MATTERS FEMININE.

Waipa Post, Volume VII, Issue 331, 17 July 1914, Page 3

MATTERS FEMININE.

THE CHARM OF PERSONALITY.

J ‘Why, she’s quite plain!” So cried a young girl on first seeing a certain world-famous actress. She expected a woman' of marvellous physical beauty, and here, apparently, was an ordinary creature like herself. That was what she thought at first, but after a while she began to wonder how she could ever have considered her “ordinary.” Most women overestimate the power of mere physical beauty and underestimate the power of personal charm. Personality is a power to be reckoned with, and the possession of a charming mann'er implies the further possession of some intellectual quality. It is true that physical beauty gives a mero temporary satisfaction to the eye, but it does not hold and fascinate tlfc mind as the charm of personality does. Does it not often happen that a woman with a particularly beautiful face and “soulful” eyes is absolutely without “charm” of any sort? She can look charming, but that is all. Her physical beauty is her only asset, and after a time that begins to lose its potency, for tlicro is nothing behind it. As a matter of fact, charm is rare. If we meet with it half a dozen times in a life we may think ourselves fortunate. It is certain that Cleopatra possessed it, all the more so sincemodern research goes to prove that she was not beautiful; and it is equallycertain that had she been the most beautiful of her sex, and that alone, we should never have heard -of her. Great beauty is rare, but as all things are relative in this life it would seem that, compared with that pre-eminent power which we call charm, beauty is really hut a common and everyday affair.

IN NAVY SERGE THIS SKIRT LOOKS VERY SMART.

For making in cloth, tweed or serge. The tab in front is very natty, and the

pleat just removes the plainness and makes the skirt a trifle wider and better for walking. It is slightly liiglxwaisted, but can be cut just to the waist if preferred. n

THE IDEAL HUSBAND,

A Tokio review, the “Choukouyo Goualio,” has been asking its lady readers of their ideal of a husband. Here are the seventeen virtues of tlio paragon placed according to the order of their importance in the eyes of fair Japan. He must:

Not be a miser. Not be too much taken up with his own toilet.

Be manly in appearance. Not be a woman’s man. Express himself clearly, avoiding anything like a hint. Be prompt in decision, and clever in extricating himself from an awkward

position. Have an ideal, which may be left to his own choice. Leave the management of the household to his wife.

Never put his face inside the kitchen.

Never'' criticise his wife’s hat or dresses:

Never make other people the recipients of his confidences. Not end by becoming an object of disgust to his wife. Not interfere in feminine matters at all. Cultivate the virtue of compassion. Not drink heavily. Not bo fat. Not be too jealous.

FEMININE TRAITS,

A woman walking on a city footway will generally choose the inside (says an observant writer). She does so partly in order to look at the shop windows, but chiefly on account of the slope of the pavement, which is less on the inside! In trams and omnibuses women mostly sit near the door. At the far end you will, as a rule, see a majority of men. When men read while travelling they nearly always read newspapers, but in the hands of the reading girl you will, with rare exception, see a book. When a woman is crossing a street with much traffic, she runs, in nine cases out of ten, and the older she is, the more inclined she is to run. But the man walks very deliberately. A woman holds a closed umbrella by the middle, and usually clasps it to her body. No one ever saw a man carry it in this way. A woman usually raises a cup or a glass or a fork to her lips coraeetly—that is with her elbows dose to her body. Most men stick their elbows out, against all rules of etiquette. In lighting a match a woman mostly rubs it in the direction away from her, & man towards his bady.