The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-14

The short skirt ImprOYement-Th
vital Forces not Properly Cared for
1.-The Body and the Limbs to he Bet.
ter Protected. Jf 4ad 10
at,t by DIo LEWIS, N. D. sss. ,s
This subject is vitality important. Be-
side It, diet, exercise and baths sink
into insignificance. My pale. faced
countrywomen are dying for lack OF
room, freedom they are being stitled.
Dress Reformers proclaim short skirts
as the remedy. This Is well. The
short skirt is an improvements move.
ment upward, but of no consequence
compared with the readiustmentso of the
dress about the middle of the body,
That part Contains the vital organs. IL
a man strongf it is because the middle
of the body is strong. Is a woman
Yigorous3 it is because the middle OF
her body is developed and active.
The changes needed In woman's
dress are the following and 1 believe
their Importance is in the order named:
1. The dress about the waist is to be
very loose, without whalebones or 9TH
er stitening, and the. skirts carried
with snspenders over the shoulders.
2. The arms and legs are to be warm
~ dressed SO as to maintain a healthy
circulation. IA
8. The skirts to fall to the knee.
have said that the importance of
these several changes is in the order
named. The lungs; heart, liver and
stomach, which together make up the
fountain of life, must have room, or the
vital forces must halt. With the corset
and tight-lacing, these organs are re-
duced one-third in size and two-thirds
in motion. = D. p
HedLLl and eqtsttf6Tftm Of ciycuLatto,,
are interchangeab terms. Whosoeyer,
whatever living thing, either animal or
vegetable, has detective circulation has
defective health. 'Flannels, cotton pad-
ding, thick shawls, cloaks and furs
piled upon the chest, while the legs are
covered with q single thickness OF cot
ton cloth Surrounded by a balloon In the
shape of a hoop, steaIns the chest and
freezes the legs. The legs and arms,
separated so far from the center of the
body, surrounded by the cold air, need,
to say the least, as much clothing as
the body, and ought to have one or, in
cold weather in this climate, two thick
nesses of knit woolen. Women com
plain to me of headache, tell me their
blood is all in their head and chest
while their feet are as cold as ice. With
the fashionable dress how can it be
otherwisef Let them cover the limbs
with one or two thioknesSeS of warm
fiRnnely and the feet with warm dress,
and the head and chest will be imme-
diately relieved. -Ins .lIs-tl
The short skirts, although in import
ance to health the least vital of these
three changes, is nevertheless very inn
portant. The skirt should fall little
below the knee. The pants should be
the large Turkish pants, which, made
long enough to fall to the ankle, and
fastened at the bottom by being drawn
close about the ankle with a slight elias
tic cord, should then be drawn up to the
place usually occupied by the garter,
and pulled down to the middle, or a
little below the middle of the calf of the
leg. When going out into the cold air
the exposed part of the leg should be
covered with a patent leather anklet,
and during the cold season OF the wear.
that part of the leg should be covered
with two thicknesseS of woolen. While
all this peculiar arrangements is, in point
of convenience and protection, less sat-
tstactory than the straight pants, such
as gentlemen wear / nevertheless adj
wise IL, because it is very easy to intro
duce the short dress with these pants
and very difficult to introduce what is
known as the Bloomer costume. For
example: In my school at Lexington,
Mass, had more than hun
dred fashionable young. ladies last
during the school year the
short dress, the gymnastic costume,
while all the fashionable ladies' of the
village outside of the Institution, adopt
ed the same dress. Indeed, it is almost
rare to see in Lexington a lady with
long dress. An attempt to introduce
the Bloomer costume, / am sure, would
have proved a failure, not in our own
house, perhaps, but in its influence OUT
side. All through our part ofthe conn-
try, when we go out TO ride, we see la
dies in the short dress. Indeed, some
of the clergymen, who observed that
our young ladies changed for the long
dress on going to church, came to me
to say they hoped would allow them
to come in their short dresses, for they
liked very much to see them. A single
LADY appearing in the streets of Boston
in the regular Bloomer- costume at
tracts a crowd of boys, while twenty of
ouryoung ladies can go into Boston
without remark or notice. The fact is,
we men and boys are very Jealous OF
our breeches, but the gymnastic Co.'S
tune does not involve that garment,
and SO we lords of creation give our
consent to its adoption by our sisters.
A. Romantic Episode.-The Loves OF
3 fin Kateand Casper.
From ne 4fittra1lEee WfsconSfn.
Our attention has been called to one
of those little episodes in lie which are