National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-21
sgahsuaI gepabliaa
CORSET DISCIPLINE.
PRACTICES AT FEMALE BOARDING.
SIrHnllTES

PRACTICES AT FEMALE BOARDING.
SCHOOLS.
The London Saturday Rsviesy says "We had
supposed that it was generally agreed faat tight
lacing Is injurious to the health Of gtrLs, but 10
now appears that there are two sides to Ehi5 as
we'll as to every other question. Indeed, We have
before US q publication which assumes that .
slender waist is beautiful, and the means usually
taken to produce It are healthiuI; and, further,
that there is some eonnecti0u-Whieh VIC cannot
uaee-betWeen tight laeing and an upright and
graceful carriage. II IL dihieut TO trust female
enthusiasm for accurate description, aud, thsrs-
fore, we will not assume that all 'fsshlsnsbIs
boarding schools practice the atrocities rspes.
sented in this book. II we accept tAs picture
fully. we should propose that Mr.. NsEdsga.s
Should take up the mattsr, ana urgs tks iaspec-
ton Of boarding schools as well a. eOnEen.g Eut
We should lament that Parliament has. CONS
TO an end before question could BE- put 20 ths
Home Secretary on the SUBJECT OF tight lactng-
If mass Of well authenticated information
exists regarding the far more severe sud rigitly
strict discipline insisted on il some lad.ss bo1rd-
ing schools, IL might deserve more publicity tha1
this book can give It. A part Of this Information
is supplied by young lady signing herself
Nora who states that she was placed at she age
a fifteen at a fashionable school n London, aRd
that there % was the custom Tor TIE waists q th5
pupils 10 be
REDUCED OSR INU4 PEE NosrTH,-
uIta they Wsce what the lsdy PRINCIPAL eOassd-
eTeS small enough. When left sersol At seven
teen NY waist measured OnAV LnlrteeE llElB9, II
having been formerly tWsnty-three inches in cir
conference. Every morning one Of ths maids
came to assist US 20 dress, and gOYernes5 super
lntsnGe5 TO see tat our ecEsets were tZaWn IS
tightly az possible. After the hrsJ few minutes
every morning fsit no pain, and the ealy i'll
effects, apparently we're occasional heataaches
and loss Of sPpetitef A talented correspondent
seems to admit that the I'll effects may De more
serious. Ihs fact, she says, cannot be blIaksd
that, IN tightly laciry In the waist the parts
within must be either Egueezed together or si Sht
y displaced; but the human fraI.e is so elastic
t7at II room De lett fCs this 'diSuiace mept, no
Inconvenience FesuIts-or at least none thai 3
visible to the talented correspondent who an
pears to think that the chest may take what the
Wajst'lOses Ths seEeritiss which this deVOtee5 Of
the corset infst upon themselves and others
are probably in part fabulous but one may see.
from the tone of the writers, how easy sn austera
systsm Of conventional discipline mighe become
established even in London, if there were No
cheek in possible pRblicity. A mother, prepared
to do her duty aSshe might express il TO her
daughter, might be melted By the perusal Of this
yOlumsto the Preparation OF what We DO not
hesitate 10 call atrocities. Indeed,
THE PICTURES or TIGHT WAISTS
With which the book y furnished are in OUe eyes
horrible, and the details OF the cruelty which
produced them are disgusting. There is, it seems,
treatise which has nos yet come under notice
called The Corset AMI the CrinOline" and it
appears that a lady determined to try with her
own daughter the system recommended in chat
excellent volume and. accordingly desired her
not TO unlace her corset on going to bed. The
daughter had had her principles undermined by
reading sOme 'nOnsensical Trades against tight
thss being made To wear s-properly-laced corset
was equivalent to death by tortare. However.
the mother insisted; the daughter wore the cor
set one night under pI5tsst, but took it of the
next night on the sly; then the mother fastened
the stay-laee in a knot and thea the daughter
cut The 5tay-laee. The mother punished her
somewhat severely for her disObedience but sbo
declared that she would brave any punishment
rather than submit 10 the discipline OF the cor
set She IS now fourteen, has a very strong con-
stitutiCn, and is in perfect health. She does not
COMPLAINANT tght-lacing makes her feel i'll, but
she objects that the corset. isuncOmfOrtabls and
preTents her from rOmping she used to do.
The peTple1ed mother appeals TO some other
mother OF the principal Of some school to inform
her.Hhat method has been. adopted in similar
cases. as she cannot allow her daughter to gain
the mastery She asks for advice how to impair
herada1ghier's constitution, ruin her health and
break her spirit, and no doubt she would get It,
beeaHse We md another correspondent stating
that mamma procured
STEEL BELT, FITTED WITH Lcck AND KEY,
to be worn at night outside the corset by her
daughters. These things were done at home At
the schools already mentioned, lin one case, where
the. girl was stout and largely built, two strong
maids were obliged 10 use their utmost force to
make her waist the size ordered BY the lady prR-
clpal-nanely, seventeen inches-SAd though shs
tainted twice while the stays were being made to
meat, sha wore them without seeming injury to
her health. and before she left school she had a
waist measuring only fourteen inches; yet she
never suffered days Illness We learn from
these interesting pages that the back-bOardS,'
'stOcSs,' face boards and other instruments Of
our gr1ndmOtheTs' fguEe-training are gain com
ing into vogue, and although the author seems to
conslder some OF these -cOntrlyAneee DarDarOuSr
We must say that they would be infinitely prefer
able 10 the Wanted corset because they were at
worst only irksome, while that is positively mis-
chiGvOus. The vice Of what may be called the
back board system that it kept the pupil
still whereas the same or a better effect mightbs
produced by regulated motion. A machine much
favored at girls schools formerly was what is
called reclining board, on which the pupil was
required to lie lOtiOnless for an hour or more.
No doubt, this discipline would be favored by
the stern bigOts, Of the corset because it was
disagreeable. But if the board was made six
times the usual length and furnished with pegs
at the sides, soIhat the pupil might pull herself
up and let hersalT down by them,i would become
an amusement, instead Of bang q discipline or .
punishment. The initiated reader will perceive
that are describing aE-OTdinary and fayOrita
feature Of gymnasium, and We shall be bcrEs out
in the remark that all the valuable results Of the
back board system may be attained easily and
plea sanity y the use, ulder proper supervision,
Of a gymnasium"