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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1913)
THE BEE: OMAHA, THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1913. 9 hmin i i - ii-ii mmmm ! i i ., I., , i i i , - - - . nii.i i . mi, w-m ,i I isii ii.n .1 i ,! mm 1 mi 111 T1 Tfl mmmm, Religious Dances of Ancients Among Man's Strange Ceremonies x x Story WmIS.' lnitlcns dancing a mystery or religious danco In the garden at night. All men voro excludod from witnessing this dance, which, in a way, taken the part of fasting in the modern fchurch. By MARGARET HUBBARD AVER. Soma of tho strangest dances the world has ever seen have been of religious origin. We -have Holy Junipers In some communities to'day, whoso religious exhortations are' accom panied by -wild and often frenzied motions of the body, but they are no more sensational than the religious datoces of more .primitive people. About 1374 there was an epidemic rtho danc ing sickness (St. Vitus) In the southorh-Tyrol. A groat procession was formed of men, women and children who danced their way to tho very distant shrine of the saint to pray for speedy cure either for themselves or somo one dear to them. ' This dancing procession Is still a feature of the Feast of tho Pentecost at Etchernach, about ' 15,000 peoplo Joining it every year. Thoy all hold hands and advance five steps and then take two slops back. This gives tho procession the strangest, most fantastic appearance, llko a huge snake that Jerks itself along. There are plenty of brass bands to keep tho dancers' spirits up, and the close con tact of so many othor praying and dancing peoplo Is infectious. It is said that many cures are ef fected among tho pilgrims and that many of tho younger ones lost their hearts on the way to tho shrine. But that is considered to be particularly lucky. Tho most morbid and fearful of all tho dances in Christian times were tho Death "lances which ap peared about the same timo as tho great, plagues and w,ore the people's expression of grim and ghaBtly despair, at their lot. Tho grisly humor of theso dances, which wore led by a man drosscd as Death himself, painted as a skeleton with crown and ormlne coat, can only be understood if you try to think yourself back In those times. In tho thir teenth and fourteenth centuries ovory-imaginable disease, and tho black plague especially, ravaged Europe somotlmes killing ovory ono of the in-, habitants of a small town. Thero was no Idea of a cure for anyono who contracted tho dlsoaBo, and no oxact knowledgo qf how it was caught. Tho peoplo were as helpless as sheop beforo a flock of wolves. If one man died of tho plague In a town It was pretty sure that many moro would. So Death was constantly In everybody's thought, and they could not ov6n got away from tho Idea In their merrymaking, but danced with Death as tho piper of a long, ghastly procession. At this time dancing had become a perfect mania and many peoplo wore accused of hnving tho dnnco sickness, which was a form of hysteria or St. Vitus danco, quite as popular in tho mlldlo ages as neurasthenia Is now. Tho danco of death had a very bad effect on people, needless to say, and soon the church forbade it, and tho only reminder wo have of it now la In pictures of that time. The Slavic peoplo still retain a traco of this morbid danco In a death danco of their own. This 1b performed by a young gtrl who protends to be a corpse. Shp must romaln rigid while thd rest of tho company try as hard as possible to make her laugh by their funny antics, their dancing and their ridiculous caricature of profound mourning. Tho boy who can make her laugh or waken hor gets a kiss as his roward, and tho danco, despite Its grewsomo Idea, Is very popular in somo par,ta ot Bohemia. There was nothing morbid or unhealthy in the funeral dances of tho old Greeks- where members of the family, or paid mourners, walked In solemn and Btatoly..manner around the funeral pyre of the doad and chanted hyranB In his honor, whjle they scattered flowers arid poured out libations of wlno to tho gods. But other religious dances of tho pleasuro loving Greeks wero less dignified, and cer tain Dlonyslan mysteries participated in only by women ended In the wildest kind ot revelry. This fosttval permtttod tho women who wore hodgod In by very strict laws and oven narrowor conventions to got back to naturo for a while, and thdy mode full uso of their opportunity, led by the wild Maonads, tho high priestesses of tho God of Wine, forking Girls and tfte. Minimum-Wage,. 