Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-20

Joints and thick knuckles; they weave
coarse, wiry hair and dull the very eye
balls.
THE BEST EXERCISE.
To acquire suppleness, which isthe beauty
and useful grace of women, training must
begin in childhood, not by gymnasium prac-
tice, which gives mechanical air, but by
use Of every muscle for some purpose. Let
girl swing from trapeze, not to acquire
difficult feat, but for the fun of it, pure and
simple. Let her gymnasium be u secluded
part OF the lawn or skylighted attic full OF
sunshine, or, best of all for i'll weather, the
glazed porch, which ought to belong
to every house as much as its bay
windows and vestibule. 1 do not wish to
be misunderstood as regards gymnasium
practice. 1t is better than no exercise at
all, but all this play with dumbbells, In
dian clubs and apparatus is very tame and
at the same time dificult-like fighting the
air. 1t lacks freedom, and the ''rythmical
development" of which women write grand
iloquently imparts a stiffness to the move
ments not easily thrown off. We do not
want our girls moving about to an uncon-
scious "one-two-three" measure, and all
this muscle culture which fixes its end on
increase OF blceps or upper arm or legs is
tiresome, and falls short Of satisfaction COM
pared to the effort which looks beyond the
muscle to its use and the result gained by it.
Send your boy and your girl out on errands
and commissions with the bicycle or on
foot; give them so much work to do every
day in allotted time, short enough to oblige
them to work briskly, and let their games
be social. 1t is well to have gymnasium
fittings at home, and let the neighbors' chill
dren come over to play, not to practice.
Round dancing for girls by daylight on such
a porch as described is worth all the GYM
nasium work extant for sending the blood in
quick, full waves all over the body, for sup
plying the frame and refining the outlines
of the legs. The devil did good thing for
himself when he persuaded pious Pucisians
that dancing was harmful.
Running makes trim ankle and shapely
leg, and girls should be encouraged to run
as often as possible in old-fashiOned games
of ball or prisoners base, which, as it used
to be played, left few fibres OF the body with
out stretch and refreshment. The lodging,
the feints and sudden dashes for base, were
good practice in tactics, giving a quick eye
and foot and 1.-THE body. The old time viii
lage games were the best survival of Greek
tradition and the best physical training we
shall ever know. Somehow the gymnasium,
college bred woman goes to pieces easier
than one would think. and dies about 80.
while a woman trained by hard life Is
vigorous at four-score.
OUT DOOR AMUsEMENTs.
One thing is certain, girls whose mothers
are afraid of the least exertion for them, who
are forbidden to run upstairs, or to Jump,
or to push a garden barrow for fear cf in
jury, are the most fragile china, and go off
in a decline or one of those mysterious
spinal maladies which are the worry
of doctors. Care, however, must be
taken for a girl from II to lar IN
her teens, or she is certain of cruel
disorders all her life. AS you value her
peace, do not so much guard against her
taking cold as render her so hardy that she
is not likely to take it. Discard rubbers
for daily use. Rubber boots are all right
when the streets ar. ahoat in January thaw,
but for nine months of the year nothing
more is wanted than sandals for short
walks, or cork-soled, oil-leather boots for
the worst weather. believe that wearing
rubbers too much is at the root of many
common colds. A light-soled shoe with the
thinnest layer of cork is far pleasanter to
wear. English girls OF good family are
bred up to despise weather, but they wear
cOrk-soled shoes or waterproof feathers and
themselves inside rubber cloaks and over
Shoes They know that nothing softens
compilations more kindly than hours
in moisture and rain, or frightens
the blood in the cheeks better than a sting
ing wind faced for miles. Don't suffer them
to grow bilious, thin and pickle fed, but
send them out doors four hours every day,
and these disorders disappear. The English
schoolgirl is not allowed to be as much of
an invalid as her American sister often is.
The good looks are too valua bic, and every
care is given to protect them by whole
some hardness. Early hours for rest and
rising are her rule, remembering that plants
make most growth in the hours after sun
rise She is not in dread of consumption or
pneumonia if she happens to be caught in
a shower or upset boating. She is not
toadied to as tremendously as the American
girl all her life, and if she is not so viva
cious and attractive at first she makes more
of an interesting companion when she comes
to be known. Spite of the opinion to the
contrary, there are plenty of good points in
which the American girl might very well
model herself after her English sister.
SHIRLEY DARE,