El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-01-04
"Be Young" Advice to Women of 40;
Many Interesting Tasks Are Undone
The Middle Aged Are Warned Against Causing IN
happiness by Being Wretched Herself for Lack
of Something to Do in Which They May
Become Absorbed.
- BEATRICE FAIRFAX


THEY have told you that so is ;
L dangerous age" But there ar,
more dangers than one that beset tbs
woman Of 30. A susceptibility to be-
lated love affairs is not the chief nor
} indeed. the worst OF them.
I'm not thinking Of the women who
has a profession and is absorbed ii
3 it. She can take good care OF her
} self. And I haven't in mind the wom-
an who married late and whose chill
dren are still young and cIamorous
It's the normal. average woman FOR
whom 30 is in so many senses a dan
eerous age-the woman who married
( happily at 20 and whose children arc
- in college. or engaged. or newly mar
ried. and whose contented and pros
/ porous husband is deeply absorbed in
whatever it may happen 20 be that
pays the family bills.
Now, It is very rarely that women
Of this sort see their own situation.
They aren't eagerly concerned about
making the right decision as they
were a score Of years earlier They
feel lnat they have made their de-
cisions and arranged their lives. and
they are sure they have done it re-
markedly we'll
They know that life has gone
smoothly and that their husbands are
devoted and their children promising
and their households competently con-
Quoted. and they think they have done
their part They are more than will
ing. just complacently, to 90 TO seed.
And az 80,
or. perhaps it's IS. which is just
as bad
For. II a woman slumps in this fash
ion at 40, she is not likely to be in
the least interesting when she is so.
and there is no chance whatever Of
her being active. brilliant and beloved
at 50, as the Julia Ward Howes Of this
world succeed in being
It's my own notion that there is no
period OF life, even the greatgrand-
motherly. when a healthy woman IS
justified in sitting comfortably down
IN the big rocking chair and thinking
Of herself as a has been
Two Opposed Types
And I'm quite unable 10 see why
any woman in the prime OF life should
be willing to range herself with the
class that is going to seed Instead
OF with those TO whom life Is still a
reality It's so easy 10 tell at a glance
WHICH type a woman uelOAES To- II
her walk and the way she wears her
clothes didn't betray her, there's an
unmistakable something in the look
OF her eyes that win tell you whether
she is an individual person with a
life Of her own or merely the resigned
and decaying relative Of an obstreper-
Gus younger generation.
And no one in search OF compan-
ionship or friendship or help OF any
sort would hesitate long. I imagine.
as to which sort OF woman to ap-
preach
But there are middle aged women
too vital and energetic to accept the
ignominious fate OF passive decay
and too lacking in wisdom to pro-
vide themselves with a suitable out
let for their energy. II is women OF
this sort who unintentionally cause
a vast deal OF unhappiness- Any hu-
man being with strength. resource
and administrative capacity is a
source Of positive danger unless he
o. she has made a connection with
something to which these talents can
be applied
Professional Motherinlavv.
The over administrative woman
whose children have outgrown the
home and who has herself no legiti-
mate outside interests can. as we all
know. destroy her husbands domestic
peace. cause the washerWoman to
wish she had never been born and
make Of the suffering grocer's boy
woman hater. or. II her children
have married. she can begin the bale