3 By WINIFRED BLACK. Tlipre now, girls, run homo and hldo ln'tho-cloBet. They are really cross with you, the business men are. licrefthey hire you and let you work nlno hours ' a-n d oVer a -.day for t H e m, nno you every time you look around, "make you pay for the water you drink, pay you K 'a week,, and here you go appearing beforo the vice commlssjon and tell them all, about t. Ungrateful' min xes that you are, don't you'Hnow that It 'was never In tended to let the public know the In sldo of big busi ness that way? Ilow can a mere nobody of an overy day man understand the Ins and outs of a great enterprise which employs a thou sand BlrlS In JUst ono department. Told all you knew, did you? Well, maybe 'you think you are going to .go right on doing that and keep your Jobs, but you never were moro mistaken In your lives. They are cross with you, really cross, and they've been telling the papers all about It. ."Minimum wagel" snorted one of the big business men at tho vice probe meet ing the other day. "Minimum wage for girls! Well. I think not. If they talk that sort of thing much more I will turn every girl In my place adrift and hire men. I guess that will teach them something. If I've got to pay men's wages I'll get men to do the work. Twelve dollars a week will give me all the men I want, and I'll get them, too, It I hear much more of this rot about ii minimum wage Bcale." There now, girls, I told you they were getting bad. Don't laugh he's serious. It's no laughing mattor to have, people asking you questions about how you ex pect a gtrl to live decently on $4 a week and other Impudent questions about your business. Twelve dollars a week .for men good men, competent clerks. It's hard to .keep To Keep the Face Fresh, CUar, Youthful (National Hygienic Review.) Moro Important than the cosmetic care of the complexion la Its physical care. To keep the face clean, fresh, youthful, there's nothing better than common mer collzed wax. It absorbs the soiled or faded Wornout skin particles. ITslng cos metics simply add unwholesomeness to the complexion. That's the difference. l)y all means, acquire the mercollzed wax habit. It's so easy to get an ounoe of the wax at the druggist's, apply at night like cold cream and wash It off next morning. There's no detention In doors, the old skin coming off so gradu ally no one suspects you're using any thing. When In a week or two tho allur ingly youthful, roselike, undcr-skln Is fully in view well, you won't want, or need, a make-up complexion after that. It must t0 apparent that this process means complete itddcnce of all cutun eous blemishes, like freckles, jilmplr-a. blptches and blackhead. Kor obstinate wrinkle, a fair bat. niada by dissolving an cun o' t, in a half rlnt of witch hazel, surpasses maesage cream and every u4ng uu 1 . ria ult - Advertisement a straight face. Isn't It? How many competent men would work for that very long? I'd like to ask. Wouldn't you, girls? And what sort of service would they give If they did work? "Men at the no tlon counter, men selling hats, men at the lingerie bargain square, men telling all about initial hankerchtefs, men 'selling corsets to slim Women and brassieres to fat women, men advising you whether to wear knickers or pettlsklrts with certain frocks, men helping you to decide, be tween an .old pink tea gown and a flow ered negligee, men showing the last thing in hair bows. Tut, tut. Mr. Busi ness Man. you really are a llttlo funny and you'll have to excuse us If wo smile Girls, It's all a bluff, this talk nf eHrt being worth so llttlo and .men being worth so much-Just a plain old-fashlonnd bluff. Take stenographers, Tho man stenog raphers used to bo the thlnir. You don't see one In 100 now. Brother Johnnie stays up so late nights his hands tremble too much for good dictation the next day. Brother Willie upsets his nerves so with cigarettes that he Isn't worth a cent after 10 o'clock In the morning, Brotber Tommle Is always either Just getting over too many high balls or Just getting ready for too many gin rlckoys, or whatever Is the drink most In vogue In his particular set. Sis ter Mary goes to bed at 10 o'clock, Sister Ann takes a nice tub and toddles to dreamland, while Tommle Is Just start ing his evening. Sister Julia bolls her own coffeo and has creamy eggs and a roll In comfort, while Brother Johnnie Is filling himself with Indigestion at a chnnn. restaurant. Brother Willi might be a better stenographer than Sister Kate If he'd give his nervous system a chance to do a little normal work, but he won't, so Sister Kate has decidedly the better of him, and the practical business man Is finding this out, and Sister Kate can get Just as good wages now as brother It she'll Just have the good sense to ask for them as a, matter of course. Ten yars ago you could count the women buyers of nny account on the fingers of your hands