Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-01-07
Science Of Walking.
Strides as an Index to the
Character of the Pedes-
trian.
Sprightly Steps, Weary Steps,
Struts, and the Students
Swing.

Thoreau once said that sit required
a direct dispensation from heaven t1
became a walker" II ne meant by
this, says The Boston Globe, that
only tAose men whom heaven has
specially favored love to walk and can
walk we'll, he was no doubt correct,
for in our time, at least, mankind IS
characterized by a great dislike for
using his legs, and seldom takes the
trouble 10 learn to use them skillful-
ly. And as men devote almost no at
tention to how they walk, what is
more natural than that their ways of
walking should depend on their habits
of life2 IL you do not train the vine,
it viii grow as wind and wall and its
own nature lead il. So if you do not
train the legs they will move as home
and work and brain and soul impel.
Therefore it is that mans walk is an
index of his character and an expon-
ent of his life. A mans legs often
write his autograph.
Seneca knew this when ne made the
wife of Hercules say of Lychss: His
mind is like his walk" You may know
a man of whom you can say this. If
ne be man OF pompous mind yon
can tell him by his strut. The boor-
lisa man moves along, regardless of
where he puts his feet. Does it not
give you a clearer insight into the
character of Cat line to read of that
trail which Sallust distinguishes
'his walk sometimes slow and some
times hurried" Can YOU not con-
ceive just how Uriah Heep sHeaked
about.
Watch the ssers-byon the street
and see how their walk betrays their
position in life. Here comes a coun-
trymsn, trudging along as he would
in his cornfield, there goes a laborer,
whose vocation is not hard to tell,
even If he has left his hod by the
brick pile. This fellow you know is a
student, for he has the traditional
Harvard swing" That man sneaks
along as if be had been butfeted aud
tossed about so much that be feared
the hand Of every man he passes.
Those merry girls with sprightly,
springIng steps, have not yet had
their buoyancy stolen by late hours at
balls and parties. This woman, with
weary steps show her to be one of the
great army of American invalids.
That womau's naughty gait betokeus
her 10 be an aristocrat, and close be
hind her is one whose very walk is
shoddy. And here is one whose every
motion is purity and grac G.
This is the walk that Dante admired
"Sweetly she goes, like the bright pea
cock; straight above herself, like the
lady crane.
Every man knows some woman OF
when he eau say, "Sweetly sheg goes, y
but it is rare indeed that he speak OF
her as straight above herself" In
fact, IN these days of school desks and
easy chairs 1t is so unusual thing TO
find a woman who stands and walks
straight above herself" that the un-
thinking are apt to speak of such a
one as having swallowed a ramrod. "
1t would be blessed good thing for
America if all our women would
straightway swallow ramrods and by
example teach their children to do the
same thing. For, in truth, lounging
ia essy-chairs and STOPPING over desks
are making sad havoc with the youth
of this generation.
No military order is more worthy of
obedience from every man, soldier, or
civilian, than that of keep your chest
out" He who always does this and
throws his shoulders well back need
never fear New England's most dread
full scourge, consumption. If you
doa't know what this order m cans just
take cane the next time you go out
to walk, put it through your elbows
behind your back, and stand up as
straight as you can. Keep this up and
you will soon find it so pleasant to
walk erect and breathe full draughts
of refreshing and strengthening air
that never again will you consent TO
walk " stoop-shouldered." Perhaps
you don't believe you are "stoop-
shouldered." Just stand with your
side to the light and look at your
shadow on the wall. Ten to one you
will be astonished.
The easiest walk is thatin which the
body is lifted very little. You will
notice, then, on the street that the
trunk of a graceful walker moves lit
tie or none up and down, nor right or
left
one peculiar thiBg about the body
is that it is actually easierto keep it in
motion than at rest. The tendency
when you stand still is to fall forward
That is shown by the fact that people
who suddenly lose their senses or die
generally fall on their faces. Physi-
ologists say that less force is required
to walk slowly than TO counteract this
tendency to fall by standing erect.
Perhaps this is the reason why pairs
Of lovers can stroll the whole evening
and not get tired, but will be worn out
by standing an hour or two at a recep'
/ ton.
It's probable that men average steps
about twenty-seyen inches III length.
Until recently the regulation military
step in this country has been twenty.
eight-inches, and with q eondence OF
+ 10 10 the minute. This gave a mile
\ in Just trife over twenty minutes,
Probably the majority of the city men