TOO ATTRACTIVE AT THIRTY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 8, 14 February 1914, Page 3

TOO ATTRACTIVE AT THIRTY.

IS THIS A WOMAN'S IDEAL AGE? A clock, striking twelve, tells me my birthday is over. lam thirty, and unashamed. The disagreeable turns up in real life with the frequency of the wicked fairy in juvenile literature—made her appearance at my birthday feast. She brought me a very nice present in her hand, and she said: "I want to know when' I am to have the pleasure of choosing your wedding gift? You are out of the twenties now, you know, dear." "Yes, I'm getting quite old," I assented meekly. And she bustled off with a dismal clank of jet ornaments,, feeling pleasantly /certain she had me. But. not so. Any regret, that: I may express, as to may.age is merely conventional. I think thirty is a very good number of years to have arrived at. In fact, I like it so much that I am tempted to stay therelike a little friend of mine in the country who says she is "always twenty-five." fe What Experience Teaches. -When one reaches thirty the days are comparatively halcyon. Yow'are independent, you have learnt to cut your coat to your cloth so that your dress allowance "does," and you have the wit and wisdom to steer Jour love affairs to satisfactory conclusions. .'. . I do not' suppose any man —not even the one I adore —to be perfect, nor do I suppose that any womaneven my bosom friend—is'capable of keeping my secrets or copying my clothes. Both these vain imaginations .belonged to my youth. To-day lam not mofß cynical but more tolerant. . . . So much for my own feelings. *"-■ But what do other people think about me? On the whole, I think the woman of thirty is apt to be *rfore popular than the girl of seventeen. That damsel is too bright—if not. too good —for the sober paths of friendship. Her friendships are legion—and always coming to. sudden conclusions; For she chooses her friends with no discretion and then makes demands itom them which an archangel could scarcely fulfil. Thirty years teaches you the lesson that friendship ib merely a giant game of give and take. And you bring to the market—or ought to, if you have used your time aright—a stock trade consisting, of prudence, good nature, and generosity. A Good Marrying Age. The woman, of thirty can still play games and dance and flirt without looking './ridiculous,.'andr at the same time her experiences given he*£oise and balance. I will not say she is sensible,, because that a ,;woman with "faint'praise, but \I ; will use a homely phrase and say ehe "has her wits about her." She can cut out a blouse or bind up a cut finger, and give advice which is not absolutely futile. She has arrived/ Miss" Thirty-years-old—at a good marrying age; Her brains have had. time to mature, . her heart has not had time to grow heavy. Her play days are by no means over, but she will be something more than a toy to her husband. It is true that every man-wants a flirt in his house to tease and cajole him out of those* bearish humours to which the male sex are so prone; but he also wants someone to mend; his socks, order ,his meals, and—last, but certainly not least—rcall him to order and tell him a few trenchant home-truths now and then. The average woman of thirty is quite capable of undertaking, all these duties. . But, if for her own good reasons she is not married,, she can look forward to a very festive time indeed. Her . younger. sisters: retire defeated while she makes conquest after conquest. Previous flirtations—her own and .others of which 'she hak been an interested spectator —have taught her much. She makes flirtation an art, and knows all the various methods of practising > it. At the same time she realises that plain ordinary friendship between.men and wom&i has its. charm, add she never falls into the fatal mistake-H3O common TH> her .younger sister—of imagining that, every: ma*n sfee meets is in love ; with. her. Neither has she the uneoffif citable habit of frequently falling in love herself. r :' She* knows how to' make the best of herself—if.; she finds a grey hair or a wrinkle she makes compensation for it "by dressing her hair in a most becoming style or wearing colours which suit her to the utmost] A • lurking idea that her youth is fleeting has the desirable effect of keeping her up to the mark 1 . ' , She, may be "too old at forty," but' she is. J! too attractive at thirty" for the peace,.of mind of even the most confirmed bachelor.—"Daily Mail" Correspondent.