and then have the thumbs left over. Today the woman buyer Is the thing all over" the world. She can catch the .fast train as well as the man, and she can tell what women will like a good deal better than most men that's why she's getting 110,000 a year and Investing .It. It's not a matter of charity to be "given a chance to earn your own living," little- g)rl. You'll earn It, all right, or you'll make room for some one who can .and wilt earn It. Don't worry about that anotner minute. And. whisper! When the market Is full of men who'll work cheerfully for $12 a week selling women's clothes to women you can begin to look blue. Till then remember It takes two people to make a bargain a buyer and a seller ana the ono who sells has Just as much right to look facts In the face as the one who buys. I wouldn't worry about the business men being cross. It's good for the con stitution to, get cross once In a while, they saj;, and I'd go right on working for my "minimum wage scale" Just as If nobody ever thought of being cross about anything. You need business men. but don't for get this the business men need you. too, and that somehow seems to put quite another face on the matter, doesn't It? ff 1 : Ella Wheeler Wilcox Says ' Man is Amusing When He is , Down Laws to Guide in Her Own Affairs -.J By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. Copyright. 1913 by Star Company. A man la never so"amuslng as wben he attempts to lay down laws' for the conduct' of woman. . - , Ifls theorips - are ''usually at variance with his actions toward the fair aox, and so frequently opposed to woman's best In terests. It was only when woman re volted from man's retabll3hod customs and traditions that li.u bofiah to evolve out of the harem n-'' flM'cr." She had a diffi cult road to travel up to .her present position of useful ness and Independ ence, because all tho highways were owned by .man, and everywhere she en countered the -sign: "No Trespassing." Yet .she pushed-hor weary way along, step by step, until she compelled the more progressive minds to realize her right 1 to develop her latent powers of mind and body, and to enjoy God's world out side of the man-reared walls of conven tions and restrictions. Most men today accept the new condi tions and realize the Injustice of tho old. They realize, too, the value of the new conditions to the race-to-be, mid rejoice In the outlook. Occasionally, however, an otherwise progressive male being shows the "old man" spirit and becomes either patronizing, or preachy, or oppressive In his attitude to the "New Woman." Once upon a time, not beyond the mem ory of the ingenue, a bachelor who Is famous for his brilliancy of mind stooped to popr, frivolous woman's level for a moment and gave her advice regarding the care of her complexion. This counsel consisted of tho mouldy old Instruction to give her cuticle no tnought beyond keeping It clean, and to use only poap and water In tho process; to make no effort to avoid or remove freckles, as they were attractive. Yet this man. like roost others, never fails to compliment the woman who pos. sesses a fine complexion, and he Invaria bly tells liU women acquaintances when they-are tastefully attired. Since the world began men have urged women to Ignore personal appearance and to think little of matters pertaining to the toilet, and have pursued and wooed (and won when possible) the woman who paid no attention to their advice and who.' made It .a point to keep herself becomingly dressed and well groomed. , It Is jthe man who criticises the woman's freckles and wrinkles ten times where It Is another woman once. It Is man who, by his conduct, demands beauty of woman, and then utters plati tudes to her upon the unimportance of a good complexion. It Is man who pays devoted attentions to the wejl-dressed gtrl, and then urges woman to turn her mind to higher sub jects than self-adornment. It Is man who should take the prize for Inconsistency The wise and sensible woman will make her complexion the subject of dignified study She will be careful in her diet; careful In her exer cise; sho will protect her face from rough winds and-burning sdns, yet give It ample fresh air. She will understand how the pores of her sklri need feodlng and replenishing at times, Just how her system-needs food; and she will give them pure creams and oils and ' bracing astringents. She will be careful In using soaps and will use nq water, unless rainwater straight) from the skies; because, she will Value the "fine quality of her 'skin as highly as she would a fine fabric In her Wardrobe. If she is freckled, sho will (If she un derstands ' how valuable 1 an (inset Is a fair, well-cared-for skin, frco fr0m blem