The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-30
ATHLETIC wOMANHOOD.
Girls Outstripping Boys IN Physio-
al Development.
Schools and Colleges for Young Ladies
Adopting Measures for tho perfoc-
tion of tho Muscular
Syateu

AiFO uehAeIc SiIl may OuCStrfp ncr
brother In time, though she has both
inheritance and tradition to oppose her,
says the New York Sun. Every one is
noticing how tall our girls IRE growing,
and some one has said thut the men
seem to be growing shorter in the same
ratio Us the girls grow taller, and at
tribntc the difference to tho fact boys
smoke and girls do not DR.. Smith, Of
the Berkeley schools, is strong be-
lever in the theory that nicotine re-
tartls the growth of boys, as has been
proven by experiments TINT 1t does of
dogs and kittens Girls of to-day are
taller, stronger and in every way more
perfectly developed physically than the
girls of the last decade. Athletics in
some form or other enter into the course
of almost NIL schools and colleges, and
women manifest much enthusiasm in
athletic work.
The Woman's club of tho Berkeley
lyceum has long waiting list and
the beautiful clubhouse is crowded
every day with woman-soekcrs after
health and beauty, which means health.
Men have n cynical habit of setting
down vanity rs the inspiring cause for
oil this delight In hcalthful recreation,
nnd, though they are perhaps correct IN
their suggestions, why is the vanity of
women for pretty faces and symmetrical
figures moro to be condemned than tho
pride of men In broad shoulders and
sincwy limbs particularly when both
kinds Of beauty depend upon physical
health2 For physical health Is ever the
grand foundation of mental strength
and prowcsS, and Of the great cardinal
virtues = patience, pleasantncss and
peaccfulncSs- 1t Is amusing TO soc at
the roces, in the theatcrs, or on the
avenue u splendid specimen of physical
grlhood attended By Il slim, punny snip
OF IN escort, as one SO frequently secs
now, and though it must be admitted
TINT she is the exceptional girl, and he
the unusual man, still it is prophetic of
tho future
a man says that you can't tell whcth-
or girl is physically developed or
dressmnlcrly filled out when she has
her gown on, and perhaps there is IA
grain of truth in his idea, but the pad
ding In one coat would be more than
sufficient for all the gowns 81 girl would
have in whole season
The weakest looking spect1ueps of
not included in athletic classes, and one
reason for this is tho severe mental dis
ciplinc to which they are subjected dur
ing the growing period Girls arc stu
dents as we'll, but they arc rarely hur-
ricd through school as rapidly as boys
and are better cared for physically,
both at homo and in the schools, than
boys, and only the exceptional girl,
with strong intellect and genius, is sent
through the colleges where serious and
sustained mental effort is required
But women lack the sustained endur-
ance of men, and the cxacting demands
of modern living tell on them as the
years pass, and at forty or forty-fivc
men are much finer specimens of phys
ical nttr1ctivcness than women OF the
same age, though much thought and
study are given by women now to the
preservation of their youthful beauty
with marked results. The improve
Incnt in physical wofnnnhood has been
great in the last five or ten years. and
1t Is the more noticeable TO see straipht.
supple, strong women of graceful pro
portions in fashionable society than to
see vigorous men of fine physique, be-
cause so much moro unusual But when
really athletic mothers give an inner
itancc of physical beauty to athletic
daughters, and they in turn transmit it
to the granddaughters, there will then
need to be change IN the marriage
ceremony, and the 'obeying" will be
incorporated in the husbands VOW rath-
or than that of the wifc's, unless the
soft-handed, narrow-shouldercd youth
rcnouncc cignrettc-smol<ing and devote
their 1orlly intcllects to something be-
sides swallowing canes and wearing
bangles. ---: :7tf?is y 70. xtSy.
AN INGENIOUS DEVICE.