The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 20, 1896, Page 15

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, § EPTEMBER 20, 1596 15 [F SHE WOULD CATCH A RUSBARD [N What She Must Be and Do to Please Him Since time immemorial the standard of feminine loveliness has ever been—and, for that matter, stili is—a moot question. The ancient poet ¢ in wild discordant notes of coral lips, low overhanging brow and distended nostrils. The sweet singers of Greece tuned their lyres to tell of long supple limbs, a fizure like that of a goddess and perlection of features. The'whole world then had butone ideal, and it perpetuated her in song, 1n painting and in sculpture. Her influence was all permeating, and 8o thoroushly was the time imbued with her that it was close to the end of the seventeenth century before she ever began to relax her hoid. The moderns, with the exception of the painter and the sculptor, set up for wor- ship a bewildering array of idols. Milo’s Venus was relegated to obscurity and for- getfulness. Tall ideals, short ideals, ideals with soft rounded limbs and ideals whose paucity of flesh scarcely concealed the angularity of their bones were scattered broadcast. The nov then became the most pro- lific expounder of the ideal. He took many liberties with the idol. her a mien severe ana then again a sunny, dimpling smile. He added or subtracted at will from the recognized classic length of limb. He devoted mellifluous and abundant phrase to the description of her | He crowned her with a golden | eyes. mesh or an ebony coronet. ception he took no liberties with her classic features. Now and then he chipped off the very tip of her inspiring nose and coined the phrase retrousse to explain his sin. So long had the majority looked to the romancer to explain his ideal that the fin de siecle novelist, who indulges in no descriptions and hints vaguely at soul in- fluence, left it with nary a leg to stand on. Then, to add to the perplexities of the day, there 1s that ambiguous expression unmistakably of woman’s coinage—the man’s beauty. This new idol is the most mystifying of all. The woman explains her variously, delightfally indefinitely, with moue: shrugs that convey much but mean little. With the men apparently lay the solu- tion, and being ever of an inquiring mind I made my piigrimage among the promi- uent men of the City, discovering little that was new but eliciting much valuable information, I konow for a certainty that man’s beauty is in many cases much the same as woman’s accepted standard; that there is a Darby for every Joan., I have per- force lost all faith in the much-vaunted affinity of opposites. I have had proof positive that all men do not marry their eals; that some men have not forgotten the trick of blush.ng, and that ail deep down in their hearts have set up an idol, ch to them represents .the acme of the noble and beautifpl, and at her ine all bow with devotion and rever- ence. James Phelan was the first victim of my nquisition and a graceful victim he was. Smiling and serene he met the ail impor- tant question and answered with firmness and precision. I listened attentively while heexplained the goddess of his dream. His exposition was of more value than he ever could imagine. I xnew he was the presi- dent of the Art Association and a man of rare intellizence, a passionate admirer of the beautiful. Further, 1 knew he is con- sidered tbe greatest matrimonial prize of the season and that when he wins the girl With one ex- He gave | and | of his ¢’ oice the telegraph will flash the news to all the four corners of the globe and in a six-head will the newspapers an- nounce the engagement to an admiring nd curious public. He parried my first question, *Lay bare my soul,”” and then he found a re- porter, who, in quest of news, knows no mercy, and decided that he could do no better than guote what Baneroft said his ideal of California’s effigy should be: “She should be large and supple-limbed; low-browed, with a flood of golden hair veiling her exquisitelv moided form; deep-blue eyes, whose dreamy languor a merry recklessness sadly should disturb; | nose and chin Grecian; ripe, luxurious lips; while expression, voice and attitude | should all betoken an indolent, romantic | nature, overflowing with high, exultant | spirits.” His quotations were interspersed with telling asides. Mr. Bancroft’s historical statements have been questioned and | James Phelan reserved the right of differ- ing from his views. “A flood of golden hair” came under his displeasure. ‘‘Golden hair, no,” and | there was the same repetition after *‘She should be large * * #* Jow.browed.” | But one thing there is no mistaking, Mr. | Phelan’s ideal is a California girl. Major Rathbone was for a moment non- vlused at what he considered the very audacity of my question. Then a look of ear came over the gallant Major's coun- | tenance. *‘Tell my 1deal?” he at last | found tongue to murmur. ‘I have too | many lady friends. Why, they would say, ‘The old wretch! bow dare he.’ ” But he dared. To Major Rathbone all | women are beautiful angels—minus the wings. And figuratively speaking, the Major suggests the thought that his only regret is that his good right arm is not long enough to encircle the entire feminine | population of the globe. | _There is Southern bicod in Allen St.J. | Bowie's veins, and his tastes are those of | the South. First of all no woman is so beautiful in Mr. Bowie’s eyes as a South- ern woman. If heis fortunate enough to realize his ideal, she will be a brunette, | tall and stately and Juno like. Her limbs will be well rounded. Neither fleshy nor thin will she be, but of those provortions | the uninitated are wont to de-cribe as just right. Her eyes will be black as sloes, her skin like cream. She must be fashionable, | not necessarily fond of society. Her voice | must, like Cordelia’s, be soft and low and her carriange queenly. She may have as many fads as she likes so long as they do not conflict. Above all she must be musically inclinea. I have concluded that the happiest solu- | tion to the question, *“Why are you a | bachelor?” is susceptibility. Ibave found a living example, and there is no refuting that. Edward Sbeldon, who could be leader of the four hundred if he only said so, trembled at my question, He is my liv- ing example. “I have not one ideal. I am 100 susceptible. And then at present Iam living in Sausalito, where there are | so many pretty girls. My head isall in & | whirl.” Now, which isit? Happy Sansa- lito or happy Mr. Sheldon ? A. H. Small prayed for time before he | | | answered the all-absorbing question. His prayer was granted, and then, after twenty-four hours for reflection, Mr. Small decided that I might just as well ask bim to paint a picture—an impossible feat for him. Mr. Small acknowledged himself swamped by the very immensity of the problem. I put'the question to Mr. Bouvier dur- Mr. Phelan’s heart under the Xray. Major Rathbone’s regret— that his arm 1s not big enough. If she would please Allen St. J. Bowie she must be musically inclined. Edward Sheldon’s heart. The picture that A. H. Small could not paint. Alfred Bouvier's ideal—bru- nette or blonde. Claude Terry Hamilton blushed and cried *Which!” To please Mr. Costigan she ‘must say a good word for suf- frage and be a Republican. there are so many. —Lawyer Heggerty. Rabbi \ A\ N \ AW NS NN 3 ing business hours, in the very midst of letters, stenographers, statements, royal- ties, etc., and for a moment 1 confused him—but only for a moment. Here is a stenozraphic report of Mr. Bouvier's an- swer: “I suppose every man has some sort of an 1deal, in business hours and out of them I very much fear that my own personal ideas are not in accord with prevailing modern sentiments. The whole world must agree on the qualities of mind and heart and possibly the matter of facial beauty is only a question of taste, but I do not see in the modern fashionable woman any exemplification of the ideal human form divine or female loveliness, as you put it. My idea of loveliness in the female form is softness, grace, in both movement and lines and strength all combined. This is simply what nature intended and this is what you cannot see in the modern corset- ed figure which destroys nature’s curves, weakens muscles where they should be strong and otherwise shatters the ideal. This is all the more strange to me, GREATER THAN A HUMAN EYE The Gamera's Vision Is Widened Photographs Taken by the Gylin- drograph Exhibited at the Fair The latest invention in field photography is called the cylindrograph. This is an improvement even upon the human eye, and by its use a much wider range of al- most any given subject may be imprinted on the negative than can be taken in by the naked eye. Excellent specimens of this work may be seen at the ~outhwest corner of the gallery in the Mechanics’ Pavilion, where there is an unobtiusive group of photo- graphs, which is a sample of the photog- raphy done in connection with the field work of the California State Mining Bu- reau during 1895-96. These pictures were, at the request of the management committee of the Me- chanies’ Fair, donated by Mr. Crawford, the State Mineralogist, to the Mechanics’ Institute, and specimens of the work of the field