WORK VERSUS BEAUTY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 403, 12 January 1909, Page 3

WORK VERSUS BEAUTY.

, A NOTE FOR THE GIRLS "IN BUSI- ' ' ' ' NESS." 1;V ■' ' •^.ln, a: brightly-written) bookfby; Mrs. Wilson AvoodroWj called The Birdof Time," there is. ay very interesting discussion as, to .the .effept; of work on a woman's appearance. Egeriaj _who .'leads the discussion, claims that work gives some charm to a woman's iaco that the. woman who lives;- without.:, definite aim or interest; never knows.; She excludes :from her statement tho woman who. is condemned to deadly monotonous manual labour," and she does ;:not .think - that the woman ;whose.:,work is: writing'gains"','anything --in' beauty, because her: personality is quite apart from her work, and sho often/ takes, no care ;of herself; • -But shop-girls, .'artists,..societyileadors, all; : thesq.,do' gain .something from their work. "Hero," says Egeria, . "is 'an :extrapt'fr.oni ,ah article, written; by an Englishwoman. . She says: ' 1 am concerned to i know why .the girls who live, in the country, ; breathing the best, air,. .eating; tho best food, : having the best opportunities of exercise and /sport,- .are not' always 'the'best- girls. ' j ''' 'I, have two girls in mind,'' 'she Aon-, jtinues.J/IFrom'the,first day that cub-bunting -opens,; to, the.; day that your..- horse. can' put -his,foot..dqwn for. primroses and slippery-blue hyacinths, one young woman lives, for. hunting; and. as she is always." admirably mounted and ride 3 very straight she. gets, all tho fun out of it thai can bo "expccted. Fivo days, of the week she spends in the free, open-air ,on the. back of a horse; : deep :breathing is iprafcticsxlly: forced, on her, her /lungs . are ifilled and washed by the exquisite air of down and woodland.- Her muscle's are,"in jfree play," foi- the negotiation' of; a 'trappy country, entails': an immense variety of position's;. in thevsaddle. ; She. ought, to .bo a looking girl,.' you would say.. She .'is. not at .all. ;-I.would engage to pick/out ;iii. any, large, establishment where 'the work :is, done standing for long, hours in' an atmosphere necessarily less pure than that of ■ the open country—twenty girls who are. better looking, have. better figures,' and carrythemselves better. : •

: C-" ' The; other girl I spoke of is a capital tennis and hockey player, and she hunts'ail winter ,in a crack country, but to see her walk is, a revelation of ungraceful movement.' . I. .;■■■, ;.. y .- i. ~ she finishes by; saying," Egeria eon-, tiritfed; ;.''tbat/-'if we are to admit '-that ' shopgirls: constantly /display a better- carriage, a 'more .graceful walk and- poise generally than .countryrliouse girls, : we : must admit- one of two; things—either that .fine air,-deep breath.'irig, ..sound - muscle play are not necessary ; to.-beauty, or that,-being necessary to-it, : there. is-.-somethirig else ' necessary as' well /which the town -girl _with ' half the oxygen iaiid none of the exercise manages to secure.' •■..'.'Certainly, : beauty, is. not at a. discount : aniong . the professional. classes. ; Look at an iactress. .. Hor.iwork' is exacting , and nerve- • wearing, to a,degree; She has even/to forego that- cherished fetish of women—her beauty, sleep." .- / •'/;■ . ; •-'-Whom do you include" in ■ the professional iclasses?" asked the Judge.: , ; ' -Oil, actresses, musicians, artists, doctors and lawyers, and those women'who are commonly, oallcd.'social leaders.' /,Their 'duties,' by the way, aro manifold and,exacting, and -'require /very, much the same qualities that make men and women eminent in any field." "Hero is an interesting question," said the Judge. "In a mixed gathering of women jof leisure' and those representing tlia various ■professions, could the ladies of leisure be distinguished from the toiler?" " ■ ; : r "It would be impossible to. distinguish those of either class savo in one way," remarked Egeria, thoughtfully. "There is undoubtedly a subtle something in . the expression of the woman who! works which is lacking in the, face ; of her sister who does not; /-It is that look of thought and purpose which effort and aspiration bestow,, an expression of life's deeper experiences, of a breadth ,of view, which comes from keeping in touch with men and affairs."