Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-30
GIRLS NEED NERVES.
A Reserve of Vital Force More Neces-
sary Than for Boys.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE'S POINTERS
Physical Culture as a Fad is Too Unreliable
to be Of Any Use.
BATHING In SUNLIGHT AND WATER

to be expected in American women, writes
Julian Hawthorne In the New York Herald.
Nevertheless, there is way where there is
a will, and as a matter of fact great many
women do give attention to physical train
ing, and spend considerable time at it, too.
They ride, play tennis, fence. want" and
take Turkish baths and massage treatment.
Actresses, whose livelihood largely depends
upon their bodily eomeliness and condition,
were the first to take up these things; and
the circumstance that the stage has OF late
been approaching nearer and nearer to
society and that certain women of society
have gone on the stage, has made such train
ing more or less fashionable.
But though actresses have the time for 1t,
because it is part of their business, and
wealthy women in society, because it is as
good way of killing time as another, most
women have neither the time nor the facili-
ties. They cannot ride, because they have
no horses; nor fence because they have no
fencing masters; nor take Turkish baths, be-
cause only large cities have them and they
are expensive They might play tennis,
perhaps, but to do 50 to any effect takes
YOU must wear a tennis dress, and go some
distance to the tennis grounds, and wait for
your turn at the courts, and play an hour at
least and rhen get home and change your
clothes. Moreover, you can play tennis
only in summer, and by no means every day
even then.
DON'T DEFEND ON A FAD.
A great many things that are easy
enough theoretically are impractieable in
practice, because our enyironments-the
daily habit and tenor OF our lives-are
against them. There is point to be noted
here, Nothing is so tickle as fashion, and
it is probable that the present athletic tad
among fashionable women will not last.
Each one OF them follows it chiefly Tor the
reason that her friends do so, and not from
any sense of duty to herself. Therefore the
first thing to do in order to get healthy
bodily development is TO cultivate your
will and your selt-respect, and not to cease
to do what YOU believe to be right because
other people are emiss. To be conseien-
tious is not easy, but it is contagious, and
if Won take stand for yourself you will
have the pleasure of seeing that you have
confirmed and stimulated many waYering
spirits.
What your young ladies are after is not
brain and muscle to match your brothers at
school and college, but good nerves, sound
digestion, quiet sleep and general Tlgor
ana freshness of the bodily powers and
functions. A reserve of vital force IS even
more essential to a woman tnan to man,
and your main attention should be devoted
to maintaining and increasing that You
NAV do it very easily, for it involves ab-
staining certain habits that you now indulge
in. rather than learning anything new. In
ali you must keep up an enthusiasm for i'm
proyement-to become better to-day than
Won were Yesterday. That is the secret Of
success. There is little use in working
against the grain. But instead of stopping
work because it is against the grain you
must compel the grain to go the way OF
work.
GOOD RULES FOR WISE GIRLS.
Once at least every day water should
touch everv part of your skin, and every
part should be rubbed till it is ROSY with
towel or brush. The water need not be cold,
it should not be- unless the heat of the room
or the season makes it agreeable. You can
bathe and rub Yourself thoroughly in ten
minutes, including the use of soap. Do not
be afraid to use good soap on your face. II 1t
| makes your face shiny it is only because
YOU have not rubbed it dry. Apply friction
| lightly and briskiy with the palms OF your
If during the day you get into perspl-a-
tion never let the perspirat1on dry on your
skin; take off your clothes and rub yourself
| with a towel. Perspiration cools the sur
| face of the skin and sends the blood inward.
If it dries so you get chill, but if you rub
yourself the blood returns to the surface and
then YOU are safe. Sun and air are as good
for the skin as water. Ii you can find means
of tanning" yourself from head to foot in
the sun so much the better. Clothes are a
necessary misfortune in our climate and civ
ilization, but to be without them for half an
hour every day would be good for you, If
you can so arrange matters.
SLEEP WITH WINDOWS OPEN.
Make a habit of drawing your breath deep
at every inspiration. You can begin this
when you are working indoors; by and by
YOU will be able TO do it all the time. But
YOU cannot breathe properly with eorsets on.
You will have to choose, l am afraid. be-
tween good lungs and stylish corsets. You
can have no idea until you have tried it
what a reireshment and strengthening this
deep breathing gives. 1t is to your insldes
| what bathing is TO your outside. You will
soon find that fresh AIR is q necessity to you
and YOU will take care 10 have your rooms
we'll ventilated, especially your bedroom.
| Cover yourself up well in bed, but sleep
| with YOUR window wide open, no matter how
| cold it is.
When you sit down sit upright. Never
! let the contour of your back be convex.
Keen the distance between the hips and the
top OF your ribs as long as nature will allow.
| Your interior organs need all the space they
can get, longitudinally as we'll as latitude
nallv. You will find it hard not to "slouch"
at first, but stick to it; get up and walk
about il it becomes too wearisome. When
you lie down in the daytime lie fiat; don't
prop yourself so that you are half lying,
half sitting. Never heat your spine with
feather pillows or cushions. Keep your
spine and all that region cool, and the cir
culation of your blood will keep it warm.
II YOU lie on a sofa let it be on a cane bot
tom sofa or of some non-heating material.
The great nerve centers In your back must
be kept fresh and healthy. Never read when
you are lying down, but only when you are
sitting erect.
WHEN TO EAT INDIGEsrIBLEs,
When YOU are faint from lack of food, or
from nervous wear and tear, don't get in the
habit of patching yourself up with tea; it is
no better for you than brandy is for your
brother. 1t borrows from Peter to pay Paul
and ends by robbing both. To eat a few
nourishing things is better than to eat a lot
of things poor in nutriment. In summer
eat less meat. Pastry will do you no good,
and too much OF it will do you harm. Why
not give yourself all the chances you can to
be well? 1t is contemplate to lower your
tone OF health just because some unwhole-
some thing tastes good. Yet you are not to
be an ascetic in diet BY any means. But re-
member that the best time to eat unwhole-
some things is not when your appetite is too