THE QREGON- SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING,. SEPTEMBER 18, IS
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Despised in the East, Worshiped
in the West; Why Is She So
"Attractive?
1iS
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HY has Newport been flooded with case is easy to see. Yet, had they been as
foretzn titles this last season? Whs mpecumous as the salable titles, the chances
are more coming next yearf
Answer easy. y
Because there were $300,000,000 worth
"0 widows there. , ,
... Grass and sod combined, there "were
catches like Mrs. Ogden Goelet, Mrs Roth
rt ClnAft Kfrt H H P. JiAmnni Jlfr
John Nicholas, Mrs. Harold Brown, Mrs.
B. F. Clyde; Mrs. Thomas Emery, of Cin
cinnati; Mrs. Herman Oelrichs, Mrs. French
'VanderbUt and Mrs, John Jacob Astor.-
Like flies to molasses the impecunious
foreigners flocked to them. The lure in their
are they would pot have lacked admirers.
In fact, there is plenty of precedent in
history to back up the assertion that the
merry widow is the queen bee in the matri
monial mart. -. -
- Look over the lists and judge for your-
"H. ...
w
rHT, on widow can eateh and corner more ad
mirers at a slngla tea party than a dozen
maldi or matrons on a moonlit lawn, with all
the accessories and perquisites of romance)
There Is no use trylntr to analyze the charm of the ,
widow: the temerity of the widow analyser la Just one
tep higher in the scale than the nerve of the man who
attempts to find the secret of feminine charm In general
But the widow facts speak for themselves.
In all history the widow has been a clever siren and
7
. . :zvfKZ
J:ibyal Jypid farMh efeilial
w
rHN one looks at the round childish aces
of the little princea and princesses of
England, he cannot help thinking; how
many youngsters be has seen; m, tne
'fields and streets with just such faces; and it
seems . a pity that such natural looking "kids"
should not hare the freedom to mingle and play
that tha, children of the masses haver- -" -,
Yet the English titled youngsters are raised
most sensibly and democratically. : The boys are
taught mechanical trades and get & liberal educa
tion along with other real boys. You can't keep
the boy down, royal or otherwise, if you give him .
a chance to associate in the natural way with his
fellows, and the present family comprises some
excellent specimens of the real boy and one real
girl, with yellow, curly hair and a true English
complexion, who is as good and gracious a girl as
the boys are manly a'hd energetic. 1' v
The fact that she. is to become her father's
stenographer ; and write hia private letters ' on tho
typewriter, just because she does not want to be
idle, doesn't want to do the inane things that Jurist
girls are reared, to do, and wants to have some
thingto do with the running of a kingdom, too,y
is a real token of the little princess', worth, -
w
rllEN her royal highness princess Vlptnrin
Alexandra Alice Mary completes her; educa-
uon aixne vypewruer ana actually takes
oiciauon irom ine King of England and
tickles the royal typewriter with her roTal Angers,
the recipients of letters from the king will have to
H on the lookout for the initials of the pretty lllttle
secretary In the csrtier. for one does not often receive
letters So doubly royal.
The king believes In teaching his children to be
jtiiKtds herself. The king, being quite a busy man
U fcls wy, though (most people thiolt kings bavs
I t. .. :; n h. I
,5Q?fcesi far. Jttfo
nothing more to do than sit In court with crowns
on theli" heads and look kingly, Is well supplied with
secretaries, and has tws young women at Marl
borough House who do nothing but his personal tvpe-
.WrHlnSr. It wan tO On nf thrng Ihul Prlnnoaa
lied for Instruction, and
that the princess would displace her she
.PL.tn Klrl C3Uld pound the keys with all the vim
ir.'n.r ,n' ho of candy and his paterphobla around
wan him on Sunday nights. The king promised to
trust his affairs to the hands of the little aspirant to ;
secretarial honors and the 13-year-old employe of the
British empire promptly hustled back to her In
structor, so well pleased with herself that she
gemanded an introduction to the esoterlo side of those
hieroglyphs ths shorthand- people make, dan't you ,
Know. j. 1 . . ......-...-
1 ThJ" WM the hops that." when the family went .
intv Scotland on their next outing, she might be the
one Important official person attached to her father
in Balmoral. Not content with taking her father
under her wing, Blie insists that she can handle her
mother.s correspondence as well.
