WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 55, 30 March 1909, Page 4

WOMAN'S WORLD.

(Conducted by "Lygia.") What is the most beautiful thing jn the world'? Thi's question is a dillicu'l one to answer, for appreciation of sight, like sound, is almost entirely a mailer of individual taste. Five persons mil of six .will probably say n lovely woman's face is the most beautiful' thing uu ■eai'th, but there ugain, we are mil ap't tu differ as to what constitutes a woman's beauty. Beauty is perhups divided into three classes—'prcltiucss, dependent almost entirely on coloring; loveliness, consisting of an indclinUble adimiraiionrtjinipclli.ng clt'llnn; and the beauty of entire perfection of .feature and coloring, a beauty thai is undeniable and yet sometimes fails to attract us because the charm of loveliness, is linking. There are many persons who think a llo'wer the most Milly lovely of all creations, while others say there is nothing like the cvcr-c'lt'angiug beauty of Uiat atmosphere we call the sky. ft is true that few sights can outvie the glowing beauty of !i sunset's ephemeral iridescence. Momentarily changing from one lovely shade to, another, deepening at last into the touching, ineffably peaceful hours, of twilight, that turns again into darkness lightened with shimmering stars, ,and followed in its turn by the inspiring hours of dawn, whic'h merge so, imperceptibly once more into sunlit day, truly the sky is a neverending theme of beauty. Vet to my mi'iid, after thinking for months on this very subject, I have come to the conclusion tlnit the mtet beautiful of all .sights is the ilight of a bird. It is an inspiration, and for grace and poise, swiftness, and faultless freedom of movement, t'hiere is nothing like it or even faintly to be imagined in its subtle suggestion of a. perfection at which we can only guess.

HUSBANDS AS LOVERS. I was asked the other day by a plaintive young bride if 1 could lell her "why husilAinds, are so ashamed of being thought lovers, .when lovers do jipt •mind How silly they look/" It is true 1 have seen a, man whUti I knew to be devotedly fond of his 'wife draw has arm uwtiy with obvious impatience when she la id "her Wand for a moment on it—yet there was no, oiiie there .but his little daughter and myself, and the wife, who was sttill a young aud very charming w»minn. He drew uw'ay 'almost in apparent distaste. If you ask a man the reason of this, he. ,«ill doubtk'ss say "Englishmen, do not care to ehow their deepcUl feelings." (,'uite so; then .we must assume the lover's feelings are merely eviinescent, /or of 4i.1l the sillies!! I It is one of the psychological mysteries of life—an emgaged and "spoony" young man docs i,o! mind how silly he looks, while a, Jiusliandls one id'ea is to show none of the foolish preference lie no doubt feels for the 'woman fat has chosen to bo his wife.

lis it explained .by the following quotation: "A man in lovie is a. nftui who wishes to lie more amiable and agreeable t'iian lie ro'ally An bv, and this is .the reason .why all men in luve appear ridiculous"? 1 leave -the other sex to, uiktvcr and to tell me tine difference between a husband's "loving" and being "in, love." Is tlicre anything more really boring to his more intimate friends and relations than the average young man, who fancies himself d'ecply .in, love'i All conversation veers round to "her." If you mention ijioli'tics lie hastily assures you "..Uollic" is not a v puliticiain; if you talk of mere brains, there is nothing really n'he cannoL do; while if you meu'tion, bittnty or virtue—but ii you are really wise-you don't! Yet this same infatuated creature, who is telling the sister whom .he lias only a year or two ago despised b.vanse she, was "only a girl," Jio'w perfu'llv evcrvtliiiig perfect his ".Mollie" is, w'ill Home day doubtless degenerate—no, 1 mean rise—into the lius.liand thWt .reverts once more to the woin'a-u-despisikig state of mind.

A ttXMIOAL POEM. It is a comical old world and there are many clever comedians at many of our playhouse*,, but none more comic .than, the unconscious humorist who cannot act. , A little poem in an open book th'at is lying on my table, 1 do n'ot know- b'y whom, fits into my dissert ati'osi on the mooning stage tf i|>oo,ny love: p "0' lor, it is tile greatest bore To htive a friend who's lost his heart A short time ago. Five heard her thoroughly described A hundred..limes, I'm sure; And all the while I've tried to syinilo And .pa'tieiilly endure. And so I would all women could lie banislhod o'er the sea; For 'tis the most egregious bore (If all,the bores I know, To JAive a fr-iund who's lost his heart A short time ago. 11 y only comment on the verses — whether 'pertinent or merely impertinent 1 leave the male and female reader 'to decide—is, why banish the women 'I A STOIiY. 1 add a little story to my notebook 'to-day. The story is true, and is of a \iJlUy doctor who 'was sent for by n woman ifi poor circumstances to see her child, who was suffering from acute broni.-liitis. The doctor examined the child's chest, and then said to the miother: "Have you done anything 'for her, or given her anything to relieve lierr" To which the woman replied: ''Y'es, idodtor, I liii-ve given her some. Gregory's powdery, but the singing goes on/ in her chest just the same." "Ah!" remarked the doctor drily, "Chose are merely Gregorian, chants!" Doubtless the mother was greatly impressed by this scientific diagnosis.