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Show :i A Letter to tiie Graces H : By Kaie Masterson If" . mani' Graces have written since J ; ! ' ) carIv ln tl,e Spring for namc- 11 , JP letters that it seemed best to wait until they had all arrived, as so v ' ljt , many Marys, Janes, Emmas and others 1 i, ' ; continue to ask for letters, unaware : ' i t l,m these names have been already i , written of. r 1 The Graces hail from" all over the country, from the West and tiie South I V l especially, and they are all interesting. hJ- j ' One of them who writes from Atlantic Hhl City is especially so. She says: Bf ' "Pardon a stranger for addressing BrjE you. But can I ask you to write me Klii 1 : what the name of Grace signifies? I am really ashamed to tell you that I am very much dissatisfied with myself in this 'beautiful world." I feel I should be out in the-world doing something some-thing for my fcllow-crca lures. Arc the Graces supposed to be dlssatislled mortals? mor-tals? Or is there any place in the wide world for them to fill?" No, the Graces should not be dissatisfied. dis-satisfied. Their name Is from the Latin gratis, meaning thanksgiving the same toot that gives us "grace," the prayer before meals that the Puritans originated. The Latin gracilis, from which wc get graceful, meaning slender, lissome, easy in movement. Is qulte( another word. The Graces, daughters of the sun, famed in mythology, arc your sisters, the name brandies of gratis signifying beauty, light and happiness ln various directions. A more charming name for a girl does not exist. It seems to epitomize femininity fem-ininity Just as the Graces In art symbolize sym-bolize beautiful womanhood. There was a great Irish Queen of Connaught. who lived three centuries ago. She was known as "Granuaile," Who would care lo be her? Surely not (he Graces with their inheritance of beauty, light and thanksgiving" that they have been born women but she is still remembered and at her old home, Howth Castle, tho present English owner, Lord Ashbourne, regards re-gards her legendary famo by leaving tho doors of tho castle always open at dinner time, free welcome being offered to all. There was also a Spanish Engracla, who was tortured at Saragossa, and her descendant, Grace of V'alcntia. who has a remarkable dietetic record, having hav-ing in twenty-four years tasted no liquid of any sort, not even water, and living to a hundred and ten years. We all know of noble Grace Darling, the lighthouse kedper's daughter, who during a dreadful storm set out to sea-ln sea-ln a small boat and after a fearful struggle with the elements saved nine lives. She became immensely famous, for that was not the strenuous ago of women. She continued to live In the llght-housp llght-housp with her father until her death a few years later. Foems innumerable were written In her honor, a famous artist immortalized her and she stands to-day, perhaps tho greatest of all tho Graces, embodying bravery and sacrifice, which qualities she has bequeathed to all her name-sisters. name-sisters. So. Grace, who writes us, as well as all tho others of tier name, can bo congratulated con-gratulated on having such a glorious history to live up to. So many girls wish, to go out In tho world and do things nowadays that the girl who Is content to stay at home is becoming unique in girldom . We are forced to confess that the age seems bent on producing that dreadful . person, the "Too Strenuous She." So many of us seem to forget that being be-ing at home Is not being out of tho world. The world Is all about us and we are part of it. whether we arc In some country home or in a boarding house or a liny fiat, a factory or a shop, that is the world. Wc must find our interest and our opportunity op-portunity right where we arc. Tho world Is full of foolish people chasing happiness in various ways, thinking that it can be found In certain places on the map. It is In the heart, though, and Grace must find herself first. Then all .else will be added. Tho call the event, the big change that comes to some lives will come If J - ' destiny holds It In store for her. Tho opportunity to do good for our fellow-creatures Is in'arlably near at hand. If that impulse Is a sincere one, Grace In time will find the "beautiful world" all around her with its opportunities and Its blessings. Tho fever to got away from homo, which girls call "getting out in tho world," is one that requires a deterrent nowadays The elllca arc over-filled with girls who arc seeking business opportunity, and so many of them are not fit for the fray, either physically or by education. They only add to the big army of Incompetents in all the professions and vocations. Girls hoar and road stories that sound llko fairy-tales about the achievements of women In tiie world, but If they could only glimpse tho truth that lies at the bottom of that well they would begin ' to appreciate the disappointments that Ho thick in tho strenuous life for girls. And tho strenuous girl who accomplishes accom-plishes and hews her. way and battles and wins she becomes tiie most uninteresting unin-teresting person under the sun, except as a magnificent example of how to get on In business life. It Is a saying that we love our friends for their faults rather than their virtues, vir-tues, and while this may bo wide of the truth, It Is a fact that wc love a woman for a few amiable weaknesses. The woman who Is willing to leave tho gathering of laurels while she prepares the salad for dinner Is a far more lovable lova-ble one than the girl with the career-microbe career-microbe ln her brain. ' ' The do-or-dare spirit feminine Is be coming so pronounced that the weak and clinging girl is bound to .have an Immense vogue In the near future. While men arc to be our husbands wo must look up to them and depend on them and regard them as stronger than we. They are more fitted to fight the world and, while women forced into tho business life have to learn to hold their own, they fall oftener than they succeed. Tlfls is not a pessimistic view of the situation, for we cannot call the halfway half-way victories that women win successes. suc-cesses. Nino women out of ten make livings and many of them do only half-way work In their vocations. Nearly all of llicm are glad to marry to get rid of a career after they have tried It for a while. We are not speaking now of the women wom-en who actually conquer. Wo have written before of them, weary and disheartened, dis-heartened, most of them wrapped in th"5 "splendid mourning" of their fame. But of that other typei thaL the business busi-ness world produces, who Is able to count and buy and sell and bargain, as we say, "liko a man." who is afraid M of no one and la not, or men: how can we vMfc on a pedcBtal as a tyv$m woman? -ym Sho has Invariably parflj? . qualities which tho nanio'C'ft gests. She wards oft she seems to scom it a3 HII her presence like a yoriJ V to turn when trodden Sho has learned to flghfl jiff ! the habit of battle contln II ' ' Tho Impossible she dev it we say sho Is a splendid ' --' cessful woman, but vtikH-' not a lovable woman, 'i sr One of these girls wa the other day for a maga; fnip how she rose at 5 and ha and athletics; breakfast 'V rect foods; walked to hej f- , acted business until again correctly; worked flfjift ternoon; dined at the sa; nlght, and retired earlyJ ffl $1 recipe for suecesu. i . ' She never realized thai come machine-made. Tj F; n 1 line of grace or glory abc she spoke to the cringing; fpj who Interviewed her sti : through a telephone, d 2 's snappy telegrams, refuse t crs, opened her mall ani tive desk work, unwilling time to be gracious. i & It was a hideous pictur jT1 ful woman that the rq S sciously drew, for ho vj 3, deavorlng to throw a fm '5; G her, but sho warded ' tha 0 ously. jjt. Is such success as thfi M if It can be avoided?' We nearly all have met; i'frJ we cannot fail but ro3pel faii tues there are Involved') regularity of life and iSfrid; of weakness, but the th' lacking speak louder tha jf The strenuous girl gracl fcB an air of general com T1 things not after her ow! ff She browbeats and dena M loud and pushes and slw iib there, as she Is fond of? 9P0, But she Is a failure as nothing can compensate; fe 1 even though she builds J success and has her nann tf&ft letters on a glass door?; Ski office building. , Luckily there are valla j'bj manage to get by this11 guard of Independence ai gfmy Strenuous Sho before smj is happening. Who would care to bi ii. Surely not the Graces? belp: herltance of beauty, llglil giving that they hav women, with tho hap Sfej t' woman's place in the wcj kjT to allow them that bless 8 jo -mh- |