lsh) consult specialists, and find some thing which keeps tho ugly Bpots in abeyance, just as sho would consult a good dentist to (straighten an ugly tooth. And she will find herself appreciated by mankind fur her efforts when they show In results, despite the meaningless platitudes they utter on the subject. Recently another man contributed an cient Ideas to modern progress by the following utterances; "Womanhopd, wifehood, motherhood the stellar trinity In being's firmament without which all Is dark are being obscured by tho sickening incense called the 'ISew Thought," and woman, the 'friend and helper ot man, Is In a fair way to become a nonentity. "Our advice to women would be: Teave pyschology alone; stop prying into meta physics; steer clear ot the occult; give a wide berth to all foolish self-investigation and be women." This man should have lived In tho dnys When It was considered masculine and bold fr a woman to study anything out side of the domain of the nursery, and when men forced her to be classed with wantons it she Insisted upon an educa tion. This man himself woefully needs edu cating In the philosophy of the new thought. Let us see what Is the teaching he culls "a sickening Incense" and warns woman to abjure. The "New Thought" creed tolls woman to think of herself as an Immortal spirit blessed with all the divine qualities; It tells her to live her. wholo lite to meet this thought! to lovo her Creator and her fellows; to weed out every un kind and uncharitable feeling; to drive away all Jealousy; all envy, all anger, and all despondency, by the constant nsscrtlon of her divine self. It tells her to say, and to believe, that creation had need of her, and that all she desires wilt come to her If she holds fast to love. It bids her be patient under adversity, believing all trials arc but lessons for her soul and that only lov. health, hope, success and usefulness are 'her real pos sessions In this life. To assert her share of God's unlimited opulence dally, and to believe that noth ing bUt good can come to her, and to wish nothing but good to any one on earth, however, unlovable, To consider Illness and poverty and trouble as transitory conditions which are not to be seriously talked or or thought about;, to thank God for existence every hour, and to rejoice In the privi lege of helping the. world to grow better by living a useful and loving and pa tient and cheerful life. This Is New Thought, good sir, and It Is spreading Its beautiful philosophy all over the land, and doing what your musty old scare-crow creeds can nyver do making the world a kinder, swooter. better place for mortals to be born Into, and showing women the way to a higher understanding of wifehood and mother hood, Vnln Is your plea to women to "stpp prying" Into the Inner self to 'stop self-Investigation." She has looked Into her own soul and found God within. She who has done that will never need to seek Him tlsewhere. for He will be aways omnipresent. It The Apostle of SelOulture f i It's Love, Love, Love! 1 BY FRANCES L. GAR8IDE. They always speak of It as love's young dream, because It so rarefy lives to be old. An engagement Is like tomorrow, but marriage Is like today. 'Introduce wisdom Into 'a'", love affair, and you wreck It. Two important ways for a woman to avoid disappointment are novcr to fall In love, or put anything In the oven. It doesn't take much to begin a ro mance, but there is often a wreck at the stopping place. The reason the love making on tl)e stage Is' so perfect Is that he knows he will not have to pay for her clothes and groceries after the curtain falls. A popular song bad this refrain, "t don't know why I love you, but I do." Don't try to discover the why of loving Trying to find out why one loves results as tragically as punching a hole In a drum to see what makes the noise. Love makes, the world go 'round, but It takes Jealousy to make It move lively. Probably one reason the birds are sq happy Is that they don't have to be mar ried to the same .bird longer than one season. Love Is often a matter of nothing else Love Is often largely a matter of noth ing elbe going on. No one over 4 years of age can throw a kiss gracefully.' Tho government Is so' zealous In pro hibiting matter In tho-nature of a lottery going through the mall. It Is a wonder It doesn't hold up tho love letters. Is a kiss a blunder or a crime? It Is pleasant to talk of one love for life, but actual experiences proves that It Is easier to transfer a heart than It Is to transfer a piece of real estate By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY. In tho death of Goethe, eighty-one years ago March 22, 1832, the world lost Its brightest Intellect. To say that