San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-22
THEY ARE NOT "ToMsoYs," EITHER.
The Extent to Which Some English Girls
Go i'm for Athletic Sports.

The Extent to Which Some English Girls
Go i'm for Athletic Sports.
There is no rational reason why the
America girl cannot initiate her Eng
!ish sisters in their methods of outdoor
life and amusement. Here in England
no form of sport seems debarred from
their indulgence or enjoyment. To be
sure, it is II question whether one wants
ones girls to indulge in every kind of
sport and outdoor game Shooting and
hunting have long been practiced by
women as well as men in England, but
| know some persons who draw the line
at cricket.
But why should not a girl play cricket,
if she chooses, as well as tennis? | know
jolly little team of eleven fair maids
in Warwickshire who are the envy of
half the young men in the county. The
moving spirit of the team is a fetching,
dark eyed maid. with short, curly brown
locks. called Nancy by her family and
intimates. A more winsome creature
never lived-and, mind you, she is not
the least bit of what is called "a tom
boy" in the states. Not Bit of it'll
Yet Nancy not only plays cricket, but
hockey and tennis as We'll She can row
like "a varsity man, and a story goes
that she was coxswain for a crew in
training on the river near her fathers
country house rot so long ago. Then
she will give almost any man Fifty points
at billiards, and knows how to handle a
thoroughbred almost as well as pro
fessional trainer.
And the result? Wei, about as spian,
did Il sample Of physical perfection rs it
IS possible TO become. AT the same time
must repeat that Nancy is not the least
bIt forward or "manuish" in appearance
or manner. She has almost as many ac-
COmplishments III drawing room as in
4 hunting field or tennis court. For she
sings exceptionally well and plays the
violin equally so,
There are any number of English girls
who possess similar &ttainments. Could
an American girl pursue such line of
amusement to advantage? doubt it.
First of all, she would be at once
termed fast" or masculine" Her
brothers would resent it probably and
her male friends would secretly, if not
openly, disapprove of her. Men in the
states still adhere. | beiieve, to a fond
ness for the clingimg style of women
Then, too, the means for indulging in
outdoor sports to any extent in America
are limited There is no shooting posi-
BILE. and scarcely any hard riding. Base
ball is certainly out of the question, and
cricket not us yet popular. Girls in
America, as a rule, are too dainty and
pretty to tan their faces and blister their
soft pink palms with much rowing, to
say nothing of our lakes, bays or rivers
being hardly desirable sheets of water
upon which to spend many hours unpro-
tected.
That is where England again enjoys
an advantage over us. Her countless
tiny rivers, overriding with foliage and
dropping willows, afford gentle pro
lection for any wandering water nymph
in modern life.
River life during the summer in Eng
land is portion of every healthy young
woman's existence. They even have
races and rowing matches; and at Ok
ford the other day saw capital pho |
tograph of six cared crew made up Of |
young women who are students at
Somerville hall, an institution in the
famous old university city similar to the |
Harvard annex SCmerville hall also |
has its eleven" team, by the way. and |
like the students Of Lady Margaret hall |
at Oxford, and at Girton and Nuneham
at Cambridge, it plays in the yearly
"antiuniversity" match at Wimbledon.
And that reminds me that Phil.
delphia maid at Lady Margaret bah ar
Oxford last year obtained honors of the
degree of master of arts.
Some day want to tell some of the
Harvard girls something more about the
antiuniversity colleges Mt Oxford
Through the kindness of some of the
faculty have been able to see a good
deal of their ways and methods. As yet
their success seems checked by the diff
culties continually thrust in their way
by the university. Cambridge is much
moe chiyahous. | am told.