The evening world., 1889-07-15
THE ATHLETIC GIRL.


WHO Delights IN OutdoOr sports.
tTrom ne Saa Francisco ArgobauLl
Along the Atlantic senboard the female ath-
lete is almost as common us the Summer girl.
But she Is n different type. She has few
frocks. and those are not gauzy trifes Of lace
and muslin, but stern realities Of duck and
jean and wiry flannel. She has n skin rather
than q complexion, the brown of her face
meeting the white Of her neck in q hard line
about her throa', which she c~onceals of even
ings beneath a black velvet band. Her curls
neither go to bed in q cardboard box nor in
neat little paper nightgowns, but are sub
jecle1 10 heroic treatment with q par of stid-
brisiled, handlcless brushes. she prefers
iced ginger beer to boxes OF candy, O stout
racket to the reddest of p~ayasols, snnhurned
nose 10 Il strained wrist. The Culture OF the
Muscles" to the most luNuriant outpouring
Of Ouida's muse. the chaik-liDed squares of
the tennls-court to tho most secluded nook
on pillared balcony or shady lawn.
The sumner girls tactics, when she opens
the campaign, are like those OF her Puritan
foreiathcrs, who. ON landing, first fell
u on their knees, hen upon the ~nborigines."
But the female athlete makes war ON none.
She Is the advocate OF n peace policy. She
Is frankly friendly with ali the men, politely
dcfeI entail with all The women. With tho
boys. she is one of them with the girls she
is extremely gentlemanlv, though, perhaps,
n trlie stiff aud CondescCnding. But her
manners are considered vc!y cnvlablc by all
the chappies. for there is "A sort OF splendid
boredom about them, without the least sug-
gestlon Of being either stupid or sleepy-and
this the chappies have never yet been able to
reach. She uses only slang III the rare mo
ments when these same perfect manners are
~ deshnbNe and not to he produced at short
notice.
When she goes for n walk She is always clad
in trim, cIose-reeted dark skirts aud coat. q
stiff, high hat, dogskin gloves aud pointed
shoes. she carries II tight rolled umbrella,
loo ely Gripped by the middle in her right
hand Her wa k las the real - Regent street
swing" her elbows bow out in the true curve,
her shoulders arc slightly sloped. and, as she
walks. her knees give gently With each long,
swinging step. As for her mnnnc r of - giving
the gr H." it Is said to be unrivalled on this
SIDE of the Atlantic. Tho mile of %rccogni-
ton starts more suddenly into beng ON
her glum hut handsome face than the
lightning leaps from cut u cloud-aGd he or
she who can accomplish this feat has no more
10 learn in the art OF giving the grin" On
meeting "A lady of her acquaintance she greetH
her in a deep, CHEEKY voice, pulls her cuffs
we'll down over her knucklcs after the man
ner of embarrassed young men, s ops the car
for her fred with impCriously reckoning
umbrella, assists her Ill and tLen continues
on her way down the avenue, greeting her
a~couaintances with bIusque, decisive mods.
She has never firtcd with any one. When
she was eighteen, she was quite q chapp!e-
used SometimeN TO wear an eye-glGss. talk
with an English accent, look curiOuSly mt
her Cts-G-ris from under lowered lids, and
call peo lie whom she did-rot ike awful
buffers, " till sic grew quite unpopular. But
she has passed that hobbledeLOy stage now.
carries the e~ve-glas, dangling at her button
hole. gets glasses Of water tor exhausted and
thirsty LADIES', has q hearty. strenuous hand
s. afe, and has substituted n mild, rather q
bore" for the lawful buffers of former days.
Though she is very handsome, the boys would
as soon think of tall NJ III love with her az
they would with the man who mows the ten
mis- lawn. One frank, prcoccupied glance of
her brown eyes would quench the tilckering
fame forever. Among the very youthful
chappics the pale and del cate ones. who
"Carn't PLAY tennis, cause it's so awf'ly ex-
hausting. =" 1t has long been the fashion to try
an be n love with her. All the best chap
pies have done it. SO that of course makes il
the correct thing. The Athlete submits to
their devotion with absent -minded indiffer-
ence.
The female athlete does not confne herself
to any department of manly sports. She is a
fine oarswoman, and has her own ''sing e"
in the boal-house. On sweltering afternoons,
when the Jersey shore summers through a
trembling veil o heat. when 10 n breath of
mir hlurs the mirror of the bay, when the
broad leaves hang limp on the horse.chest-
nut trees, when the tramp sleeps III the deep,
cool wavside grass under dropping elm-
buughs. when BERTHE is willing over his desk
and carries wo clean collars in he lining OF
his hat, when young ladies not female ath-
leteS are sitting in cool dcshabilie behind
closed shutters, eating candy aud peeping
through the chunks AT the great yachts drift
ing down the bay With idly shivering canvas,
the female athlete, IN rowing gear, sum
Drowned, muscular. imperturbable, wends
her way through the still dust TO the boat
house.