assist- ants of the California State Mining Bu- reau. These pictures illustrate chiefly the topography and geology of ike oil fields of Southern California, and many of them are remarkable for having been taken with the latest form of apparatus used in field photography, the cylindrograph. This instrument has.a compass which is even greater than the angle of vision, and the pictures made with it give a more comprehensive idea of the topography of 2 locality than any picture which can be made by other means. There are also smaller pictures, which are well executed and are very insiructive, especially the ones iliustrating the oil springs of Ventura County. The last-mentioned photozraphs show: First, an oil spring; second, a stream of maltha or heavy viscous petroleum—this picture demonstrating how the oil from the spring, after losing its most volatile constituents by exposure to tke air, crawls down the mountainside in a stream of mineral tar or maltha, as it is technically called; third, seepaves of petroleum from fissures in hard sandstone rocks. The most striking of the cylindrotypes H they comprise exceilent | e REMARKABLE CYLINDROGRAPHIC VIEW OF BITUMINOUS SLATES FORMATION ON SANTA PAULA CREEK, VENTURA COUNTY. [From a photograph now on ezhivition at the Mechanios’ Institwte Fair, taken by W. L. Waits,] re two psnoramic views, each of which is formed by joining two cylindrograph pictures. One of these views shows the Santa Paula Canyon in Ventura County, and the mountain ridge which has been cut through by the Santa Paula Creek. The other view, which is taken from a point on the southwest slope of Mount Cayetana, also in Ventura County, gives an extensive view of the oil districts which are situated io the north of the town of Santa Paula. It embraces several moun- tain ridges with their vaileys and foothills. One of the cylindrograph pictures shows the Second-street Park oilfield in Lous Anceles City with its forest of derricks, each of which indicates an oil well. This picture gives a pood idea of the way the paraphernalia of the petroleum industry are mixed up with the residences in the part of Los Angeles which is shown. Not the least instructive scéne is one which shows the way the tunnels which are run for oil are ventilated by what is known as a bydraulic air-compressor. This view also shows the manzer of illuminat- ing these tunnels by reflected sunlight. These precautions are Decessary on ac- count of the inflammable gas which fills these tunnels and which, in more than one instance, has occasioned loss of life. We are told that when the air-compressor is not running some of these oil tunnels become filled with the deadly gas in a few hours, so that it would be impossible to live in them for many minutes and that to light & match therein would be certain death, These tunnels are run to cut through the oil-yielding rocks from which oil and water flow and arc conducted by a gutter in the floor of the tunnel to receiving tanks, wherein the oil separates from the water and is stored, Mr. Dohrmann hesitates— “Just mind enough to read the paper and catch the boat.® Voorsanger regards it as an ethical question. 7 / ) . %//%fifli@«\\\\%@ Dr. Bazet fizes hisideal upon no outward form, but on the spark that animates the soul. avee e S—p— . Artist Joullin worships at the shrine of innocence. Frank Worthing finds his ideal in Mazine Elliott. ] Manager Frawley draws the line at women who read detec- tive stories. ~ Henry Stetson wants her mildly athletic. as poets, painters and sculptors from time immemorial to the very present moment are perpetuating the true ideally beautiful tigure which I refer to, the fizure thatis inseparable from a large waist; [ mean, of course, the proportionately large waist of the Venus of Milo. In both the salons this year in Paris there are many nudes both in the paintings and the scuiptures, and the ideal figure can be found in ali the works of the greater painters, but no girl with a waspish waist ever posed as model for any of those subjects, SAN FR ARCISCO Various Ideals of Feminine Lioveliness “As to an opinion about blondes or brunettes, that is too dangerous a ques- tion for a man who has many friends.” Claude Terry Humilton shrieked a dis- cordant “Which?” to my simple little question as to his idesl of feminine loveli- ness. And then he blushed and he stam- mered and he laughed and then blushed again. I wonder, oh I wonder who she is, Mr. Hamilton? A. B. Costigan felt he needed time be- fore answering the all-important question. He had an ideal, but so prosaic a proceed- ing as picturing her in words had never presented itself to Mr. Costigan. So