WHY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN BECOME PLAIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 70, 16 December 1907, Page 3

WHY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN BECOME PLAIN.

There are so many beautiful children and so many ugly-looking grown-up people, a strange contrast which seems hard to explain. Look at the people in a ballroom, a theatre, or in the street, and you must be a very lenient judgo if you do not admit that, out ,en you see only one passably good-looking and one beautiful. . What happens, then, to all the beautiful children? What makes them change sof . What robs them of tho beauty which they possessed during their first years? To find an answer to these questions (says Paula Lombroso in the "American") it is necessary to analyse the beauty of t,. ren in detail. The most beautiful feature in children is na doub tthei reyes—the big black, brown, or blue eyes. The.eyes of children hardly grow at all. They remain exactly the same as they wero; but, as the face grows bigger and fuller, the eyes grow less predominant. ■ ■ It. is the same with the lustre of the child's eyes. Tho eye is the mirror of the soul, and the soul of the child is limpid, clear, unclouded. Later, when sorrows, trouble, and worry come, the eyes lose their brightness, reflect the unrest of tho soul, and grow themselves restless, dim, and conscious. Tho ordinary child's mouth is .'touching)) , beautiful. It is small, the lips curved and blood red. Later it grows big, the lips grow thin and become brownish or faintly pink. This is not only because the mouth of- tin child grows, but also because no other feature is thus moulded by habit as 'is the mouth. Its colour depends upon the state of health; anaemic people have pale lips. The sturdy, pretty littlo chap of three grows up and grows angular, awkward and bony, and tho little cherub of a girl gets poor legs, a poor carriage, tho beauty of lior body is spoiled by the corset; her charm is gono.' And then the misery of the hair. What often makes children beautiful is the loose hair, falling straight or in curls over the shoulders and making them look like angels. The boy , sbair is cut short when be starts to go to school, and that of the girl is twisted into unsightly braids. Thus it happens that beautiful children grow ugly, and on tho other side ugly children develop into handsome adults.

It is said that Madame Melba wants to make Australia a great musical art centre. Her scheme is to establish regular seasons of grand opera there. Some of the greatest living artists, including herself, will be heard in Australia noxt year or the year after if the proposal is successful. It will be a splendid triumph for women if a woman's tact can accomplish what syndicates and experienced managers have failed to bring about, Thero is the dosiro for moro music, and hotter music. There is a good deal of liionoy, but Australians will not spend money on music unless they aro well entertnined. They want to boar good performers and hrifjht performances. Melba wants them to have these things .