The princess is an active little body, though the
doings of her brothers has not left her much space
In the English journals, and she is remarkably pretty,-
with wide, franfe eyes and an open, sunny countenance
that speaks thttAonesty and merriment of old England
in every line
. This matter of royal correspondence has come to
be such a complicated system, dictating, signing, read
lng papers and letters that-half a dozen secretaries'
are busy opening. In the - days ' when Charlemagne
. used to send hie messengers to pay his respects to
Haroun al Raschld, the-lordly and mighty on never
: troubled to write his name, but simply dipped his fist
In the Inkpot and brought the huge member down .
upon the paper. '
It took a learned Bcrlbe with an army of coad
jutors some little time to pn the missive, illuminate
it and put in the proper flourishes. They would havs
been highly incensed at the suggestion that soma day.
a child would do the writing of a man wh ruled more
lands than Charlemagne, and do ten times as much
In one-tenth of the time. , -. ,
Princess Mary was devotedly fond of King Edward.
Her father is so very different In his manner from
the grandfather that one would not think ha would
be a man to Inspire enthusiasm in his children. He
has not the-courtly grace of his father, but more
the manner of a naval officer, better accustomed to
m t(ltnrl nf anthnrltv than one- of kindly con
descension. ' His ideas of discipline, however,, have
The boys, reared on plain
ap
lnsnlred in his children his ideals of duty.
an
t
lng her brothers Rrrowlna: up with extensive titles, and
25 cents a week and a bunk to. sleep In at school, are
little Spartans, and, doubtless, the little
fare, an
iff
lowance at
school, 1
rlncess, see-
as the young woman did
.,n,,.'u?., hr In the mysteries of the tvnewrlter.
and assurance of a BtcreotypeitBeraxldad auneraptier - - Mi-TrefrrntflrarrTnTIFTro-tna;7ihOhfti'
"c mriiiy-nuii nour 01 an American omre huildtnir.
learning the ways of rulers and. officers, thought that
she, too,1 should bs an actlya member of the family
royal.
a most alluring creature to helpless masculinity, and the
only reason that she has been so neglected In romance ts
that the average male scribbler does not feel sure enough
of ths facts, ths peculiar psychio facts Involved, to under-
tajce the Job of portraying the forlorn one. : ;,:.
Some of the most famous women in history displayed
ths traits which made their names popular with posterity
after their husbands were safely under ground. From -
' Cleopatra down to-MrVIieeas7 the dazzling glory of ths
beautiful widow has blinded men, and the true admirer
might even go so far as to declare that trie darkness and '
benighted condition' that hangs over the orient is due to
the fact that they do not give their little wldaws a
" chance to shine,' but subdu them at 'once whan their
' totally unworthy spouses pass away.
Ths flueentt all fascinating widows towers so high
above her various deceased husbands ' that; ths world
scarcely knows that she was 'ever" wedded at all.
Cleopatra, worshiped by generals In armor, statesmen .
, In togas, Egyptians in hoods and robes and wild chiefs
. from the deserts and mountains, had two husbands on
her calendar before she had reached her maturity. ' They
were both her brothers, after the custom of her "people,,
and were supposedly dons away with,
Then Jn her widowhood, wise and wary, still charm,
lng and superbly" beautiful, with that particular fascina
tion that goes with acomblne of cleverness and physical
grace, she proceeded to subdue the spirits and cajole ths
Intellects ot u,. great men that came under her Influence.