he went over to the quiet shades of Tiburon, thought the matter over and here is a copy of the description he mailed me: ‘‘Her hair musi be of a reddish hue, with a disposition that is amiable at all times. Not necessary be pretty, but with eyes that speak at everv glance. Musically in- clined and some thought given to society. Fond of outaoor life and a mind that is all her own. Dwells very littie on the subject of dress and occasionally speaks a good word for woman suffrace, and if she were & man, would be a rank Republican. “Her general character should be inimi- table.” President Dohrmann of the Merchants’ Association represents the concentrated business ability of this City. His ideal, on that acconnt alone, is not one to be sneezed at. When first questioned Mr. Dobrmann pleaded his age as an excuse, but after a little coaxing gracefully yielded up his secret, and thus spoke te: “My father, who lived to the ripe old age of 83, followed this motto through life, and I, seeing the wisdom of his course, have adopted it: *All wine is good, but some is better: all women are beautiful, but some are hand-omer.’ " His profession probably accounts for the minuteness with which Cunaries Heggerty entered into the description of his ideal, one of those creations we feel sure inhabit the skies, but disdain to wisit this ter- restrial sphere. This is ali that Lawyer Heggerty wants. A bruuette. Five feet six inches tall. Her eyes are liguid brown. Her complex- ion clear and in her cheeks should glow the clear bluish red, like the spark from a live coal. Under no condition must her nose be pointed sharply, nor retrousse. It must be a nose lik - that which adorns the features of Milo’s Venus, and of course in perfect keeping with the proportions of her face. Her mouth must be small. The lips bow shaped, not thin, not thick, and the lower lip must protrud- just the veriest shadow of a bit. Her teeth must be small, even and white. She should run to flesh rather than bones, and bave just mind enough to read a paper and to enable her to catch the boat. Tu her home political discussions must be tabooed. The learned barrister would far rather discuss with his idol her old hat which she had spent the whole day in “fixirg over” tkan the solar or lunar eelipse. Her figure must be trim, her waist in healthful proportion. There maust be no padding, and, aboye all, she dare not be pigeon-toed. Slhie must carry herself erect, and her body should swing with an easy grace. Above all things she must not care for society. She must grumble when she has to put on a street dress, and it must be next to impossible to induce her to zo out. Manager Frawley’s ideal hasno com- plexion. Neither is she facially beauti- ful. She is a womanly woman, dawnty and petite—a woman that a man feels he should like to fightfor. She certainly has a mind. But the less she reads editorials il il L0 i Translated for THE CALL from the Paris Figaro. The Americans, who are always fond of astonishing the old courtry, have just made a discovery which fills them with joy and pride. They start out upon a tragic hypo- thesis. “Suppose,” they say, *‘the Duke of York thouid meet with a premature death and the Duchess of Fife and their children— who would be called upon to ascend the throne of England? The Princess Vic- toria of Wales. But this event would bring something- else in its suite — a Prince consort; an American, William ‘Waldorf Astor.” What! Isthereanengagement between the Princess and the money king? Per- haps; at least, there are rumors o it. This is how they reason. Ever since the death of his wife, which happened about two years ago, William ‘Waldorf Astor has transferred his domi- cile to England, where he has purchased the fine castle of Clivedon. Recently he gave, in honor of the Prince of Wales, a fairy fete, which was considered a step toward achieving an avowed ambition of his—that of being created a paronet. It was also considered a step toward higher aspirations. This higher ambition is a mat:imonial one, A few months ago W. W. Astor was supposed to be a pretendent for the hand of Lady Randolph Churchill, widow of the late Lord Randolph Churchill, who is the .wrt mE ! il most fascinating among the eligible Amer- icans in Europe, The Princess Victoria of Wales, second daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, is still unmarried, though her eldest and youngest sisters have both gone to the matrimonial altar. A number of indications point to the fact that Princess Victoria’s family are not entirely indiffer- ent to the delicate attentions that W. W. Astor has been showing her of late. She is a bright, buxom