New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-05-24
Pbykical Culture for Females.

To bockheads all is clear
Don'I let your heads get engine turned
Te be an engineer.
Physical Culture for Females.
While men are paying more attention
now than at any previous time to the de
velopment Of their ply steal strength. it il
remarkable that tho equal necessity OF
similar training for the other sex receives
very little consideration. Ii is incontesta
BILE that the growing generation OF young
men and boys in this country bids fair tl
produce liner race than their fathers
Their muscles are tougher, their endurance
greater, their digestion better, and theiI
abilities to fight the battles of life increased
by the possession of that general good
health which can only be secured by regu.
lar and systematic exercise.
The multiplication of base ball, cricket,
rowing and yachting clubs, the increase in
the number CT gymnasiuDs, the large pa
tTonage OF the various patent appliances
for cuitivating good physique, and the
disposition OF very many men to make a
walk OF three or four miles part of their
every day routine, are all evidences of this
tendency toward athletic culture. We are
beginning to take commemorate pride in
our ability to stand rapid stretch Of a fe "
miles without breaking down, to tug an car
Tor an hour without weakening, and to
handle heavy pair Of clubs or dumb bells
in scientific style.
Men who spend the greater part of their
time at eedentary labor are finding that
nothing is SO sure to give them hearty
appetite, to bless them with sound sleep at
night, and to set them down at their desks
in the morning with clear head and Wig
OrOus relish for their work, as devOting an
hour or two each day to expanding their
chests and swelling their muscles. The Ella
ton and elasticity Of spirit, the good tenn
per. and the regular habits that exercise is
certain to produce. are preventives for
more than half tue ills that flesh is heir to.
Fretfulness, leziness--both mental and
physical-shrinking from any prolonged
task, and general feeling OF inability to
attempt any sort CT exertion, are natural
accompaniment of the muddled brain that
very often goes with the feeble BODY.
The instances of great and Industrious
minds IN the bodies of physical .weakliDgs
are 10 contradiction to the general rule
The possession of strength to allow them the
capacity for more prolonged mental exer-
ton has been the one thing longed for by
such men who stand highest on the roll OF
intellectual fame. We are getting away
from the absurdity that narrow shoulders
and pale face are genteel. and that there
is something odious and coarse in straight
ual laborer. Canon Kingsley has argued
with force that can hardly be intensified
that mental and physical culture ought to
go hand in hand, and the evidence that our
people are learning and practiciDg the les
son is prophetic OF a time when men will
bring to all the tasks and problems of
life more strenuous application, finer
patience, stronger will and a broader
charity than we know Of now.
This question of educating the BODY to
be the faithful and capable servant of the
brain, and by which the mental powers are
stimulated and the moral perceptions are
cleared, reaches far down to the very basis
OF society, and is one of the foundation
stones upon which only can we build a
fairer and statelier structure. Incidentally
it has some connection with the cause OF
intemperance. for it is not the robust man
who feels the desire for liquor to spur him
up to work and endurance.
But although this change for the better
in the habits of one sex is noticeable. it can
not accomplish all that it should, for the
reason that women do not follow in the
same path. Everything that can be said in
favor Of the physical development Of men
applies with equal force to the other sex,
but the plumber of American women who
make a practice of bodily exercise is in
finitesimally small. The vast mass of girls
SIoN up UAO CULTIVATION OF
their strength; they attain womanhood
with sunken chests, round shoulders, puDy
arms and short breath; they become wives
with constitutions too weak to support the
burden of their duties, and thousands sink
into their graves or Inger ont wretched
broken down existence from the struggles
Of maternity.
We do not mean to 60 into lecture on
what are called the fashionable follies of
h .,.~l4
fer very little injury from them if they
would only in their younger days accustoln
themselves to a certain amount of steady
physical exercise. The unsound lungs. the
iyspeptic stomachs and the bent backs of
American women ought to be reproach to
them and their husbands, fathers and
brothers. They are the fruitful sources Of
domestic misery, and they rob life of much
Of its sweetness and pleasure. 1t is a
curious perversity that neglects to endeavor
20 substitute health and happiness in place
IF sickness and suffering.
The small amount Of homework. or the |
Incidental dawdle along the city streets, |
hat are the only occasions when the mus |
lies of girls in the classes above the lower
trata of humanity are brought into active
Use, are not enough to train a healthy |
physique. They want something that shall |
mpart strength to their limbs and plant the
oses in their cheeks. Why should not cal
or the use of Indian clubs and
lnmb-bells be taught in female schoolss
Why should not young ladies, after their
Emancipation from irocks and pantalettes.
i've halt hour each morning to such exer-
Use?
None can devote themselves to such prac.
ice for single week without continuing il |
or the sake OF the pleasure of it, for the
asclnation found in the use of the muscles
tier they have been once reused to their
'ork is like the strainng of the nettled
orse Tor breezy spin down the track or
be sense OF eXhllaratlon an oarslhan teels
I that supreme moment on which hangs
ne late OF the race. 1t Is pure and posi-
We enjoyment, and 1t would cause any
lrl to throw physic to the dogs and eat her
reals with the sharp appetite of Lord Dan.
reary's sweetheart when she made secret
nd on the beef behind the kitchen door.
men, indeed, are somewhat to blame 30
ng as Lydia Languish is. held to be the
ost desirable type OF woman, but thew |
IN not continue their own physical educa- ,
or without perceiving that what is good |
r them would be equally beneficial for
elr wives and daughters and sisters.
ere is something practical for the female
formers to take hold Of Let them teach
eIr sex that its elevation in TIE scale de- ,
'nds as much upon their bodily ability to
pc with the trials of life as the perfection ,
Their mental education. When we are }
nslbe enough to train up women this ,
~, then, indeed, will they be brighter.
tier and more lovable, and 1t would he a
lection upon the advancing enlighten. :
9nt OF the age If their need OF physical | t
lture does not impel them to nav proper 4
tention to it.-Ballimore American. q