Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-27
What n Beauty?

What II Beauty?
There has been much discussion in
papers and periodicals and in art circles
OF late on the agcs-old question: What Is
beauty" There seems to have been no
conclusion reached as to the ingredients
of feminine beauty, for every race has Its
own standard and stiff'y adheres to it. So
there are AZ many opinions on the sub
ject as there are peoples in the world. and
we must conclude that there is no rule for
beauty that will be accepted by anybody
other than he who may have tried to set 1t
up.
Foreigners coming to this country find
the American girl the most beautiful and
adorable of womankind. they so declare
her, especially il back of this great
beauty is rich father with an open purse
ready TO buy coronet. However. when
one comes to analyze the estimate OF the
European connoisseurs Of beauty, 1T is
found that it is the charm of manner OF
our girls, their singular freedom frcm the
restraints of hampering social formalities
that lure our visitors. 1t is her unaffected
personality and perhaps, in the earlier
days, her unconscious lack of sophistica-
ton added to the charm.
The same may be said OF the French wo-
man. 1t is her "chic," her brilliance of
manner, her animation, her knowledge OF
the art of dressing and wearing her COS
tunes mcst effectively, that cause the
Partisan visitor to look with admiration
on the women he sees at the opera or at the
big social functions over there. 1t is
rarely the physical beauty Of the woman
alone that compels the most rabid wo-
man-hater to turn his eyes askance as the
pretty Partisan passes.
We have been taught by our school
histories, by fiction and the drama, that
Cleopatra was the most beautiful woman
in all history OF legend. whereas there is
ample authority to show that the Queen
of Egypt had crooked nose; indeed, some
historians declare she had wart on her
face that loomed large and obstrusvely
when one looked upon her ''ravishingly
beautiful" countenance. There can be no
doubt that in the eyes of the royal, and
even unroyal heaux of her day Cleo
'patra's beauty II charm were irresist-
ible, so much sot ltF1 upset thrones and
became the hunted ''vamp" of her royal
neighbors! Cooler FLOODED, more vener-
able and less romantic commentators,
however. find that the charm of the
beautiful sovereign who lured Cassr to
his undoing and set the world agog was
almost entirely mental. They regard her
as the most accomplished and learned
woman of her day. In conversation her
face bespoke her brilliancy Of mind and
her features lighted until she seemed to be
the radiant beauty OF
celestial Venus.
So it was the mental accomplishments
that lighted up this queens coantenance
until she WAS worshipped as the mcst
beautiful woman Of all who had lived up
to that time. And so we find 1T with all
beauty and we must yield TO the conclu-
sion that the old adage is correct and that
handsome is as handsome does" This is.
after oil, the only standard we can &C
cept for beauty that will hold the world |
over, and it is the only truth concerning |
beauty thereis. We all know that what we |
see as beauty in womankind is not ac-
eepted as beautiful by other races, and so |
beauty as we have said is a matter Of
mental culture or the reflection of the |
transcendental inner light. |
1t is obvious, therefor, that if there are
any of the fair sex who long to be beauti- |
one may find millions of such
wherever in the world he may stray the
MY real recipe to assure the fulhllment CT
his ambition is the cultivation of the |
mind, of the spirit. of the light within that
effects high aspiration ana ideals, tender
less and love for all mankind.