To the Editor of the journ-Cuta Dancy News"
Sin—It we want to remove an evil, the best thing to do is to remove is roo! we want to get rid of the evil of smoking and face-paints ing—and they are evils!—we must do the same. Let us analyse the root of smoking. It is, to put it into a nutslell, vanity. When a boy thinks he 4s a man—mostly a sheer misconception of manliness—he wants to test his new dignity. And as he has no other chance (or may I'say no other ability?) to prove his claim, he turns to smoking. He is fully convinced that, when' he strolls. along, proud
mering tobacco in his mouth, nobody peacock, with a bunch could ever doubt that this bit of a would-be man is a masterpiece of the male sex, and that no girl could see without becoming crazy for him immediately. Though the frst steps in the smoking-career have the tndesirable effect of a vomitive, never mind. With an energy worthy of higher objectives he refuses to give up, and after some time It has become an incurable vic And the female sex: They think, it they would not imitate every mis chief and nonsense of their mate col-Teagues, they would miss something of their equality of rights. But in their ease the matter is much worse smoke cannot do much harm to the beauly of a man (only few of us ook ike Bob Taylor), but the ladies call themselves the beau se: they really are, But how disastrous stinking smoke to the charm and loveliness of their faces. 1 would advise them: stop smoking and leave this stupid habit to your male comrades!
'And as for face-painting: The motive is simply this: A shopkeeper makes every' effort to arrange. his shop-window in a most attractive manner in order to allure customers And a girl paints her lips and her cheeks, "and goodness knows what else, to make her face operate as a fy-catcher. Some women disgure their faces to such an extent that some husband, when he gets home unexpectedly and finds his wife without the usual make-up, thinks he has entered the wrong fat.
But T never heard a man say that ho Uked painted faces or mails and alli this kind of, modern self-advert ing. All men agree. that nothing in the world i9 more delightful and attractive than the, fresh natural beauty of a girl, unspoiled by artificial means. And should a girl be tess beautiful—forgive me the insoler assumption am sure that painting the least effective remedy for that Gisls, stop painting and be as you fare, And, you may rest assured, we shall love you more than ever.
Shanghai, Apr. 15.
Shop-Window Dressing To the Editor of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.