Ths story of poor Antony Is well knqwn. Even great
Caesar came near succumbing, to her. Never has the
power of the widow been so exempllfled. The modern
Svoman hi robes of mourning who wishes to ply ths
widow's tricks with success should wear a scarab in mem
ory of Egypt and repeat the name Cleopatra till it Sounds
n her dreams. V ; -;7'i - v" '
Ths .maJe ejs.oJst will tell you ihat the widow Is such
t Clrce because she has acquired wisdom from her assoela-
" tion with all-wise males; but the women wll controvert
this, by telling you that the widow is wary and cautious
: :-i'r' ' " " ? -; , . - i ' y.
escaping from the widowed enchantress,
There Is doubtless something symbolical In this wWc
Homer was afraid to say outright; doubtless because he
feared the vengeful machinations of the widows who
heard his songs. However it may be.ljt Is certainly true
that the woman who Is left without a husband while her
beauty and her feminine ingenuity are still fresh, not
excepting grass widows, are such shrewd, calculating
charmers that, the man who has not gone through ths
same alemblo of matrimony is not safe for a moment in
. their clutches.
. MUCH IN EXPERIENCE
'" Perhaps there Is nothing mysterious in It It may bs
simply a matter of experience. The widow has handled
one man, and has learned so much that when she no
longer finds it necessary to affect the demure attitude of
the matron or the maidenly reserve of the unmarried, she
knows the whims and ways' of the virile sex and has
'weapons. of her own which the Inexperienced havs not
learned to wield. , '
The strangest feature of the widow's hunting Is that
she always goes after big game. Not content with any
man who will crumple up her false hair in the ecstasy .
of bis embraces, as the young girl is apt to be. she runs
down, in nine cases out of ten, a man worth while in one'
.way or another,.;,; "" m7: :; - t : '
Mmel de Malntenon captured ' king; Iady Devereu
lassoed ths heart of Sir Philip Sydney, who was no sus
ceptible youngster; Martha Custls won George Washing
ton, and Cleopatra, berore mentioned, handled ths great
intellects of Rome like puppets on a string."
Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, was at widow before
she met ths great conqueror. ; Her husband was beheaded
during tha. French revolution, and1 she herself escaped
narrowly tfndugh. In addition to the knowledge of ths
heart of man whch she gained from her matrimonial
ventures, Josephine, if allis truethat'is told of her. had
numerous ot affairs of the heart, beginning in her
' earliest das wlthths great merchant, Stephen Glrard.
- when he was still sMp captain and shs a girl in ths
West Indies. a- ' :.. -. j f'
Ths wisdom of widows is not confined to their knowl
sdgs of ths opposite sex, however; They acquire a knowl.
edge cf the 'world in general and a power of initiative
which stands them in good stead after they are left, sup
posedly, forlorn and destitute. 'There is Queen Margaret
- of Navarre, for instance. . First the wife of Charles, duks -
of Alencon, and later fhe consort of Henry of Navarre, In
her' double widowhood she turned to literature and wrote :
novels and short lovs stories that are still read and ad
mired, though aa queen of Navarre shs would have taken
her place In the Jong list of sovereign names that grow
dusty from neglect, which no one can recite but heralds
and palsied old chronologlsU. .V - a;,: ;
Mme. de Stael was another woman who. shone la
Intellectual circles in the period of her widowhood. She
was, for all practical purposes, a widow four years before
her husband died, for they were separated in 1796 and the
count died in lS03..But it was not until, after his death
that shs went to the. German court and took the German
world of brains and eulturby storm. ; ; .
. For a real charming, fascinating widow. Mme. da
Sevtgne Is another model, lacking the rascally traits of
, Cleopatra, but abounding; in ths cleverness .and beauty
which make wldowa popular in all ages. Of course, Mme.
1 de Malntenon Is a classic example, too, of the overwhelm.
lng advantages of widowhood.
Shs was born In prison and ended her career as prac
tical ruler of France. Her first years were spent la "
wandering over the land, even as far as the West Indies.
Finally at a very early age shs was married to the poet
Scarron. He died and leu her with little else than the '
natural advantages of widowhood, before mentioned, but
these proved suitlclent In tier case. She was installed in
the royal household in some sentimental position, but it
was not long before Louis XIV discovered her, and her
Influence over the king amounted in time to a power that
was little short of absolute. 'V . iij
It mleht alan ha of tnterenf tn ulitnui nn hm innlrntit
for devious ways to make use of their store of wisdom
and experience to know that ths patron saint of queens, .
