The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
clara
si bed SS W
)
Because They Tittered Just Think
of It! at Her Artistic, Barefoot,
Very Slightly Draped Dances
LADY CONSTANCE STEWART RICHARDSON, a
member ot the highest British aristocracy, is
well-known for her somewhat daring dances and
her orglnallty and unconventlonallty in many directions.
Lady Constance has been on friendly terms with
many members of New York fashionable society, but
now she has utterly rejected them, because they bate
made fun of her art.
i It was at one of the meetings of that very fashion
able organization, "The Friday Evening Club," held In
the Delia Robbla Room of the Hotel Vanderbllt, that
her ladyship considered herself aggrieved.
She was scheduled to Elve some of her symbolical,
lightly-draped dances at 10: SO. Some of the most
lively and fashionable men and women in New York
society were there. The attendance was large, for
they had heard that Lady Constance would outstrip
her previous efforts.
The music began. Lady Constance stepped out on
the floor wearing a brilliant robe. She threw it off
and revealed herself in the costume, or lack of it, that
tnay be seen, in Prince Troubetskoy's clever statue of
her, which is reproduced here. Replicas of this statue
ire being sold for the benefit of the starving Belgians.
Lady Constance had not executed many steps of a
nymph-llke gambol when she became aware of a tltter
ng among the fashionable spectators. Lady Con
stance, It is said, would not have objected to exclama
tions of astonishment or even of shocked surprise, but
the tittering touched a sensitive spot.
She paused, looked around angrily and then resumed
her dance ot abandon. Soon the tittering broke out
titled dancer very artistic and graceful. Prince Trou
betskoy, for Instance, who made the remarkable statue
of her, said:
"I try to portray the spiritual, the abstract the
body animated by the spirit within, not the external
features alone. Lady Constance Stewart Richardson,
for example, has great charm of personality. It is rare
that such exuberant vitality is combined with such per
feet lines and grace of movement."
The picturesque dancer is the daughter of the late
Earl of Cromartle and the granddaughter of a former
Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. This duchess was
en especial friend of Queen Victoria, and this fact hat
made Lady Constance's plunge Into barefoot dancing all
the more striking.
She married Sir Edward Austin Stewart Richard
son, member ot a very old Scottish family. In her girl
hood she performed remarkable feats of riding, shoot
ing, skating and swimming. The realization that she
had a very fine and unspoiled figure gradually forced
upon her the conviction that she ought to give the pub
Ho the benefit of it and help the future generations to
be beautiful.
Her public appearances save quite a shock to Brit
ish society, and many noble dowagers no longer see
her as they pass by.
Even the broad-minded King Edward was shocked
at her daring performances. Finally when she per
sisted In keeping an engagement at the Palace Muslo
Hall, London, she tell under serious royal displeasure.
Lady Constance, however, filled that engagement
and many others at 300 ($1,500) per week. Of all
the snubs, perhaps the one most felt by her Ladyship
was that of her cousin, tne Dune oi uutnenana. tTom
again and increased in volume. Then a woman's laugh childhood she had been a welcome and frequent visitor
at Dunrobln Castle. But since she showed her bare
feet and ankles the drawbridge around the famous old
moat has not been lowered for Lady Constance.
English society naturally admired her tor ber ath
letic and sporting performances. Long ago she won a
gold medal as the champion woman swimmer for one
mile.
She rode horseback to church when she was married.
The bridegroom did likewise, and Immediately after
the ceremony many of the guests accompanied the
bride and groom on a cross country ride.
She has never worn corsets, and believes In as few
clothes as possible. In recent years her costumes
have become steadily more daring. When first she
appeared as a dancer It was in Greek costume, and she
was clothed much after the style ot our debutantes,
who this year gave the "Pandora's Box" entertainment,
except that the English dancer always scorned shoes
and stockings.
By degrees, however, the costumes dropped away
until the stage of Prince Troubetskoy's statue was
reached.
burst forth, clear and distinct. There was no doubt
about it. The fashionable audience found something
in Lady Constance's symbolical dancing that was irre
sistibly funny.
This was too much. Her ladyship hastily resumed
her robe and turned toward the exit, remarking in a
voice that was heard above the general confusion,
"Unappreclatlve Philistines! What do such people
know of art?" Some people say the word she used
was even stronger than "Philistine." Then she dis
appeared through the doorway.
Among the members ot the club were Mrs. James
Gordon Douglas, Mrs. Leonard M. Thomas, Mrs. Fran
cis Key Pendleton, Mrs. Henry Clews, Mrs. Whitney
Warren, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbllt, Mrs. Ogden L. Mills,
William W. Hoffman, William R. Stewart, Jr.; Mon
cure Robinson, Richard Peters, Charles D. Wetmore,
Francis Roche. Frederick Ftellnghuysen and Alphonso
de Navarro.
It Is understood that Lady Constance was promised
fee of $500 for her performance.
There are people In New York who consider the
f ...
f - " V . ,
I Xj s iff
I ' J -w ... .
i '
5 i - . v
V
"'' - ......!..., " '
'S a .
if ,-, . ' :-i
O : 1
" f . ' : - ' I- .N
.-'v oin.in.nmt . i .. 1 1- I 'Ak 1 - 5
.... . - . U, ; (
-- ...... w. j - - -. f - t;
,- . i :' ' "
.... f a.-v -i. i
i 1
5AUMAWN
COURT PHOTOGRAPHER
Remarkable Statue of
Lady Constarkce
Stewart Richardson
Dancing by Prince Paul
Troubettkoy.
Replica of It Are
Being Sold for tho
Benefit of the Starr
ing Belgians.
Lazy People Are Batteries
That Can't Get Kecharged
r
Lady Constance Posing for Prince Troubetskoy When He Made the Statue.