Goethe was great Is to put It mildly. He was Immonsely, al m ost Inconceivably, great, an Olympian ot tho Olympians, ranking up with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes and a halt dozen or so of the very greatest men of whom we have any account. Such Is the ver dict not only ot Ger many, but ot every country that has culture enougn to pass an opinion upon the subject. Besides tne five or six consummate works, which by universal consent ore above crltlclBm, H may be affirmed that his songs ore tno best In the world. He was the greatest of all literary critics, while In the quail, ties of the essayist, In subtlo and abun dant observation ot human life, In th number and value of his wise remarks und pregnant sentences, he Is almost without an equaj In the whols field of literature. And to add to the amazement (as though nature would never -grow weary of casting fayors upon him), Goethe was well nigh as great In scientific acumen as In philosophic power and literary ex cellence. Without any special training, he saw, as It were, by Intuition, some ot the deepest ot scientific truths. In such way came to htm his, discovery re' gardtng the Intermaxillary bone, the dis covery that the skull is only a develop ment of the vertebrae of tho spine, and last, but not least, his discovery ot the metamorphosis of plants. If over nature had a pet, upon whom It delighted In lavishing Its affections and bestowing Its gifts, that darling was none other than Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In his lap was emptied every favor fine birth, splendid pnysique. al most perfect.. health, beauty of person, wealth, genre's that shone like a sun. with honor and glory until Its 'very abundance wearied him! And yet, at the birth of this darlliiS ot darlings there stood an evil fairy, Goethe was born selfish not In the lor- row sense, but In the far worse sense Advice to the Lovelorn By BEATRICE FAIRFAX Dear Miss Fairfax: I am In love with a girl of 18. The other night she told my friend she loved me, but as I cannot tell It she loves me, could you let me know how to find out? w. H, You love her; she has told a friend she lores you. It Is pleasanter to learn such things first hand, so go to her and ask her direct, If you feel that you roust know. But she is only 18, and 'too young to really know. Dear Miss Fairfax: I am deeply In love with a young lady, and want to marry her. But as I am only getting 112 a week, I am quite undecided Whether to ask the young lady to watt or get mar mler. V1SUCY A You might live on S12 a week, but love wouldn't. Don't get married until you are earn ing twice as much. that he was denied the power of a broad, deep, lbvlng homan lnterest In his fellow men. : If Goethe cquld have had some of Schil ler's heart he would have been almost perfect. Schiller loved men and tried to make them happier and better. Goetha loved rrleh "but he loved them about as the operator loves the body he Is d(s-. sectlng-rfor the use It may be to him In his art. Schiller studied his fellow human, beings In order that he might learn horns to help them. Goethe studied them solely for the purpose of portraying them In his songs, novels and poems. They were but the rough material of his art con-' summate art, it must be admitted, but like the Iceberg In the sunshine, as cold as It Is sparkling, From all the Interests and passions of humanity, as such, -Goethe held himself grandly, Imperturbably, aloof. The great French revolution failed to disturb hlra. Kven the war of liberation, a holy war. It ever there was one, was unable to make a ripple upon tho quiet waters of his meditation. He "was thinking of his art, In comparison, with which, as he looked at matters, nothing else was of any consequence. Tho whole story Is briefly told In the words of Wllhelm (and WHhelm was speaking for Goethe): "From my boy hood It has been my wish and purpose to develop completely an that Is In me." Self-culture, In a' word waa Goethe's gospel. And yet, not all of the self, either. Tho best part-the affections, the moral sense, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness was left out. and only the Intellectual remained. Great and glorious" a Goethe Was. (f Is perfectly true that he was simply great and glorious ragan a sublime Intellect, a supreme artist, but quite Indifferent to the "burns of a great heart," In which Ho the hopes of the ages. Goethe's fame will deservedly live for ever, but the pilgrims to' his shrine will ever feel llko buttpnlng up their coats, fo the atmosphere thereabouts will al ways be chilly. Sweet Breath ax White Teeth A prfMt dottfrlt pre vU U eoadltfeiu tail (UN ajr. 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