Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-25
ADIPOSE AMERICA.
Jonathan is Now q Rival of John
Bull in Bulk.
CoRPULENCE INCREASING
Some Of the Causes Of the Prevalence of
Obcsity-Fat Men and Fat wits-American
Women Learn Their Mistakes When Too
Late-Sugar the Champion Fattener.-


Written for The Evening Star by Celia Logan.
THERE Is A CERTAIN WIDELY KNOWN
Il caricature which for at least thirty years
has been accepted as typical Of the proportions
and personal appearances Of John Bull and
Brother Jonathan respectively. The first fig
ure is of of short, thickset little man with an
enormous paunch supported by his corpulent
limbs-that is John Bull. The second figure,
that of tall fellow, lean to emaciation, with q
hatchet-shaped face and spare, pointed goatee,
represents Brother Jonathan as he is no longer.
With the passing OF time John Bull has not
altered his characteristic shape, but Jonathan
has changed his until he resembles the beefy
Englishman of the caricature more than the
lank Yankee Of yore, and Mrs. Jonathan has
pumped up" even more than her mate, SO
that while specimens of the elongated, skeleton
like Brother Jonathan may still be found
among us, the true type of the ''end of the
century" American is more like the rotund
and unwieldy John Bull than the original
aapothecary-like Jonathan Of the picture, which
Is as much out OF date now as the stars and
stripes Of which his costume is composed.
EVERYBODY GETTING FAT.
Except the letter carrier, no class, no calling
is wholly exempt from this infiction Of too
much flesh. From the President down to the
ash man all are more or less burdened with
fat President Arthur suffered from it, 10 does
Mr.. Cleveland, and Pesident Harrison keeps
his corporosity within reasonable bounds by
walking.
The easy life, the certainty Of income. abb
sence OF care and constant good living in the
capital are provocative Of corpulence, hence
the tendency of our representatives to fatten
up in Washington. There are. of course, some
men among them who would not fatten under
any circumstances, but the majority are scaling
high Senator Allison weighs fifty pounds more
than he did when he was elected. Senators
Henderson and German are fast becoming very
heavy weights and George Vest requires much
more vest than he did two years ago. Leland
Stanford lately spent a summer at the German
springs in the hope of reducing his ponderosity.
CAUSES OF coRPULENCE.
So completely has thinness ceased to be typ
ical Of the American that foreigners are begin
ming to wonder at and comment upon our ma
tional bulk. In no other country, not even in
adipose England, are there sold SO many nos
trums for the reduction of corpulence as in the
United States. This disposition to stake on"
fat more especially in middle age, is attributa-
BILE to many different causes, the first of which
is the drinking of beer. Next comes the con-
sumption Of rich, fat-forming foods, complicated
with the Incidence induced by luxurious living,
and lastly. the lack of exercise, all of which
the direct results Of our having become q rich
nation. Those Of us who are obliged to work
hard are not prone to become obese.
EASIER DONE THAN UNDoNE.
Our girls, thank goodness, are still slender
and willowy, but that condition, as a rule, does
not outlast their first youth. Like her English
sister, the American woman, as she approaches
middle age, loses her delicacy of outline, and
frequently even before that dreaded time is
reached becomes plump, and afterward by easy
stages she grows q little too fleshy. then decid-
eddy stout, and finally to her horror and con-
sternation she finds herself fat, absolutely and
frequently abnormally fat Then there is
rush for 'obesity cures, !" ''anti-fat remedies"
and reduction movements" but, alas, the
mischief Is an accomplished fact" and she
learns to her cost that getting fat is like getting
married, easier done than undone.
PLENTY OF FAT WOMEN.
To convince yourself that we are no longer
a thin people go into any of our great dry
goods stores or ladies' restaurants in the large
cities, or stand on the corner Of some fashion
able street frequented by ladies, and you will
be obliged to admit that the number of obese
women who pass is in excess of the slim ones
and these latter are almost always young. In
stores where scales are kept they are in such
constant use that the stout shoppers-slender
women seldom weigh themselves-stand around
in a crowd waiting their turn to use the appa-
ratus, which has to be repaired everv few
months in consequence Of being continually
jumped upon by the fair and fat. But not in
the stores, restaurants nor upon the streets can
an accurate idea be formed of the ponderosity
OF the average American woman, because when
she takes her slow and heavy footed walks
abroad the much abused corset braces her up
and hauls her into the smallest endurable point.
and the kindly undivided skirt covers bulki-
tude OF skin unsupported by the locker on. In
the Turkish bath when she stands unconcealed,
save for a solitary sheet, she who runs sheeted
into the hot room may read that as nation we
are indeed on the increase.
In addition to the ridicule to which corpu-
lent persons are subjected, and there are
many minor discomforts to be borne the
heavy load OF flesh to be carried is one of
these, the shortness of breath and inability to
move quickly are others. Stout women are
very ''hsrd" on all articles of clothing, which
they can seldom buy ready made.
Women are more prone to fall into flesh
than men, especially after they reach their
fortieth year. No woman can be strictly beau
tiful who answers Swifts description Of thin
woman, skinny bonia, snip and lean;' a
certain roundness of outline enhances the
beauty Of the female form. The difficulty is to
preserve the juste milieu.
HOW IT Is WITH MEN.
In men the oft alluded to "one ounce of en-
perhuous flesh" is detrimental to perfect SYM
metry. The ancients not only disliked but de-
rided corpulence, and the Franks inflicted a
fine upon their young men who grew too stout
to encircle their waists with band of a speci-
fed length. 1t also rendered them Ineligible
for military service. Thus. to become larger
than the legal measurement was looked upon
as the decline Of youth and beauty; therefore
every one tried to squeeze their waists into the
regulation band. and to this custom the French
corset is said to owe its origin. The Spartans
punished their soldiers for becoming corpu
lent and reduced obese children by rigid fast
ing, understanding better than we of the nine
teenth century do that fat children cannot
Withstand disease as well as thin children. The
Greeks and Russians professed the most pro-
found contempt for corpulent persons. At the
Roman festival Of Bacchus great fun was made
of the fat Sienus.
The physicians Of antiquity treated fat "A a
disease, and were at least skilful in their "re
duction" processes as are the doctors of the
present day. In addition to employing most of
our so-called anti-corpulent cures the ancient
doctors resorted to bleeding.
FAT MEN AND FAT WITS,
There are some popular impressions in re-
gard to the stout which are not supported bv
facts. One Of these impressions is that the
corpulent are always good natured. another
that the fat are "fat witted" An excess Of
adipose tissue causes irritability rather than
good nature, having its underlying base In