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, wits a widow, and turned her
attention to religious affairs after the death of her hua
; band, although sue was notoriously good and pious before
the king s death. The man who leu her tree to pursue "
tne road to sanctity was JUuis IV, ianagrat or Thunngia.
The-wtdow whose husband has passed into the beyond
In the natural way has a certain advantage. Inasmuch as
. her mourning attracts to her some little sympathy and
pity , from the men at least (It Is said the ladles envy
- her;, and sines pity according to the ancient truism. Is
'akin to love, It Is a splendid bait; but there havs been
notable wldowa who have sent their husbands into sier-
mty by one trlclc or another and havs yet contrived to do
pretty well afterward.
WIDOWSBY MU3DER
' There Is Mary Queen of Scots, and again. Jane I, the
tricky queen of Naples, both of whom dlcl.to.way wltfe
troublesome spouses, married the assassins apd had con.
elder able notoriety, ..if there is any sweetness in that, for
leurs afterward, Another- Mary, the sister tf Henry
- -VllI of England, had a king of France on hee hands
who burdened her, so she killed tne old man slowly,, as
the story goes, and thrived mightily injber native land
thereafter. .
To come down to mors modern times, all stanch ad
mirers of George Washington are familiar with his love
, affair; how he surveyed, the Custis lands and tell in love
'with the young wire of Custls, and subsequently, when'
she was widowed, how he married her at the 11 rat oppor- '
tuntty. All these great military men seem to have s
liking i for widows Caesar, Antony, Kapoleon . and
s Wasnlngton, fjr Instance.
Benlamln Franklin, asain. was a man of most ttut.
Judgment, reputed to have a very level head, yet he came
i into Philadelphia and cams to the house of the Beads,
stopped with them and never realised how attractive
' Deborah Read was until she was married to another and
had served her term ot widowhood. Then, needless to
i say. he married her. - .
' There are two very young and charming widows
at this very aay in American society, and one or them
at least is playing the part of the captivating widow
vttn great success abroad. They are Mrss William
Eateman Leeds and the duchess de Chaulnes. '
Mrs. Leeds-has homes in Newport, London and New
York, and makes It her duty to surpass all competitors lr
1 the attractiveness of her gowns and hor entertainments.
Most recently shs has been taking northern Franoe, in
the neighborhood of Deauville. by storm. Beware, ye ,
susceptible barons, comptes and dues de France! .'She is '
not, woman, remember, but a widow, which, Is nothing
less than an. enchantress by right of her social position.
The countess de Chaulnes, whose married life lasted
but a few weeks, distinguished herself by marrying s ,
foreigner who would have nothing to do with the fortuns
of her father, Theodore Shonts, the New York millionaire.
Hers was a love match, and the death of the young duks
was such a violent shock, to her that she has not yet V
rone into society with the typical widow's enthusiasm.
and, in fact, may prpve an exception and a reneged
from the international and eternal widows' league; an
organisation, by the way, which has no need of bylaws
as
men the princess proceeded te apply for a Job
"inoBTapner nas naa to ao who has never
en a princess, except t the ons calUsr klddo who
ban. In h wv if a flnanrlnt Savins', but the daV
miv come when tne Idea that It is a duty to be of
service may mean much to Ensrland when embodied in
a fully developed and fully matured princess, v
becaus she Is freed frnm men. and is. far this, reason or.offlcraia. mainUln Ihei i-aditlone of h firrt
ttOflWyfUarmlng. -"" The merry widow, the melancholy widow, the medlta.
Old Homer, who still has the last word when It comes tlve widow and the machinating widow; they may be
- to human nature, made his chief sorceress, Circe, a variant on the surface, but their ways are tns same,
wMnw. and if ait th trnnhia whirh Hivsdea encountered their charms as potent one as the other, and their
on his memorable voyage, there was none greater than-fascination for the susceptible is IdentlcaNn all agsa.
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