The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-19
POINTS Fos WOMaN.
How to Keep Healthy and Have a
Good Figure.

Good Figure.
BROOKLYN, n. Y, 1856 Lafayette avenue,
Jan 17.-"What shall we eatF' ''How shall
we cook itw What shall we weargo "How
shall we make itF From bright and earnest
women all over this great and glorious
country these questions come fiuttering in,
and have at last concluded TO take the Oft
repeated inquiries as tests, and try and
treat them in a manner which shall be both
interesting and useful The interest in all
! OF these subjects were never 50 vital as now.
| mere were never so many women who
want to know ings as now. Where once
| it was somewhat of a reflection upon the
feminine head of family, if not
an absolute disgrace, to be practi-
cally acquainted with her kitchen.
| 1t Is now fashionable not to be on init
mate terms with the culinary department..
| Many ladies whose esta lishments are so
| large. and entertainments SO elaborate, as
to require the services of a professional chef,
| do not now leave all the buying, catering,
seasoning, and planning to this alien ele-
| ment. This functi )nary is made to under
| stand IN the outset that the influence of the
mistress OF the house is as potent in the
| kitchen as the drawing room. l had the
pleasure the Other day of partaking of
an American luncheon prepared by a
|
the lady of the house. Among other deli
cacies were baked black beans, Boston style,
| Rhode Island brown bread and pumpkin
pie. When asked how the cook bore her
| lessons and her presence in the domain which
was formerly sacred to foreign authority,
| she replied that be sometimes threatened to
leave, after learning all he could, and estab-
lish an American restaurant in Paris II
should like to help him in such an enter
prise" she added, "for that would be con-
sulting the greatest good Of the greatest
number"
Perhaps nowhere in this wide-awake land
has there been so much growth in these i'm
portant and practical matters as in the
south. The letters received from southern
housekeepers I'd southern girls on these
subjects are as interesting as they are in
| spring. Indeed they box the compass of
questions, and | confess that some of them
are puzzlers. But they do me good. be-
cause when ] am able to answer question
for others, have added as much to my
| own stock of Information as to theirs. and
who among us does not love to learn.
| am happy to say that my southern
| sisters seem quite as interested in hygienic
matters as In those pertaining to styles and
fashions They truly visa to know what
kind of food will best nourish the body, and
what kind of clothes will best promote
health. From these quarters also came va
everything from the painting Of pictures to
| house decorations. These subjects | shall
treat later, on the principle that "art is
long and life is feeting,n a I'd that in conse-
quence food and raiment are the first great
essentials.
Our most scientific physicians bear me
out in the statement that human beings
generally do not know how to breathe
This is more true of women than of men,
because the former have so long compressed
and outraged their vital organs by tight
lacing. Fashion has for years demanded
full busts, pipe-stem waists, and large hips
The first and last could be attained
without any especial detriment to
health, by means of artistic pads which any
competent dressmaker knew how to pre-
pare But the full, plump, shapely-by-
nature waist was q perpetual stumbling
| block to successful costuming. Nothing
but steel and string could bring this refrac-
tory part of the human anatomy to terms,
| and strings and steel have been so thor
oughly utilized that our homes and our
hospitals have been filled with invalids, and
| our cemeteries with the loveliest of the
earth. But gradually came change. Brave,
earnest wide-awake women began to talk
and write of these things. Good seed was
dropped everywhere, and now we have an
abundant crop. Nothing could better illus
trate the healthful growth of this seed than
the fact that such autocratic dressmakers
and designers as Worth, and many others
almost as popular, here as well as abroad
have been obliged to succumb to the general
voice. Now we are informed by Paris
journals that ga small waist is opposed to
| every principle of art" and we hen more
of the "VenuS de Medici" than ever.
No person can be in good health who
does not know how to breathe. Proper
breathing does not alone conduce to the
strength and development of the lungs, but
without it there can be no true digestion
and assimilation of food. Heart failure, so
common to-day, c1mes, among other tuses
from the long Strain that has been put On
the vital orgal IS of our mothers and our
grandmothers. A prominent and intelli-
gent young man died suddenly the other dav
from heart failure "Ho did it happen?n
| asked his physician. SO" he replied. with
an impatient shrug of his shoulders, "oaly
the twist of a corset string what [
| cried did that splendid fellow lace"
no" was the answer, "but his IN other did,
and she is at present under my care. She
| Is quite @ belle even wv, and eatertains
most charmingly when | can ease her de-
formed ribs and her intercostal neuralgil /,
and her painting BREATH sufficiently for her
to sit up an hour or two Such IS heredity.
madam, and the more you look into il the
more you will know, and the more useful
you can be"
All this is very shocking, but it is true,
and we have got to face it.
Again, the woman who breathes properly
aud takes necessary exercise will not be apt
to develop an unpleasant amount of adipose
tissue in the region of the abdomen. This
taking on of fat is largely due to the
habitual disuse of the Abdominal muscles.
If my lady readers will place their hands
over lis region and breathe as they are in
the habit of doing, they will see how little
or how much these very important organs
are involved in ''the breath of life" and
think that Iaost of them will be surprised
at the inaction they will fiud there.
After this experiment, close the mouth,
throw the shoulders we'll back, with the
weight of the body resting on the balls
of the feet This is the only correct way to
stand Such a posture tHrowS the abdomen
backward instead of forward, exactly where
it belongs. BY means of the nostris draw
in the breath deeply and slowly, aud let it
out in the same manner. If those of my
readers who are troubled with superfluous
abdominal tissue, will do this dozen times
a day, and get into the habit of brea hing
with the stomach and the add omen, and in
tlAting every part of the lungs, they will
not only lay the foundation of good health,
but they viii be shapely in figure and
graceful in carriage. ELEANOR KIRK.
Miss AGNES BEcKwIrH, the female champion