.
The second sign of approaching
age in a woman is when she be-
gins to preface her statement with
the remark, IT was a mere child
when that happened" and to con-
fide to you that her husband, II he