Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1889-07-07
GIRLS WHO SWIM.
LOTS OF FUN FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SBB
TRBM LEARN
Slim Girls Who Cannot Float and Fat Girls Who
Canuo. Divs.-How the Girls Take to the Wa
ter and Splash, and Dive, and Squsal.


humble chargiD, and of these occasions
none brings to her more intesely the sense
of her natural inferiority than her frat
futile attempts at swimming. Given q
pond, brook, bathtub, or the ocean, and a
small boy and the equation of how to
swim is quickly solved without the learn
ing of formulas. Tae boy swims as the
frcgswims, because he knows how; any
way. lust because he is boy. Given girl
and all the apparatus ever invented, and
she founders and aops, sputters and stran-
giles, all to no purpose. Her feet seems to
lose all preconceived and long practised
idees of the laws Of gravity, and display
most depTaved and immodest aspirations,
and her head goes to thu bottom like toe
plummet on line.
Bu. it is the proper thing to learn.t swim
now. The fashionable girl must count
it among her accomplishments, like horse
back riding aud waltzing. The sensible
serious girl learns with a view Of future
contingencies, and dreams Of saving not
only her own, but other lives or her sum
mer trip abroad, and the jolly girls learns
for fun and for the sake OF an excuse TO dis
plav her pretty form in Narragansett
Pier bathing dress made up of style anu
stockings, witha little scrap offlannel throw
in for a eirdle. The latter is usually the
girl that learns first, though an nice old
German professor up town accomplishes
wonders with the girls under his charge
I f,rulru 0f convincing
them on the start that he can make them
swim like mermaids in u lessons, ana ior
the modest sum $50. After girl has
an interview with him, inspired with high
purpose, size picks out a bathing dress
and trips into one OF the little dressing
rooms that surrounds the big marble tank
/ in double row one above the other like
the state rooms on the steamer.
They are few a elaborate or tsnciul
bathing costumes at the swimming school.
Decent pay, you know" said girl,
with blue iersey combination garment on
without any sleeves, and cut of Just be-
low the knees, fitting shade tighter than
her akin. Nobody is allowed to come IN
and see ~ but Just mob Of girls. Wait
until 20 TO the seashore, and I'll have
costume that will turn the tide and startie
the dudes"
perhaps that might you were to wear
it Just as it is. ,"
''Well, yes, this is rather abbreviated,
but il wasn't at first. The trousers came
bslow the knees, the sleeves buttoned at
the wrist, the neck was all fastened up
tight, and nice little petticoat went over
IL all. braided round. Mamma made it,
and it was all right when first began to
learn, but as soon as l could swim kicked
of that little nuisance OF a skirt IN huf-
~. and the sleeves bothered so l ripped
'em out, and the trousers shrank and |
was glad OF it. As for the neck, 1t Will
fasten, but pinned it back, and lis aw-
fully Jolly and comfortable.
The girl was lying in the water talking
to her friend, her head On one ousttreiched
arm, keeping herself a1oat with long SIDE
gay sweeps of the other hand
There were 10 t. 20 women in the pool,
some floating around and padding mute
with life preservers around their waists,
several of them swimming fairly well Tor
q little distance, and row Of beginners
lying face down on the water. About
the zsist of each beginner was claspeo
broad belt into which a rope was fastened
and then turned over pulley hight up
on the platform. Here aud there about
the platform girls sat with bare white
limbs waiting to get cool enough to be al
lowed 10 90 in. One Of them wore IN
ualiest bathing dress that ever dishgured
q uretty woman. 4 long-sleeved, high
necked waist and plated skirt, with full
trousers hanging half way to the ankle,
beneath which protruded the cledrest,
plumpest, pinky loot, and white slender
ankle, with the promise OF a beautiful
curve that the long ugly suit concealed.
Two heavy braids of dark soft hair fell far
below her waist and ended in ilutf OF lit
tie curls. A big handsome woman with
dark red hair and the exquisite white skin
that usually accompanies 1t, was swim
ming from one side of the tank to the 9th
er. A string of gold beads lnoircled the
fall white throat, g slender gold bangle
releiyed the marble-iike beauty OF one
arm. and single diamond flashed and
sparkled as the white hand swept IN slow
cnrves through the water. The neophyte
in the little box OF a dressiDg-rOom has
discovered that her hired suit is cotton,
and what there is Of it is very thin. she
has tried to see how it looked in the tiny
mirror hung in the room, and fumed and
fnssed until her blood is boiling and he
f,ce blazing Finally she gets up her
courage by a herculean effort opens the
door softly, praying that no one will loOz,
sAys along the passage, keeping close to the
dressing rooms, and wishing she had new
or basn born. She reaches the stout Ger
man woman who assist the professor,
thankful that the journey is over; bat
The teacher touches her glowing face, and
saws: you vas too warm: 20 way NIT
yoursellu, and be cooler.
The suit seems to visibly shrink and
shorten. her lower extremitiee seem larger
lspd more CONSPICUOUS than those of Liberty
down the bay; she folds mp her arms, tries
TO fold up her legs, and walls in egOny
There IS a girl coming cut of m upper
dressing-room with the highest dull green
bathing dress, following the exquirite out
lines OF womanly grace, of physique, and
while the learner ioTgets for moment her
own incOmpleteness of attire as she won
ders how the other girl ever got herself In
side the dress, the girl cooily steps over
the railing suddenly stlhens every mus
Gle, stIAghtenS heA ","-0 N"H ~ tue
side and drops into the wafer WIN
splash, presently emerging again, shaking
the water out of her hair as dog shakes
IL from his coat, and swims away. Then
the teacher calls the new pupil, and after
= showing rer the motions with Doth arms
and one leg. explaining that she must do
emit all her legs dat she show her nit
one ~ the belt is fastened about her waist
= and she starts down the stairs leading into
the pool. She puts in one foot and giyes
, a little esthetic shiver. She tries it with
the other foot. and it's Just as bad. Girls
hate Sater as cats do, though they pre-
tend they don't. They dislike to wettheir
tex. even if they are bare, and certain
Traditional, unconscious dainty shrink
; ING from getting mussed, ever in bath
ing suit. is bard to overcome. The stout
! r, -, c,,rlain bas innatience with this