The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1888-04-06

z RS GROWING SMALLER.
~ esons which compel an 0bservaat Ciel
asa to Believe That They Arc.
10 girl Of the period ranges from,
40 pounds down. In some cases to
eighty pounds OF less. Between these
two limits may be found almost all the
healthy lovcliness Of tile fair seq in
America. In England and Germany
tho figures arc higher, in France and
southern Europe they are the same as
in this country or smaller.
Eighty pounds Of femininity 10, Of
course. no much, viewed from a ma
terial standpoint. although 1t was
probably about the weight Of Cleopatra,
1t archaeological research may be de-
pended upon, and she was rather more
chan too much for any Of the champions
OF her day. Cleopatra Is the cxcelr
ton which proves the rule as to pro-
grcssive thinncss. All tile other
bellies Of antiquity were large, ample
ladies OF generous proportions and
great health. Scmiramis was taller
than most OF her guardsncn. The
mind fails to consent to q petite Boad.
icaea. Charlemagne's mother was
nearly six feet tall. Margaret OF
Anj0n was large. Elizabeth could not
be described as small, and, in fact,
most of the historic danes of whose
size we have any vague idea were big
hovonI oil ndnww jJo~. - ..o..A -
! woman should permit herself to be. be.
ginning with u great Mother Eve,
who was a giantess according to the
Arab tradition, which still points to
her tremendous tomb. Tho facts are
meagcr. but, v with the experience
of men now living, the movement
toward osseousncss has been appar.
ont.
All Of these reflections were caused
by q statement madc by tho Oldest in.
h~abitant. who was at his usual task Of
depicting the glories Of the c~onsulship
of Plancus. 81 just came across in the
garre, { y other day." he said. "a cor.
set that has q history. It is q souvenir
to one of the pretticst young ladies
who lived in ST. Louis in 1886. She
was an acknowledged belle. and by
common consent her form was q model
of beauty. I tell you, sir, she was
none of your ethereal creatures, hut q
magnificcnt woman that weighed 15C
pounds, and yet in those days she was
considered small. She was certainly
below the average size of the girls ]
know"
How did you get the corsetp"
SgYtsok NsvnsN0A 1A n Dr~ A.... IA
was sold to me by. tho lady's darby
maid. Oh, We had some notions Of
gallantry in ST. Louis in tho old times.
That. however, is neither here nor
there. What l want you to do is to
compare the solid and severe simplicity
of the garment of 1886 with the mere.
trici0us. o-rnamcntation and modelling
of the one worn by the ladies nowadays.
Not alone is the older one modest and
pretty aud plain, but it means health
and vigor. You naturally associate it
with rosy checks and black eyes and
slightly tumbled hair and a general at
mospllere of gayety and go%odheartcd.
ness. The modern sophistication looks
to me almost immoral. 1t implies all
the demands of society, late hours,
idlencss, and fashionable dissipation.
1t tells of headaches and backaches
and all manner of physical and moral
| shams."
'But about the average sizc?'
"Well, don't these corsets show it?
Say that they are both averages Of
their time. and one is fully six inches
greater in circumference than the
other. But that isn't all of it. The
mothers of the present generation
were built. as a rule, more closely to
large limbed and strong, with a
healthy chest capacity and ability to
proof of it,"
And lie produced two gartcrs, one Of
tho good old times, marked exhibit
ga" the other q recent one, marked
"B." The longer one was of u sort Of
felt cloth, the other of silk. 1t was but
one more curio out of the oldest in.
habitant's museum, and he gazcd at il
proudly as he drew it out of the bureau
drawer.
"Ive got lots of those sort::of things,'
said he, with a sigh. "When l was .
young man VIC used to collect them
and keep them. That garter belonged
to a lady who is still living, and She
has had eight children and q dozen
grandchildren. The smaller garter
was worn by one of her granddaugh-
ters, who is now a woman grown.
Now, if anything could prove the. ase
moro strongly l would like to know
what it is. Both were worn by their
owners when about the same age, and
l got the second ono only u month or
two ago. But what could you cxpecte
When 1 was o young man the ladies
used to cat something. A common
lunch in 1910 was u piece of cold beef
of the round, q lot Of bread and butter.
and a couple of glasses of porter or
wine. The girls were not ashamed OF
it. They would very honestly get
away with q substantial snack and do
it as though they liked it. God bless
them.
..But nowadays a lunch is q very
different thing, indeed. The common
menu is a little sour lemonade, q small
piece of cake, and some choco.
late candy. or some other sort of in
digestible monstrosity that people
ought to be put into the penitentiary
for feeding to their girls. You cant
expect to build up muscle and health
on lemon Juice and pie. and the result,
of it all will be that our women will
60 on getting thinner and thinner and
thinner until they disappear. II ha.
horrouod En- Rnokon o1roodv Thx