Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-11-05
WRESTLING GIRLS.
Commendable Progress that is Being Made
by the Young Ladies' in the Art of
Whistiing.

q
by the Young Ladies' in the Art of
Whistiing.
Some people have an extraordinary
belief that women can not whistle, saws
the New York san. 1t is true that a
| great many of them can not 90 so. but
that Is equally true of men. OF course,
there are moro whistlers among men,
as they practice whistling from early
oorhood. while there is n superstitious
prejudice against whistling girls. This
IS expressed in the adage which pre-
diets that they will never come to any
good end. The girls of the present day
have adopted many male customs. and
among them that of whistling. The
majority OF girls can now pucker up
their mouths and blow a melancholy
tune. A fashionable doctor said:
Tho best whistlers know are Young
ladies. IL is like the warbling of
mocking- They can whistle much
higher notes than man. and in very
clear and Dell-like tone. know a
young lady who whistles and accom-
panies herself on the guitar. The eff
feet is really pretty. and her friends
often beg her to favor them with an
air. / met her down at Nantucket last
summer, and it was her habit TO sit on
the beach in the evening and whistle
piaintiye negro melodies. When we
went out sailing she was very welcome
for the same reason. | think She whist
led her way into the affections of very
desirable young man, US / hear they
are engaged.
A New York girl was quite indig-
nant when asked why girls couldn't
whistle. Can't whistle?n she said:
why, they can whistle! All the girls |
know whistle. Up ut VasSar we had
whistling concerts. We used TO prac-
tice at night in the dormitories when
the monitor was gone and tho lights
were out.and il you weren't very sleepy
it was fun to lie in bed and hear ten
girls whistling In the Cleaning all
together Wo.had one girl who could
whistle through her fingers like boy,
but then she was a regular tom-boy
She could run, play ball, climb trees,
and box better than any other girl in
the college. There was another girl
who could only whistle by drawing in
her breath, but that was better than
not whistiing at all. {"
The principal of Young ladies
school, when asked what she thought
of whistling, said; Il see no harm in
young ladies whistling if they do it at
the right time and in the right place.
Young ladies should avoid publicity
above all Things, and should therefore
not whistle where il would attract the
attention of strangers. If a girl whist
les at home and whistles in tune, and
In such way as not 10 disturb any
one. she accomplishes two good results.
She adds to her own cheerlulness and
keeps her mouth pursed up. which has
tendency TO make it small. My ex-
perience has been that the girls who
whistle are the brightest and cleverest
girls in the school. 1t is the duh and
stupid girls who do not whistle
A professor of anatomy said: ''The
mouth has more muscles than any 9TH
er portion of the body-the number
varies from nineteen 10 twenty-one.
The chief muscle is the obicaiariS 0yis
or sphincter muscle. The muscle is in
two parts, the upper extending from
the nose to the mouth and the lower
from the chin to the mouth The two
parts are interviewer nj the corners of
tho mouth so th,.i they act as one mus
Gle. Their minor circumference cir
cumscribcs the opening of the mouth.
This muscle by modifying the state of
tho expired air produces in il vibrations
of peculiar character. and this is
whistling.
I'm whistling the lips arc pursed up
SO that only small aperture remains.
The air is driven from the lungs into
the mouth, where it distends the buc-
cinator muscles of the cheeks. and these
muscles contracting aid in forcing out
the air through the lips. The tongue
congresses the volume of air in the
mouth, and SO adds to the sharpness
of the whistle. The benefit OF the
tongue is readily seen when an attempt
is made to whistle sharply with an III
drawn breath. Women have the same
muscles of the mouth as man, and arc
generally as well able TO use them.
Thereeis no reason at all why every
body should not whistle. Some try to
whistle by blowing through their pout-
ing lips, but that is not the idea at all.
The mucous membrane of the lips
must be drawn tense, so that it will
vibrate by the force of the current of
air passing over it. These vibrations
are communicated to the air column,
and hence the tone, varying with the
tension of the lips and air. 1t is on
exactly the same principle that the
vocal chords work The lips adjust
themselves voluntarily according to
the musical ear of the whistler as it is
impossible for him to distinguish the
different positions of the lips in sound
ing in various tones. People with no
ear for music will Invariably whistle
very much out of tune, while people
with a cultivated ear will whistle very
finely. AS women are, rs rule, more
musical than men, they can whistle
better when they set about it. How
ever. it is greatly matter of prac-
ticen
These varied opinions show that
there is really something in whistling
when critically considered There is,
however, nothing more annoying than
a persistent whistler. 1t may sound
pleasant to him, but it becomes pecu-
liarly exasperating to every body else.
There are men who whistle in horse
cars, whistle in the theater, and whistle
whenever their vacant minds can find
nothing to do. Women would never
SO misbehave themselves, so perhaps it
were better that whistling were LETT to
them alone. a party of women might
occupy themselves more probably in
wbistling than in talking about the
fashions or doings OF the day.