Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-17
BEAUTY AND FLESH.
In Order to Have the One Many
People Must Fight the Other.
PATIENT METHODS.
Hard Work and Self-Denial Keep PATHS
Form so Attractive.
LILLIAN RUSSELL'S WEARY BATTLE
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH ]


Good looks are almost the stock in trade
of the wearers of the sock and buskin.
Therefore corpulence is fatal to that peren-
nial youth which they are supposed to
possess. AS long as the form retains its
slenderness the face can be made up to look
young at the footlights, but as soon as the
player becomes stout he, and more espe-
cially she is obliged either to retire or to
take to the impersonation of mature roles,
while those who, like Maggie Mitchell and
Agnes Booth, still keepa girlish figure are
accepted in "young parts" long after they
have passed that romantic period of life
known as the "frst youth
Some actresses become obese even in their
youth; witness Fanny Davenport and Lii
lian Russell Their fight with fat is inter
esting even to those whose livelihood is not
affected or interfered with by their avoirdu-
pois. About seven years ago Miss Daven-
port had attained such proportions that she
cast about for some means of reducing her
weight, and first tried the banting system.
Being tall she could "earry off, as it is
termed, more flesh than short woman. At
the same time a fat La Iosca, Fedora or
Camille was ludicrous and not to be tolerated.
Before banting, Miss Davenport used to
drink quantities of water and eat bon bons
to excess. These two bad habits she aban-
doned, and at once noticed decrease when
scaling.
Fanny Davenports Heroic Methods.
This encouraged her to pursue her expert
ments further, and she turned her attention
to the table, beginning by cutting off bread,
next vegetables and then fat meat. The
American Cleopatra drinks nothing but
cold iced tea, summer or winter, and eats
nothing but beef, mutton, poultry, eggs and
fsh-no butter, soup or sauces or dessert
Very hard diet this, but it repaid her by re-
turning some trimness of outline
In her case, however, not even all this
dietetic abstemiousness reduced her to the
desired minimum of weight So she gave
up her carriage and took to walking When
her time permits she starts out in the morn
ing and walks all day long. At first she
used to become so tired as hardly to be able
to get through the performance at night,
but now she is such good walker that she
could win in a walking match. There are
few, however, who would have the perse-
verance and the will power to keep long
at Miss Davenport's rules for the reduction
of adipose tissue. After many trials of the
various "anti-fat'' modes in vogue Miss
Davenport has struck out three very simple
rules, but hard to follow. She says: "In
my opinion, which is the result of some
years of experimenting, the only way to be-
come thin, and what is more difficult still,
to keep thin, is, first, no fluids; second, no
food worth speaking of; third, constant
walking.
HOW Patti Keeps Young and Wi1lowy.
Probably the youngest-1ooking woman of
her years on the stage is the famous Adelina
Patti. Born in 1843, she is now, when
nearly so years of age, as slender and as well
propOrtioned as when she was but 16. If
there be such thing as inheriting ten
deney to corpulence, she certainly had that
disposition, for her mother was very stout.
What occult correspondence there may be
between a mothers fat and daughters
voice I am not prepared to say, but famous
cantatrices and tieshy mothers seem to go in
pairs. Adelina's sister Carlotta was fat.
So, also, have been told, was her father.
PATHS light and willowy form is due to
the trouble she has always taken to keep it
so. To this, and to her marvellous voice, all
her mature life the great diva has been
slave. In addition to understanding the
Importance of rest, sleep, bathing and ex-
ercise Patti has reduced her system of eat
my W O oClCHCC. L1IbHOuSH
principally in hotels, she is never tempted
to partake of the rich food provided by
them, but year in and year out confines
herself to the simplest and most monoton-
GUS fare. She never eats fresh bread. 1t
must be toasted dry and hard before she
will touch it. In winter she lives mainly
on oysters, lean meat and boullion carefully
prepared for her by Niccolini every night
after the performance. She takes no dinner
upon the days when she is to sing at night.
She never drinks ice water, but OCCASION
ally little watered claret or lemonade.
The Foods She Avoids.
The great singer avoids all starehy, fat
tening foods, such as hominy, potatoes,
peas, turnips, corn, carrots, beets, maca-
roni, puddings, pies and cakes, confning
herself to lean meat, light soups, green veg
etables, such as lettuce, celery, dry toasted