National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-03
9atiunaI gepnblifau
RENIEIsCBEoE OFI4KE 6EoReB
WHY SHOULD NOT WOMEN LEARN TO

WHY SHOULD NOT WOMEN LEARN TO
SWINE
Is there any reason why women should not
sv,, n Miss Bennett, the instruetress Of the
fres ~ INNING baths, seems this year to have
bad no n. of promising pupils, and at New
mort and Log Branch the number Of ladiss
able % buffet '. ith the waves was notably On
the increase, Boston is prominent In produc-
ing ladieswso are admirable swimmers Many
q these ladies, in case of an accident, could
not only take tlse best esGs of themselves, but
they have gone as far as t0Astruct themselves
how to save those ignorant o. swimming This
spring notable case occurred where young
vomanfrom a1intersortoBn in Massachusetts,
saved lad Of seventeen from drowning,
plunging into q sWift-Tunning river "aceou-
tered as siswas, !" and diving twice unasr the
water before accomplishing the rescue. Il e
worth recording that, the fat having bee4re-
| ported to the officials Of the Town where, thc
Incident happened, it was proposed to have :
I medal preserted to hsr. Taking the WhOIs
thing in a msfter-of-faes way. fAs young lady
refused, not wishing to Gttract any notorietJ
to herself; but the Iadies Of the Illage-her
weaker sisters, 10 q physical sense-in lieu Of
modest toilet, somewhat damaEsd BY the
immersion, gave the brave girl handsome
dress and an entirs new WARDROBE.
We are inclined 70 think that we eSuld dis
peuse with a trihe- Of botany, or physics, or
chemistry, providing our daughters could bet
ter. breast the waves. One pleasant dsy this
summer, standing amsng grougof LADIES on
ne. boat-slip at Lake George, the wind was
blowing freshly, when suddenly g lace shawl
was whissed of pretty girls shouAaersy and
carried by the breeze irsS the lake, Now, had
it feen lily much des,red by our lady-Ioye,
we might have, twenty-five years aEo, waded
into the.water, (frst HAVING assured ourselves
of its depth, y or, by means of long pole, 90
tanned the coveted flowers There was, not q
boat on-tfe slip, and feeliag provoked at the
accident. and our want of gallantTy, we
watched that drowning scarf, now drifting
fully hftysyards away froHrsus, 'It's really
dreadful" said the fair owner Of the lace;
''there goes the horrid thing. 1t is sadIyeut
of taste to mention what ID cost, but that
stupid scarf eost-dear me all my savings Of
six months>-to purchase at St5wsrt's. Pro
Yokfng thing Pm going to ESFe.a good oTy
over it. There, now" and the speaker I'D
indulge in . few genuine tears. SIT was $75,"
she added, between her sobs.
s'Was thasallp' said anotheriady in a most
unsympsthetie way, 81 declare thought It
was cotton laOe."
''That is aSremark quite uncaHea for,1 rs-
piled the loser of the shawl, s'and Is adding
insult to injury. There"
81 only did It, dear, to teach you to use-a
pin or something to hold The scarf with, and
not towear expensive lace just afterbrsakfast
But it's all right"
''What is all right, madam 7' rathersharply
retorted the aggueved one, considerably
nettled.
sit is all right, for am going to get your
shawl for you, since nobody else. win, p and
here the speaker looked at US. 'tOh YOU are
excused; men Of q certain age are not expected
to be heroic" and saying this, before Weeould
stop her, she had gone down the slippery boat
steps, had wa6ed up to her waist, and now
was out Of her depth, and was swimming as
Justify as q Sandwich Island girl toward the
shawl. Presently she was up to it, When. she
caught it, and with q woman's coquetry, swim
ming with one hand, with the other had con
verted the lace into a turban, which she wound
round her head. "Here Is practical nine
tenth century nereid for you, she cried out,
laughing, as she came in hand over hand.
In a moment she stood dripping on the slip.
"Now, sir, win you be good enough. to 60
to this hotel and send me my maidi and here
is your scarf, my dear young lady; it Is not
much hurt; you WIN spread It out evenly, and
put it between folds of plotting paper, with 4
weight on It; and of course you will kiss me
if you don't mind being wet-for having been
your Newfoundland, you know. 1t was real
frolicl Catch eoldl not a BIT of Ii. Learned
the noble art Of natstion when was eight
years old. It is pretty shawl, and such
rich, flowing pattern, and real lace: Of course
/ knew that all the time, for If it had been
cotton or imitation give you my Word
shouldn't have tried to rescue it. You seq
this was addressed to me-'a woman sWimS
at first, with all her clothes on, lighter than q
man, but after awhile it's rather heavy work.
But really think had married Turk, and
my jealous lord had put me in q sack into the
BosphorOus, he could not have drowned me.
By the way, ladies-I should not like you to
mention til am very unhappy. l am mar
ried to a man, fate has so ordained Il, who
can't run OF swim, or play cricket or shoot,
except in q most languid way. / am, then,
his natural protector, and he knows it. Butt
am chattering here. Pray now run to the
house and send my servant" On that we
hurried up to the hotel, and that Important
functionary, the lady's maid, soon sped on her
errand.
''My mission on this earth )" said the lady to
us that evening, ''is to induce women to i'm
prove themselves by means of physical culture.
Why did not Canon Kingsley lecture on it when
he was here, for no one has written so sensibly
on the subject? Women's rights movements
fail signally in this particular. How are women
who are always whining and siling TO take any
higher position in the human famflyl tell
you, much as we may despise materiaIistic
IDEAS, and hold aloft the immaterial-brain
over body-hsts are too often trumps. Now to
the case 10 point: should by no means have
gone overheard after that young lady's shawl
II / had not been in nv morning dress. That,
you say, is a non seQUitlT, but our actions are
mostly relative. A precious seOlding received
in lieu Of a reward from my lord and master,
and perhaps deserYedit But don't you think
if more of the young women could swim or
even walk deeently, or shoot bows and arrows,
or skate more, they would be better offl Don't
k,,r,r
intelligent women which have siek-headache
and dyspepsia sticking out In every linel OF
course, now il is too late to cure them. But,
suppose IN early life, if only two energetic male
friends, her brothers, had tucked that intellect
ual girl under their arms, and clapped on her
feet pair Of thick-soled shoes, and taken her
a spin Of three or four miles a day over the
felds-don't you fancy that young person
would have been wonderfully improved physi-
eally and mentality
"0f course we do, /" we replied.
care you not rather stronger In the theory
than in the practieel' the lady rather malici-
ously inquired. "YOu write about these mat
tiers occasionally, suppose; but do you carry
them out in regard to your daughtersP'
ave can eriticlse three-legged stool" we
replied, shut, if our life depended on it, could
not make one"
81 will tell you what will do. Tomorrow
morning viii wager you Just pair of gloves
that can take my husband in q boat, and YOU
may take any lady you please, not under ITO
pounds, and viii row you ha,f a mile into the
lake"
How could we decline the Wagerl That even
ing, however, we telegraphed to New York for
a pair Of 6H gloves. We came in glorious
second. We might have won had our young
lady coxsWain trimmed boat, but she insisted
on seeing the reflection Of the clouds IN the
lake, assuring rs it was 3 BaaRee she was
anxious to FIX In her mind, in case dress
pattern of similar hue was ever put before
her. We were beaten good many boats
lengths. Our competitor had every advantage.
The lady's dead weight-hel husband-sat
motionless in the stern reading book. He
had certainly been well trained.-N. =. Tines.
GOVERNMENT SALES.