The Washington herald., 1921-07-31
Romanticism, Butt of Jest,
Eases Hard Roads of Life
Rsseate elf-Deception Valuable Asset To
Women Lacking Beauty,
-'@' Says Hamilton.

| nifcent race horse or the champing
steed of local Sir Galahad. A
small Thunderstorm Is invariably
one Of the most dangerous electric
disturbances which has occurred
within the memory of the oldest
inhabitant, and she even went so
far during the war. being without
sweetheart In the uniform of his
country, poor soul, as to invent .
very gallant man who had won
every known honor for bravery TO
whom she actually wrote a letter
every Thursday OF the week. His
replies were just as regular, though
they never came. and were, oh so
wonderful, so passionate. so full Of
poetry. so exquisitely thrilling. But
they could never be married, even
IL he ever came back. someone
stood in the way. There was an
obstacle. But it was better to have
loved and lost than never to have
loved at all.
The Perfect Romantici<t.
That is the epltome OF romantic
mindedness. This is the perfect
romantic girl. II is true that her
stories awake Homeric laughter
and give the ribald many opportu-
mites for jesting. But how good a
thing it Is for her, how rare and
splendid a gift to possess, because
it elevates this ugly ,duckling into
a lovely and happy swan. II
makes up for the lack of generosity
on the part of nature and does away
with all those feelings of sourness,
jealousy and self-depreciation which
otherwise must be hers. l don't
know how many romantic girls
there may be in the world at pres
ent-there are no statistics on the
subject: and even DR.. Freud, inquis-
tive as he is, does not seem to have
compiled a list. But there must
be good many of them. and 1 hope
there are, because, after all is said
and done, every girl cannot be a
Mary Pickford and every shack can
not be a castle in Spain. Nor can
every girl turn the hearts of men at
first sight and play the heroine in
the divine comedy of everyday life.
The gift of romantic -mindedness. or
romanticism, may lead to laughter
but 1t also leads to happiness and
content.
Pleasant Self-Deception.
The little girl in the department
store who wins no looks of approval
from her male acquaintances can.
il she knows the way, live in a
round of waking dreams. sharing
her hope with others in a manner
that makes her good to know. The
bachelor proprietor of the store Is
certainly going to ask her, when
he can screw up courage, to become
his wife and share his new big
house. 1t is so nice to take that
belief home to her dismal lodgings
and make her plans for a gorgeous
trousseau. The little small part
girl who never does more and
never will than make one entrance
in every act to say, THE telephone,
madam" or THE car is waiting" is,
in reality-the reality of imagina
tion-the leading lady at whom al
ways the one great concentrated
/ eye of the audience is fixed in ad-
| miration. The hard-working girl
who taps a typewriting machine
during 800 days of the year in an
| NUNS on the window sill into a
lovely Italian garden. AS for the
little woman, born with social as
things. who has married a strug-
Cling man with a strangling salary
and runs three children in a tiny
house. the ability to deceive her
self is the only thing that carries
her through. She may be living
in the Bronx during the day but her
address is Fifth avenue at night.
Therefore, I suggest, that within
certain limits. romantic mindedness
might be taught in the public
schools. and injected with sympathy
and care into all those little girls
whose path in life must be of
necessity, rather drab and rather
stony. II. as Diogones said, hope
is the dream of a waking man. why
shouldn't IL be the dream of a walk
ing girl? Because, without hope
and without romance what is there,
after all?
Copyright. 1921. by Century Pr.ss.)