Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-01-29
Exercise and Cleanliness.
BY EMMA HowARD wIaHr.

, By EMMA HOWAFC WIGHT, 4..r
: One of the greatest factors to psessr;
health ia open air exercise, aud another.
, essential to beauty, is cleanliness, which il
indeed next to godliuess. Some one will.
perhaps. exclaim in regard to the latter
, p1int, "Oh, that cannot be. Look at the
J Gypsies, and some. uncivilized races, who
pay no attention whatever to cleanliness.
and yet among them you will find splendid
specimens of beauty" Very true, but in
Ichantment?' 1t is quite a charming pic
} ture to stand off and look at Gypsy en-.
campment, the splendid forms of the men,
} the rich, dark beauty of the women; the
bright, picturesque costumes; the dark,
dimpled, halfclad, little children tumbling
about on the grass. But approach nearer
and if you are fairly fastid,Ous, the chart
vauishes. You lose sight of the fact The
the men are spleDdidly formed, the womer
darkly beautiful, the costumes picturesque.
and the babies dark skinned cupids, wte1
you see the unceanliness which pergades
all. The homeliest milk maid, going for
ber cattle, in her spotless calico dress, with
her fresh, clean akin, would be a far lovelier
sight, and one to which you would turn
with relief and pleasure.
1 As cleanliness is promoter of beauty, It
would be well to speak Of the subject of
bathing. l know to advocate frequent bath
ing is 10 go against the principles of not q
few physicians, also against the practice of
our Qraudmothers who would never have
dreamed of breaking their fixed rule, of q
weekly Saturday night bath, and, perhaps,
suggestions of one during the week. Bnt,
though we have be en- frequently told that
the world has degenerated since their young
days, and that they never did this thing OR
that thing. that girls do nowadays, (Which
is very true, no doubt.) nevertheless, in
these latter days of more frequent bathing,
think we have, in this respect, improved
on them. In the fret place, the hody is
constantly throwing off poisonous matter,
especially during sleep, whi h accrmnlsses
on the cuts zero, or outer skiu, and without
| frequent bathing, the system re-absorbs this
poisonous matter which certainly cannot be
4 conducive to health.
| Physicians maintain that frequent bath
ing is bad for persons with weak consti,u-
tions; but can It improve the poor health
of these persons for the system to re-sbsorb
the poisonous matter thrown off by the
body, probably more poisonous because of
their weak or diseased condition? The fra
qnent sponging of the body in solution of
alcohol aud water is most beneficial A
| Qu'Ch OOiu opOukO oatu dbu al Cu0TxcbtC
rubbing of the body with flesh brush or
coarse towel are most invigorating to
weak constitution, if taken daily and sys-
tematicaly, thus bringing all the muscles
| iuto play and sending the blood tinglin2
through the veins. A warm bath taken
bef ire retiring, cleansing the skin of the
| poisonous matter thrown of, as we'll as of
the dust and dirt accumulated during the
day, is soothing and resting to the tired
nerves and induces sleep. The Tnrkish
bath has become quite the fashion. l. is
luxury in itself, and most beneficial to ths
complexion. Some physicians prescribe it
for certain kinds of diseases, but others ara
eloquent in their denunciatious Of it. A
celebrated dermatologist of England says
that the reason that some physicians oppoee
| it is that the Turkish bath will both cure
and prevent disease By simpls aud natural
means. A cold plusgs in the morning Oh
arising, Ia also of gree bsnsft so the coz,
plexian.
ExaTcise iutae opsu air ss uos coiS cnn.
dae.vo 70 good health, but IS absolute
necessary to it. Why is it that the Chi.
dren of the poor are 30 much roster ard
healthier than the children of the rich? It
is because they spend the greater part IT
their lives in the open air. For the ssms
reason the country girl has brighter eyes,
lIcS ict COibpioAitAi, dDu Ia HOhltnioi h'fk
stronger than the city girl. The farmers
son, too, has more strength and vigor than
the city bred yonng man. If people would
balieve il, exercise in the open air il the
best of doctors. He who avails himself of
it w,ll seldom have to resort to drugs. 1t
will also effect cnra where drugs hsve
failed. Ifone Of my sex is suffering from
nervousness let her abandon medicines,
which do her no good, and take long,
brisk walb daily, and she will find that her
nervousness will rapidly disappear, or, il
deeply rooted, be mnch modified. If one
suffers from insomnia, a walk in the after
noon, or, if possible, just before retiri ,g,
will do more towards wooing sleep than
any other course.
Il is q great mistake to keep delicate,
sickiy children closely con1ned to the
houso. Send them out into the open air.
Do not wait until the weather Is warm,
but wrap them up we'll and send them out
into the cold. Cold, dry weather will
never hurt anybody properly clad. Let
your children ruu and play 10 the fresh air,
and they will soon be healthy, TAT aud
rosy. Why IS it that boys are 80 bssltny.
80 tough, and hard TO hurt7 Simply be-
cause they spend SO much OF their time
racing out of doors. 1t is highly necessary
that school children should have plenty of
outdoor exercise. Notipg is more iuju-
dicous than to crowd the brain and stint
the body. Again, exercise is essentially
necessary for the brainworker. 1t max 20
the brain clearer aud more active, dOirg
away with nervousness, headache, wear-
ness, or any of the bad effects which follow
a straBing OF the mind, and the worker re-
turns to his task refreshed in mind and
BODY, ready and eager to take up that
work which he had almost given up in de-
spair, with new stimulus and reinvigorated
ideas and strength. Exercise prolongs a
woman's you b by keeping upsher vitality,
and retards the signs of the growing years
by keeping her skin clear. fresh, aud un-
wrinkled, and her eyes bright.
OF late years much attention has been
paid to physical culture. There are GYM
nasiums in the schools, and home. The
latest "fads' among women are gymnastics.
lawn tennis, rowing, cycling, walking and
horseback riding. l. IS fashionable TO row,
to use dumb bells, ride bicycle and walk
long distances. Not to make p-etense OF
doing these things, bat to d them thorough
ly and in earnest. The society girl no long,
or desires to be considered frail and delicate,
but healthy and strong. She does not mind
getting her hands sunburned and rough, or
Disgusting her figure in loose blouse. And
| when she looks in her mirror and sees the
bright eyes and lovely flush exercise has
brought to her, she never gives thought
to her sunburnt hands, which time and q
little care will remedy, and she would be Q
very silly girl if she did. 1t is true her
| figure does not show to advantage in the
loose blouse, nor her foot in the low heeled
/ lawn tennis shoe, but they enable her to Go
thoroughly aud comfortably whatever of the
latest "fads" she may engage in. Winter
has now come, and rowing, cycling, and
ia wn tennis will, to great extent, retire
to the background, 80 that ous-of door ex-
ercise will be coufued to horseback riding
and walking. The former is very delight
ful, but the latter far more beneficial; indeed
no form of exercise can take its place, bs-
cause, in walking, the whole body is exer-
/ cIsed. and every muscle brought into play.