The Art of Artlessness.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue XII, 20 September 1902, Page 711

The Art of Artlessness.

DECEPTIONS OF THE MODERN GIRL. \\ hat charm is greater in a girl than natural frankness and freshness? Does not everyone know and admire —and envy sometimes—the girl who captivates all who see her by her naturalness, by her complete freedom from all artifice?

But how often do people think that this selfsame artlessness is an art: that this freedom from restraint is the result of studious schooling and diligently applied method: and that it is open to all to study the art and apply the method?

Ever since the day when first America’s fair daughters looked upon Britain and saw thar Its men were good. and. having - seen, came and conquered. their fresh, breezy, natural charm has been in vogue. It is “chic.” it is “smart." and it is “good form.” The day of the modest maid who coyly hung her head over her fancy work in delicious (or deliciouslyfeigned) ignorance of the world around is past and gone, and no one sheds a tear over it. We are all too delighted with the newer type of girl, and now the cry is for the bright, merry little thing, who runs (instead of “tripping”) and laughs (instead of

“smiling”)— a health,'. mirth-provok-ing laughter. And as you see her

you exclaim admiringly: “How charmingly natural, how deliciously frank and unrestrained she is—so fresh and ’wholesome!” Yet she is not really so very frank or unrestrained. If you were to see real naturalism in the drawing-room it

would seem boorish and out of place. The naturalness that charms is a studied effect. The silvery laughter is the result of long practice, and is very different from the hearty guffaw of the country “tomooy," which grates upon the educated ear. The little moue that is so fascinating bears no real relation to the unrestrained grimace. Every remark startling in its frankness, every action captivating in its freshness, must bear the hall-mark of spontaneity—the hall-mark so cleverly forged that none but the little criminal herself knows its worthlessness. And when the time comes for her to settle down to the cares and duties of married life, is she any the worse for caring as much to make her manner attractive as she does to make the most of her actual outward appearance? I think not. THE EFFECT OF EATING TOO MANY SWEETS. Not a few of the ailments from which girls suffer might be prevented by a little care and common sense. To take one instance —- neuralgia. Does it ever occur to you how largely this is due to the indiscriminate eating of lollies. Girls, as a rule, eat a great many more lollies than are good for them, and. what is worse, they often eat them at the wrong - time—i.e., just before or midway between meals. The consequence is that when luncheon or dinner-time comes they have hardly any appetite. Commonplace beef and mutton seem most unattractive; they can hardly touch such things, and no wonder. The “caramels" and “fondants" and “creams" thev have been eating all the morning have turned, as "sweeties” have an awkward trick of doing, into acid In the stomach, and when your stomach is full of acid you may bid adieu to any relish for wholesome food. "But. you may say, “what has this to do with neuralgia? Doesn't it come from cold?" Not always—certainly not. Strong people, whose blood is healthy, can stand a lot of cold and even damp without getting neuralgia. If, however. your system is run down because you are not sufficiently nourished. then you are open to all sorts of neuralgic attacks; and, in spite of the possession of a good cook and a well-stocked larder, you may be halfstarved by reason of your digestive apparatus being out of gear. Want of appetite is often the direct precursor of neuralgia, and many a girl is the destroyer of her own healthy appetite for plain, wholesome food because she spends all her pocket-money in the sweetshop.

Some girls begin their sweet-eating even before they get up in the morning. and eat sugar things in bed tie last thing at night. They should be warned in time against such a foolish practice, for they will assuredly damage their good looks as well as th - ir health.

An acid state of the stomach is a common cause of that very nnprett.v thing, a red nose. Acid secretions ruin the enamel of the teeth. Toothache is largely due to this cause, and once the teeth begin to go the bloom of the youthful face follows.