Copyright, 1913, by th Star Company.
By Professor Th. Rlbot, of the Col
lege of France, Paris.
rllROUGH the Influence of popu
lar speevli we often confuse
activity and effort with very
different psychological states. The
tendency to a minimum of effort is
not exceptional in humanity, and he
most active often act without mak
ing any great efTort.
Mankind may be divided into three
classes the highly active, whose
superabundance of power may show
Itself in violent physical exercise, In
sports, intrigues, Inventions of all
kinds, thd insatiable pursuit of
money, honor or fame. They are like
well-adjusted machines, always in
motion, with never a Jar. Enterpris
ing, bold, they seem never to tire, or
are refreshed quickly. This class
never tries to fall to a minimum of
effort 1
The second class includes those of
moderate activity. These feel
fatigue, have to try to make an ef
fort. Their energy-capital is limited,
so they must economize It. These
represent the large majority of man
kind. The third ciass'ls that of tho
"asthenics." who feel a dislike for
any effort, display laziness, apathy
and extreme Inertia, but are not ac
tually Invalids. Tbeso are the people
we say were "born laay." And ac
tually they were.
It has been Maid that the Ideal man
Is a perfect "transformer." lie acts
like a reversible battery; that is to
say, that after having acted for dis
charge like an ordluury battery he
Is regenerated by a nervous current
which constitutes the recharging. An
Increase of the muscular and vaso
motor tonicity may be produced In
one part by diminution In another
part of the body, which probably has
something to do with apathy or par
tial laziness. The tendency to this
laziness hag its roots in tho phys
iological condition. It marks some
insufficiency, In various degrees. A
person who la "born lazy" has this
insufficiency to a maximum degrne.
Among the psychological causes
the most evident, if not the most im
portant, is the natural aversion to
pain or Buffering. The state of con
sciousness becomes the principal fac
tor, or at least seems to be;, it is tht
psychological expression of fatigue,
showing itself in the lowering of the
electric charge In the human battery
Every one becomes tired, even those
whom wo speak of as indefatigable;
but there are degrees of fatigue. The
fatigue may be more physical or
more mental, but one does not exist
without tho other.
It . is known that fatigue shows
Itself by certain chemical changes In
the body, all of the sustaining ele
ments being consumed rapidly, and
a kind of intoxication ot the cells
taking place, because they cannot
carry off the waste products rapidly
enough. The battery has become
cogged and does not reverse prop
erly. We know that we are tired mentally
through feelings of fatigue all over
in the legs or arms, and then we
notice that the attention flags, we
lack will power, or, as we say, "can
not think," lack the power of con
centration. At bottom mental fatigue
Is only the expression ot bodily fa
tigue; the battery has given out and
iu slow in refilling, but because we
note this in consciousness our first
tendency Is to make as little effort
as possible so as to give the battery
a chance to recharge Itself slowly.
Consciousness having the power of
selection will not choose any effort
which it knows will result in fatigue
or pain. In this way pain turns us
away from effort, to prevent strain.
One of the main causes for our
itck of Initiative or dcBire to make
an eflort is lack of interest. If we
sre not interested we do not want to
do anything, but interest Is a very
complex psychological state. It im
plies attention and much more. Our
attention may be attracted without
our being really Interested. The cur
rent Is drawn from the human bat
tery, but It is forced out. It should
be spontaneous in order to avoid
strain. The "born-lazy" porson la
physiologically unable to get inter
ested In anything.
We may, however, be interested iu
a painful way. We may be held by
the pleasure In a story, an object or
a person, or may be painfully inter
ested when trying to overcome an
obstacle or defeat a rival. Even the
misfortunes of others may interest
us, but painfully there is an over
craft upon the battery. Normally
the sentimental Interest should be
moderate in intensity. The emo
tional shock or the violence of pas
sion stops the action ot the battery.
A drama, even though fictitious, It
it touch us, arouses a state very
much different from mere Interest
tears, fear, despair, anger and the
physiological conditions of these
states are quite different. The state
callod Interest is only an effect, and
the absence of interest results from
a general or partial weakening ot
motor tendencies the battery will
not work whence comes a repug
nance to effort
There is not sufficient energy In
the battery, and the tendencies to ac
tion become negatived, or turned
aside, producing laziness, lack ot
tone In the system, apathy all dif
ferent names tor the same state,
which is general In frank laziness, in
senile weakness and in the ill or
asthenic who simply lacks nerve
power. Avoiding all effort Is due to
the consciousness ot this organio de
bility, lack of power in the battery.
Habit is an important element in
action or the lack of it. Through
habit what was at first conscious and
live activity becomes a purely phys
iological mechanical action, from
which consciousness is withdrawn.
When completely controlled by habit,
roan is entangled in a net which pre
vents all spontaneous action and
leads direct to utter laziness.
The brain is not really lnert,at the
beginning, as some have claimed, for
every one is born with a small capi
tal of fixed combinations and con
trols which would not lead very far
if left alone. We start with the pri
mary instincts and the repetitions
which experience furnishes. The
habits are formed by grafting action
upon existing instincts, letting the
battery operate along certain accus
tomed wires, and by selection, pick
ing out certain wires for the current
to work on.
When the habit is formed it makes
it easy for the lazy to do the accus
tomed thing and difficult to do the
unusual. fcUort gives way to the ac
customed and the electric force fol
lows the line of least eflort. Here
we have the final result of laziness,
the refusal to do anything new, be
cause an eflort has to be made, and
the battery, having had few calls
upon it, lacks the force to accomplish
anything new.
Great Britain Rights Reserved.)
l
i
: s
rt
M
n
.
ir
t
ki,
t -
Dl
l
ki
in
to
11
' -l'
In
ra
tf-h-
a-
11