The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-12
Dorothy Dix Tails
Bx DOR0THT DIR
wezsa's szlghsss Paid WczAaa Wszsas.
The Art OF Courtship-f,

1 WozsGs &fEheSs Paid WSzAaA WFzeaS. 1
Tho Art of Courtship-1.
Because an American man can't or
the telephone or by telegram, or get
an option on a woman's heart thru
his broker, he is at the end of his
tethers sentimentally speaking.
Or at least so / gather from the
hundreds OF letters I get from men
who ask me for some formula for con-
Quoting courtehip.
Now, in reality, altho men profess
to think it difficult. the art of court
ship is very simple. and consists in a
choice of methods. There are two
ways to win a woman's heart. One by
storm, and the other way by siege, and
both ways work.
The wom4n's choice Is by storm
There is something elemental and bar
barrie in every woman's nature that
responds to brute force Woman
adore men who do not ask for their
love. but who take it, and the man
who tells a woman that he is going
to marry her, whether she will have
him or not. ends by doing it. The
strong and passionate wooing has gone
to her head and captured her fancy,
and when you capture a woman's
fancy you have the key to the citadel,
and may enter when you please. The
fort has surrendered.
Not less successful, however, is the
patient waiter. The man who can
camp on a woman's doorstep year after
year eventually marches with her to
the altar. The stars fight together
in their course for him. For one
thing. being always on the ground,
he gradually and impercepub1y estab-
lishes a quarantine around her that
drives other men away. For, an
other. she gets used to him, and de-
nv ~ -. x1d xrrAn % or% h q
discreetly threatens to withdraw him
self. she suddenly realizes that it will
make a gap in her life that nothing
can fill, and she weeps on his collar
and begs him not to leave her
The importance of having good stay
ing powers in a courtship cannot be
insisted upon too much, If one wants
to knock down the particular peach
that hangs highest on his tree. 5dOnly
overripe fruit drops at the first sha ke
A man who takes womanss first mo :.
as final is a faint-hearted craven who
would fire one gun and then run up
white flag. Woman's tastes change
continually The kind of a man Il
woman liked yesterday she would'r
have today. and many a girl, if given
time. is glad to embrace the oppor-
tunity she rejected with scorn There s
always a good fighting chance for any
woman's love this side of the altar.
Another valuable tactic in courtship,
and one that generally wins, is a star
play to a woman's sympathy. The
man who can make himself pictur-
esquely wretched before-the woman
who has refused him has a trump
card; the one who can make her be-
1ieve that he is trembling on the verge
of suicide has the game in his own
hands. ~ ~5~.era-r-1 ~
Women know. in their rational mo-
ments, that men do not perish OF 3eve,
,-f,
but when a man tells one that he is
suffering-perhaps dying-for love of
her, it is such subtle appeal to van
5ity and her pity that she goes. Under.
Many men hold to thextheory that
bribery is effective in courtship. and
shower the women they love with
gifts. This is a mistake. Women like
presents, and the adore anything that
srnacks of their personal tastes, but
the woman who demands gifts TO win
her favor is not in love. She is simply
greedy.
The most vital point of a courtship
is the proposal and many men lose
out at the last because they have not
wit enough to seize the psychological
moment when a woman is ready to
say Eyes" The finest bit of acting in
THE Dolls House" is when Mrs. Fiske
turns up the lamp when herr hus-
bands friend makes love to her in the
knows it is because Nora would have
listened if she had sat there in the
dark, and she wanted a chaperon
Yet-God help us-there are men
who propose to women on the street
car, and wonder that a woman says
Mo-
A young woman in this city who
has been wrestling unsuccessfu11y with
3 career. was asked recently why she
didn't marry a worthy young man,
who had been counting her for years.
Because" replied the girl, "he hasn't
sense enough to ask me at the right
moment. He always picks out the
time when have sold a picture or
got a new frock, and feel big and
strong enough to fight the world, and
I say No. II he would only ask me
when I am tired, and discoura ged,
and worn out, and only want to weep
on some mans shoulder. I'd be glad
enough to say Yes"
But perhaps there is no infallible
guide to courtship. If a woman loves
a man any old thing goes If she
doesn't-an eIoquence is wasted.