girl, with a good aeal of her mother's winning personality, though she has inherited too much of the heavy Guelph ‘features to be the beauty that her mother was. Among the proofs brought forward of her comingz engagement to W. W. Astor the most significant fact, they say, is that the Princess Maud, since her mar- riage, has been permitted to accept from him a marvelous diamond. The royal family does not accept presents from every hand and refuses point blank if the giver is not on terms of intimacy. Then W. W. Astor must be an intimate friend. It is well known that the Prince of Wales only has a revenue of £500,000, a siender income when one compares it with that of certain other subjects of the Queen, who possess incomes that reach the mil- Jion mark. Itisnot a secret that on sey- eral occasions the Prince has had to make loans, and that his largest creditor was Sir James Mackenzie. An American May Rule Great Britain ‘When that gentleman died—eight years ago—the Prince, it is said, was his debtor for £1.000,000, which the children of the defunct claimed. Every one must recall the famous bac caral game, when it was asserted that the Wilsons had lent the Prince a million pounds. Baran Hirsch, too, was said to have won royal favor by lending about the same amount. As ill luck would have it, Baron Hirsch died, his heirs claimed the money, and it is supposed the Prince, menaced by compromising lawsuits, was only too bappy to find a savior in W. W. Astor, who was charmed to attach him- self to the future King of England by ties of gratitude. Afterward came visits from the Prince to Clivedon, . followed by visits of other members of the royal family. Astor’sin- vitations to Sandringham became more frequent, and from this growing intimacy has arisen the supposiiion that he has asked for the hand of the Princess, and that he will not be refused. . The barrier of birth? This obstacle did not arrest the royal family when it wanted to accept among its members the Marquis of Lorne or the Duke of Fife. It is by pure courtesy that John Campbell Esq. is called Marquis of Lorne, and in all official documenis the husband of Princess Louise is not de- nominated otherwise than “Jobn Camp- bell, commonly called Marquis of Lorne.” The Duke of Fife owes his title to the the better is Mr. Frawley going to like her. There is to be a lot of romance mixed up in ber composition. She will enjoy a walk and w-ar (poor bernighted man in the days of numbers 5 and 6) a 3l4 or 4 shoe. She is to enjoy exercise. She is to be no society lady. She is to love horses and dogs and pretty gown: be musical; read the ““Tale of Two Cities' and “Night and Morning,” but, oh, how he shouid hate her to read detective stories. The less she knows about house- hold duties the better. She is to be his pal, his companion, and must not punch bags. Probably no man is more sought after in social circles than Harry Stetson. He shines especially as best man at swell weddings. He has had every opportunity to meet the best the land affords, and con- sequently his ideal is of more than passing interest. It is a woman with olive skin and large dark eyes that is especially attractive for Mr. Stetson. She is tall and slender and carries herself well. She cares not for politics. She is well versed in literature and art. She is fond of society to a mod- erate extent. She is mnsically and gen- erally accomplished and athletic to a cer- tain extent. Joullin, the artist, worships at the shrine of Donatilio’s famous statue, “La Femme Inconnu.” Looking at the cold marble he feels she must have had a wonderful mind. Physical beauty and mental at- tainments the artist contends are one and inseparable. In the flesh Joullin’s ideal is the Eng- lish beautv. For him she more nearly approaches the classic. She has a fine fig- ure, a stately carriage. It is many a day since there has been a leading man in this City more beloved of the matinee girl than Frank Worthing. She hangs his picture in her blue or white boudoir, and some, I am informed on most reliable authority, burn inceuse constantly before it. I do not know ex- actly what the actor tuinks of newspaper people, but I know my reportorial pres- ence succeeded in scaring him most to death. His lips were blanched. The veins stood out on his forehead like pieces of whip-cord. My question evidently re- assured him. “Feminine loveliness alto- gether? Mental and physical? Maxine | Elliott. She represents my ideal, don’t | you know? She 1s perfection, don’t you know? So beautiful, so simple, s0 un- affected, don’t you know? So loyal; so true; so unselfish.” And in Worthing's rather expressionless eyes there