The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1884-09-12
Magnetic Girls.


The Georgia girl who in New York
theatre Is turning umbrellas inside out,
forcing strong men 10 their knees,
pushing them about tho room with bill
lard cues, and dislodging them from
chairs as fast as they scat themselves.
Is spoken Of as ''the wonder" This
implies that she is nm extraordinary
phenomenon. q novelty. strange be-
Ing. But Is sheP
When we compare her accomplish
ments with those of other women. she
Is not SO very remarkable after all.
Not q day passes that one may not see
In nearly every state In the Union lit
tie women removing big men from
their seats-in the street cars. These
women do not even touch the seats as
the Georgia wonder" does the chairs.
Their magnetism u 80 great-if they
are young and pretty-that they need
only to enter car or ferry-boat In
order to see half dozen men spring.
ing to their feet as II the seats were
made of sheet-iron and q fire had been
suddenly started under them. It Is
noticed, however. that as women grow
old and homely this magnetism dimin-
ishes In force; and the best 1t can do Is
to lift some middle-aged man very
slowly and hesitatingly from his seat.
1t Is claimed for another Georgia
girl that she can easily raise person
weighing 250 pounds. But It happens,
not as often as IL used to. that some
woman. in no way extraordinary for
size or strength, will raise family of
twelve or fifteen children with appar-
emily the greatest ease, some Of whom,
before she gets done raising them, are
bigger and stronger than she Is.
Women at church festivals and fairs
for the poor have surpassed tho Geor-
gia's greatest feats, With two or three
flowers wrapped with in-foil or two
oysters in n dish and Q slice of cake
they have raised out Of silly old mil
lionaires and wealthy dudes twenty
times the amount that they would have
given voluntarily TO the same charity.
In these days men do not very often
90 down on their knees to women-ex-
cept in plays and stories-but time has
been when very small women have,
like the Georgia girl. brought very big
men PROSTATE before them and kept
them in that position for some time.
The historian Gibbon went on his
knees to the lady afterward known as
Madame de Stael. and on account Of
his corpulency couldn't get up again
until servant came and helped him.
So that even In this respect the Geor-
gia wonder Is not so original after all.
Then there was the famous Helen of
Troy, who drew O whole Grecian fleet
and army several hundred miles from
home, and Cleopatra, who was so
magnetic" that she drew Caesar and
Marc Antony with their men and ships
from Rome to Alexandria
Then. too. there are any quantity of
magnetic girls whose feats are so COM
mon that they never get their names
into the papers. The Georgia girl. who
is exhibiting her power In New York
theatre, whirls men round and round
on the stage until their heads swim and
their hair and whiskers stand out
straight, but she can't keep them 60
ing more than a minute or two. The
ordinary magnetic girl of commerce
will whirl men around half the night
without showing the slightest sign Of
fatigue, and then send them off into
another room for beef tea, quail, Ice
cream and all the luxuries of the seas
on. At other times they will make them
hold the sofa down until "the old man"
at tho top of the stairs ask If breakfast
is ready, and after they are married
''sit down hard" on the same men, for
staying out not ono hall as late as they
used to when. as girls, they exerted
their magnetic influence over them.
If, therefore, the Georgia wonder OK
poets to keep up this excitement about
her very long. she must do something
more than thousands Of women have
done and still do. without provoking
any unusual attention. Free
Press