, 1884-07-24
THE NEW YORK GIRL
Bright Minds and Healthy Bodies
of the Girls of Gotham.
Improvement In Their Mode OF Life
-Benuty Mt "A DiscOunt-Muscu-
lar DeIterity at n
Premium.


The New York girl is decidedly coming 70
the front. l mean the gilded girl, the girl of
leisure. And when | say New York, OF course
mean what Hon. Billy Maloney, ever since
be went to Paris and back on a free pass, has
called -the city and its onveerongs.n Only a
few years ago she was prRcticing the Gre
clan bend, and seemed likely to descend to
utter imbecility; but all this has changed,
and she has become an amateur athlete. She
is beginning to crowd her big brother in the
field Of sport.
Brooklyn parks are not like the parks in
New York. Our parks are managed on the
principle to the mothers warning to her
babe: you may look but you mustn'ttouch."
For every other bush there is q warning sign:
do not pick the flowers or leaves." II a lady
rests herself on u bench she will be insulted
by a l~oafer, either in uniform or out of it.
If a man steps on the grass he is likely to be
dragged TO prison. But in Brooklyn the
parks are managed by the people, and the
beautiful lawns on every fine day are
crowded with young people at play. On the
afternoon | speak of there were as many
girls as boys on the green sward in Fort
Greene.
The older girls, young ladies of marriage
able age, were playing lawn tennis, and play-
ing it with young men and with a vigor that
required the agility Of gyrnnaSts. When they
leaped they sprang clear off the ground, and
landed as lightly as birds; when they ran it
was with a free and graceful movement.
When they struck at a ball IL was with u
blow that gave assurance of quick judgment,
strong muscles, and trained sight. Near by,
l saw three girls Of Is or 10 practicing a run
ming jump. Further on were some other
tennis players, who in an intermission had
started a game Of tag. Do you remember
how the average girl used to play tag a few
years agoi She would run. screaming at the
top Of her voice, with a mincing step from
under absurd ~entanglin: skirts, until her
short breath gave way, and then on being
touched by her equally hysterical companion,
would sink breathless upon u seat or upon
the grass. That is not how these young women
did it. Their dresses somehow produced tho
the effect of swiftness, and they bounded
lightly over the turf with palms closed and
held at the breast, with lips shut and eyes
afame with fun. They doubled, danced tan
illizingly before tho one who was aft"
lodged like wrestlers and shot away like
deer, and never did one of them utter a
scream.
Speaking OF wrestlers, / know a young
woman, or rather girl, daughter Of a widow
well known in society, who can throw any
girl in the gymnasium she attends, and who
has thrown her brother, three years her
senior, so often that he will not let her abuse
him any longer. And she can sing charm.
ingly, play the piano beautifully, dance de-
lightfully, and speak French and German
better than an AlsatiAn. Then, again, the
other day, | met n wealthy man whose name
is familiar to all New Workers, who told me
that every morning he fences with his daugh-
ter half an hour.
81 am the only one in our household with
whom she can fence with any pleasure, - said
he Her mother, whom l taught, cannot
pretend to stand against her, and my eldest
son is clumsy beside her. Her wrist has be-
come like iron, and her muscles are like steel.
1t is quito a feat TO pink her, or throw her
foil from her hand"
Where is tho country girl who can swim
like the pupils Of that uptown school which
was maintained 50 many years near Central
park, and is still kept up for aught know
The girls have begun TO save life already
from the water. 1t was n little miss of
good belongings in Harlem who dragged a
lad from Harlem river last summer Where
is the country girl in these ATTITUDES who can
skate like the womanly, well-rounded little
brunette in short skirts who carried off the
pa m at the roller skating-rink last winteri
Where is the farmers daughter who knows
the points Of a horse like the woman who
figured conspicuously at last weeks horse
showi At sight OF a horse, did they say:
"oh, what a perfectly lovely creaturel o,
isn't he nicei Isn't he just too splendidf'
Not at all. They criticised the width OF
his breast, the size OF his head, the taper OF
his legs, the hoofs, joints, ~nostrils, back, and,
in short, every point the horse has got or
had missed, and all in technical terms, talk
ing ms confidently with a horse-fancier or a
jockey, as one lady used to talk to another
about tn" number Of dounces on a fashion
able skirt.
l looked Mt them in amazoment, and when
| got away 1t struck me it would be interest
ing To describe what sort of girls they were.
so that the public should know them when 1t
saw them. But l cannot remember thatthere
was any marked popularity in their appear
ance. They were ordinary-looking, fashion
able girls, some richly dressed, and some In
sober black. Some were matrons. In thea
tire or church You could not tell them from
the others. You know many of their names,
however. They are the same names of those
OF the gentlemen who delight in four-in-
hands, who figure at polo, who are to be
found at the hunts on Orange mountain, and
at East ~Rockaway, pnd whose steeds bring
laurels back from England, or carry them
of at Monmouth park, But these women
and girls know more about horses than il
needed in discussing the points OF one. They
can and do ride them, not like the pretty
German misses whose faxen braids rise and
fall with the rolling motion of the Hat b.
horses in the riding-school across the Hud-
son. but mounted on wiry hunters and dash
ing at full speed after the hounds, over
ditches, fences, and walls, across the plains
of Hampstead.
But there are some things she cannot do.
She cannot play polo nor ride Il bicycle, be
cause it is not likely thnt fashion or custom
will ever smile upon females who adopt the
masculine way Of using a saddle. Thank
heaven, she can never spar or fight. 1t is
true that some creatures Of her sex fire.
quently perform as pugiliSts in the sporting
saloons in towns, but those who have seen
their exhibitions are more than ever per-
sunded that our most athletic sisters will
never practice with the gloves. The male
pugilist often receives the hardest blows on
his chest, and is thankful when he feels them
laid there; but IA stout blow on the feminine
chest would disablea woman, and in all like
lihood lead to grave ailments. Besides, brutal
sport is not what woman is likely to encour-
age in her pastimes, and disfguremsnts and
scars will never be- sought by her,
A New Link.
TExchanRe,1