The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-04-12
About Girls.
now THEY Observation-Disclosures
LACING-EATING- EXERCIsE-A N ID
VARIOUS OTHER THINGS.

DR.. Dio Lewis has always been
5eeply interested in the girls. When
roapS, nothing fascinated him SO much
and even now he admires them as
much as ever. The chief topic on
mhicl he writes for their benefit is
health. and he begins by giving them
GOOD advice about their boots and
Shoes As rule their soles are too
narrow. A young lady whose foot is
fonr inches wide wears shoe with q
snIe only two inches and half. The
consequence is that in walking the
stem Of the girls is unsteady and vi
brates sideways. Besides, the press
ure of the upper leather checks the
";rcnlation in the foot and makes it
Ina This sort of shoes, with an
alast,c garter worn about the leg just
salaw the knee, is the cause why the
treat oo, majority of girls have cold feet.
f. the sales of the shoes were made
broad, this difficulty would not only be
obyiated, but the foot itself would look
smaller and handsomer. Moreover,
such shoes keep in shape much longer
than narrow ones. Neither should
they have high heels. This high.
small heel lately in fashion are alb
surd. They tend to weaken the ankle,
Jam the toes into the sharppoints O:
the boots, and cripple the feet.
One of the rarest things in the world
is to meet with a woman who walks
well. Mrs Charles Kean--Ellen Tree
was an admirable walker. Any wo-
man has the capacity to walk well.
But how can this be done if girl
goes about perking her chin up, stick
ing out her shoulder blades, and wig
Cling herself along in a stubby. stumb-
ling way. For fine walking, low,
wide heels and broad soles, especially
about the toes, are necessary. The
body must he at perfect liberty about
the waist. The corset is deadly enc
my to fine walking. Next, the direc-
ton is to carry the chin close to the
neck. Strange to say, the chin IS the
pivot on which the whole body turns
in walking. If the chin is wrong, the
shoulders are wrong, the hips are
wrong the whole gait is wrong. A
most important rule of health is to
stand up straight. Walk erect, sit
at night do not put three pillows under
your head and watch your toes all
night, but keep yourself straight. If
you do this your lungs, heart, stomach,
and all the other organs of the body
will have room for work. 1t is i'm
possible even to have good voice I'M
less you stand erect.
The full dress of low neck and short
sleeves is as immodest as it is unheal-
thy. The mania for cxtravagant trim.
1nlngs of woman's dress has become
insufferable. Earring are barbarous
finger rings are vulgar; the wearing oil
false hair is an atrocity. Preparations
for the complexion are among the
most Objectionable outrages which wo-
man perpetrates upon herself The
habit of padding the bust of dresses,
so univ ersal among dressmakers, des-
troys the natural functions of the
breasts. Lacing produces a hideons
distortion. The enormous paddlngs
worn below the waist heat and injnre
the spine. The garter seriously in
tuS SiiSututtoii VI Vic Uiocu
1t is not wrong to wish to keep the
stocking smooth, and it the calf of the
leg be very large, the knee small and
the circulation vigorous an elastic
garter may be used without serious
injury. "But," says DR.. Lewis, "as
most American girls have slender legs''
this we are assured is not true-"as
there is but little engagements of the
calf, the pressure of the garter requir-
ed to keep the stocking in position is
very injurious. 1t produces absorb
ton of the most important muscles,
and therefore a weakness of the legs
lack of circulation, and therefore
GOODNESS of the feet" He recommends
instead of garters, that the stockings
should be fastened by straps to the
waist.
The idleness of our girls is deplora
bic. A friend had three daughters
and two sons, all grown up. He was
a shopkeeper, and one of the sons was
employed in the shop, while the three
girls did nothing but dress, play a
little, make calls receive calls, go shop.
ping, and, during the summer, visit the
country for their health. The bust.
ness went on badly, until finally the
father called his daughters together
and told them that he was in debt and
that the only chance for the family
was that the girls should abandon
their idle life and help him to carry or
the business. This they did, The
clerks were discharged; the daughters
became industrious and useful, and
the family was saved from poverty
and distress.
All women long to bury their uncer-
tainties and anxieties in the love of a
husband. Men, on their part, are
thinking of the same thing; but only
the rich can afford to marry; it costs
too much. Besides, women make
themselves ugly. Look at one of them
A big hump, three big Jumps in &
wilderness of crimps aud frills, haul.
ing up of the dress here and there, and
an enormous, hideous mass of false
hair or bark planted on the top of the
head, and on the very top of that lit
tie nondescript thing, ornamented witt
bits of lace, binds tails, and so on.
while the shop windows tell us Ill da!
long of the paddings, whalebones, ant
springs which occupy most of the spac,
within that outside ring. How cal
any man of sense who knows that lift
is made up of use and work, take sucl
a partner! He must be desperate t,
unite himself for life with such a de
formed, fettered, half breathing ar
rangement. Such women have NJ