QUAINT FACTS ABOUT FASCINATION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 354, 22 April 1911, Page 3

QUAINT FACTS ABOUT FASCINATION.

Miss l\atli:rine Kaelred, iu order to portray on the stage the role of a wo - .nan who fascinates a man to his ruin, has been making a special study of the secret of fascination, and here she presents the conclusions to which her researches in history and life have brought her. Fascination is never the same thing to any two people. It is as illusive as charm. When a woman has it she needs nothing else, and when she hasn't it she can have all eke and yet have nothing. I th'n'; that fascination is an art, arrlthatit can he practised. I think e cry woman is perfectly conscious when she is fascinating, and that usually she is making voluntary effort to exert her powers over people. Thrre are two kinds of fascination ; erne that is absolutely harmless and pi;re, an 1 one that is the antithesis of this. The latter is exerted by K idling's Vampire. The fascination which is pure is the natural attraction of the opposite sex ; the power that goodness, 1 ca'.ity. grace, graciousness, and tact have over a man, and that the corresponding attributes, strength, courage, health and nobility in a man have over a woman. These are natural weapons, or modes of attraction, exerted unconsciously by each sex upon the other.

But when yon pet the conscious witchery you come into the more subtle realms of mind and will. I don't know much about makes, but I am sure that the snake concentrates its mind on the little bird—that is, of course, if snakes have minds —and that the bird feels some awful rower exerted over it. That must in a way he the same kind of power that the woman exerts when she wills that a man should look at her, admire her, and fall captive to her spell.

It is just the unknown power, this mystery of attraction, that makes a man think a woman is fascinating. Surely to some temperaments all mystery is fascinating because it suggests the possibility of a new, extraordinary and previously unexperienced sensation. And both men and women are eagerly seeking for that. T'ndo.ibte.lly it is with a woman as with a snake that fascination can l.c most dangerous when it is exerted through the eyes. The eyes as the \v n.lo.vs ci tho soul must most often be th? magnetic medium through which fascination finds it way. The hypnotist us:s hi.-, eyes. We cannot fancy hypnotism without eyes. Fasci:";atiai is not hypnotism, though all nvn may nt agree as to that.

In t' ■■' play I keep my mind so centred en willing the hero to obey me that I am totally unconscious of my self, even my own physical self, and have played whole scenes and acts in acute physical discomfort without ever giving myself a thought until I got off the stage. In studying fascination from the "Vampire's point of view, it has seemed to me that th 3 main point is to sound the depths of the mini's nature, t-> find out his weak points and to make much of them. It is at this point that the difference between the fascination of the "Vampire" and the fascination of the good woman is most mar'ued. Both wom&n detect these wcakr":sscs—the one to destroy him by tlrm, the other to help him overcome them.

Ln-loti'-tedly, in the art of attraction, :-o;, ne.-o plays a largo part. Co n >-s is the first, attribute of charm put forth consciously by v.-oiiun oi savage races. 1-lcr retreat fn :.i the advances of her lover raises the savage maid tremendously in his ejes. And it advances the savage woman in the Bcaie of civilisation, since she lias learned to allow herself to be persuaded and to play the iiamc of chase. The woman with the power () f fascination i.' seldom seen among the l.erfect beauties. Even Sc.hopcnliaucr admits this. Fascination is the exertion of a subtle mental fore?, a conscious or sub-conscious determination to attract. A woman with a tremendous amount of magnet:; m was once asked the secret of lit power. She answered, laughing, that it was perfect health. Perhaps she was right, for abundant health an i \ itality always have the power to attract, and seem to radiate that pov er over those who come within their circle.

However, perfect health is only a physical side of the question, and sympathy, real or simulated, is a charm which works unfailingly. No man, no woman, can resist the strong appeal made by one who takes an active interest in them, in their work, in their lives, in their thoughts and doings. Undoubtedly the woman who most fascinates is the wom-,n who is most subtle and most intuitive, the woman who can read a man's thoughts almost before he expresses them, and who is willing to study him as closely and minutely as if she had him under a microscope.

To study a man like this a woman must hive her own feeliugs under control. The women whose names have been handed down to us as the most fascinating of their sex have been women whose emotions, if tliey were deep, were carefully concealed from view. They did not wear their hearts upen their sleeves, and even in the times when it was fashionable they neither wept nor had the vapours when their admirers became disenchanted, as sometimes happened. No, 1 think it is just this quality in a woman that fascinate.-:—-the ability to keep a man guessing as to the state Mf h.T iVi'im^ men here ,\n ■■■' l" :! d"wn ''.'•' Mist Kaelred ,m : -h ..h<- considers may .serve a- s. ■t.vb"- !o the pvac

tice of r.h.ai: art winch has diverted the course of history, and of which every woman must in some degree wish herself a mistress : If yon would be attractive you must hide your feelings. A man docs not went to be instructed. He never likes a woman who knows more than he does about things. Even if you're sure he's wrong, don't, correct him. Appear to receive instruction and let your knowledge be a sort of cushion for his.

Give him your full attention when he talks.

Rcnrmber that the man wants always to think himself the hunter. Be careful about dropping the scent just where you want it picked up. Give the appearance of being large minded and large hearted, whether you are or not.

I'raise other women's beauty ; this is the riv.ic.kest way to have your own praised. Ta'.e rains to discover a man's good finalities and talents, and then praise t.hcm without limit.—"Popular Science Siftings."