shone a light that moved me. So unselfish. And she is going to marry Nat Good- win. Ah, Worthing! you judge other peo- ple by yoursetf. Dz Voorsanger at first declined to be interviewed on what to him meant so ex- haustive & subject. In 1deal womanly loveliness he saw s theme that required deep thought and considerable time to formulate his opinions. For him it was an e hical question—one not to be lightly dwelt upon. “Say for me,” said the learned gentleman, ‘‘that handsome is as handsome does. That is the best I can say in a few words on a subject I feel so deeply.” Ideal loveliness has no physique, noout- ward form for Dr. L. Bazet. The beauty of woman for him lies in the life spark that animates her soul. It is the intangible, the incomprehensible some- thing that spurs men on to nobler better | things. The power that awakens his | bigher ambitions, the soul which makes | him strive and cry, *I will be noble, I will | be groat, I will be worthy of you.” Queen, who conferred it on him the day of his marriage with Princess Louise Vic- toria, eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The founder of the family was Adam Duff, a Scotch peddler, who lived at the beginning of the eight- eenth century. Uncle Sam cannot get it into his head that William Waldorf Astor, grandson of John Jacob Astor, a German peddler, shouid be any more incapable than the Duke of Fife of cutting a good fi-ure at court with the title of Duke of Clivedon, given by her gracious Majesty the day of his marriage with her granddaughter. | ‘When it comes to choosing between these two descendants of peddlers Uncle Sam naturally inclines toward his maulti- millionaire nephew, who would, in his eyes, add a considerable .quantity of gild- ing to the Princess’ escutcheon. It is said that the English aristocracy | shares his ideas on this point. For ex- ample, the Duchess of Buccleuch, chief lady in waiticg to the Queen, who was formerly very hostile to the invasion of Americans, has now accepted more than one invitation to Clivedon; and there are Couniess Cowper, the Marchioness of Lon- donderry and a number of other women of the saristocracy, whose high influence has contributed to introduce the American millionaire into intimacy with the Prince of Wales, and who have enaed by regard- ing him as a possible pretendent to the hand of Princess Victoria. The son of American democracy, on the steps of the British throne, seated one day perhaps as Prince Consort beside the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Em- press of India, ete. Nothing appears more exciting to the Americans and noth- ing strikes them as being more natural. AN ASTOR MAY BECOME A KING How William Waldorf Might Rise Diamond He Tendered Princess Victoria of Wales Was Accepted And then the idea is such a novelty. Up till now American princesses and duch- esses have abounded, but an American prince—Prince Astor, Duke of Clivedon— would be an entirely new departure. Of course he would have to be naturalized in England, if beis not already naturalized. But Astor is of American origin, and he would remain American at heartand in in- terest, which would suffice for Uncle Sam. People are talking already of the wed- ding tour, which would naturally be in America. Prince Astor would not fail to show his bride a house situated at Sault Ste. Marie, on Lake Ontario—a house of very singular construction its balconied tirst floor overhanging the ground floor; a sort of fortress, with loopholes, which must have iven the Indians food for re- | flection more than once. The man who built it was a poor Ger- man emigrant who came to New York in 1783. He made it a headquarters for trad- ing in furs with the Indians. In 1812 when the war between the United States and England interfered with his business Le realized his littie pile and found that he head gained two miilion dollars. Then he bought tracts of land near New York. His name was John Jacob Astor. The tracts of land to-day are traversed by Fifth avenue and Broadway. Such is the origin of the fortune of $230,000,000, of which a part belongs to William Waldorf, Prince Astor. Alter visits to palaces, mansions and villas, ali owned by the Astors, it is just possible that the Princess will be curious 1o make a last visit to see the cemetery of Trinity Church, where the first wife lies. Two years ago her casket was covered with 3800 orchids at a dollar apiece, and until it was consigned to the earth the florist had orders to renew the flowers every day. Since then flowers have never been wanting, and the florist’s bill for the first year was $36,500. ‘Will the Princess find fresh flowers on the tomb?