The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-07-23
time. And they have the cheek to say
that that Congress was not e~xtravaganS
FENCING FOR WOMEN.
Its Beneficial Effects-Every Muscle
Brought Into Play.

given III u SpAfitc0 tItiCtt " AAdt-0A ~
Bisland, published in outing. She
tells us that it is in Paris, where the
practical use of small swords among
men has never been restricted, that
the art of fencing has fiourished apace
since the days of lie Grand Mon
arch.r Many women regularly attend
the SALES d'armes, of which there are
a score, or practice in their homes,
always under the eve OF some skillful
maitre. For this part of her educa-
ton the French woman has a natural
aptness; the tradition, agility and wit
OF her race aid her in a rapid
mastery of detail and graceful finish
of execution. Ii was she. nj doubt,
who so successfully proved to Ameri-
can women that fencing is after all
the exercise best adapted to feminine
needs. Much of that French temper
ament is common in our ladies, who
after noting the fact that even their
German and Italian sisters entered
the lists to gain crowns of laurel, took
up their foils with such characters
tic energy and enthusiasm Among
them we may look for and have in
deed already found several fencers of
no common skill. The French wom-
an took up this practice more as a
polite accomplishment than for any
serious reason, while on this side OF
the water it is studied not only for
pleasure, but for higher physical de-
velopment. to which American women
have of late turned their attention.
Now, fencing develops the muscular
system by the simple process of learn
ing its practice, while it does not
bring on physical exhaustion, often
the result of other exercises. Many
women have overtaxed their powers
at lawn tennis by becoming over
heated or straining weak muscles,
only to pay dearly in the future for
such imprudence. Or, perhaps-and
tits not uncommon after III season of
vigorous racquet swinging-big knot
ty biceps are found to have become
too prominent IN a white, rounded
arm and gloves of size fit for the left
hand refuse to fit over the broadened
palm of the right. Aud this is the
prime advantage of fencing-that
every muscle is brought into play,
not in the arms alone that WELD the
foil. but the wrists, lower limbs waist
and back, and even ankles, must be
trained to fall from one position into
another without effort, yet with Won
derful rapidity and grace.
The average sport or exercise is
mastered by plunging wildly into its
mysteries, hitting out blindly to right
and left, trusting with confidence to
change and practice to getting licked
into shape, and in most cases a guide
or master is rather a hindrance than
q help. But it is hardly so with fenc-
ing, for this is altogether too intricate
and delicate a game to admit of even
one blunder which would unhinge all
the carefully planned theory by
which it is taught. The pupils are
requested to exercise not only a deal
of muscular energy and d~exterity, but
an intelligent Judgment that will
keep the mind on the alert, eager, yet
pleasantly excited and well under con-
troll.
When once the delicacies of the foil
practice are successfully conquered,
the slender cleaning rapier might be
intrusted even in the hands OF q
woman, for what she may lack in
positive size of bone and muscle is
made up in exceeding dexterity. Yet,
so far, they are content with the
blunted foil. Broadswords are some-
what too heavy to lift and swing,
while feminine nerves shrink from the
clash of steel, cut and slash, before
which her more strongly constituted
brother never quails.
Nervous prostration, the evil genius
that is supposed sooner or later to
overtake the excited society
girl in her mad career after pleasure,
ma be vanquished at the blades
point. This is a common ailment of
American women, who are apt to
carry out any work which their hands
find to do with such vigor that ex-
haustion is often the result.
Simple Diet the Safest.
Yes, the simplest is the safest, and
the best is the cheapest. The butcher,
for example, or the egg merchant,
cannot adulterate his wares, but he
may have several qualities, and there
is a stage in respect to all animal
foods which renders them to a large
extent poisonous, and this is as bad, if
not worse, than a~dulteration.
We often hear it said that shop
eggs, as they are called, are good
enough for frying with bacon or ham.
This is a mistake; an egg that has
even a suspicion of staleness about it
is deleterious to health, OF TO say
dangerous, no matter whether it be
fried or boiled. The same may be said
of flesh meats of all kinds.
1t is a truism that any kind of food
or mixed diet which requires the aid
of stimulant for its digestion is not
salutary. Such a diet is a tax upon
the whole system, and causes heat and
discomfort and a feverish state of the
blood, which can only end in debility
OF the nervous system and more or
less p~rostration.
Those who would obtain the
! greatest amount of health and com
fort from the food they eat must be
most careful in its selection. Every
one ought to know what agrees with
him and what does not. Through the
summer months the table should be
abundantly supplied with fruits and
vegetables. Children especially should
be fed literally on fruits to avoid heat
rashes. rushes of blood to the head
and digestive troubles.
As a rule, the healthy stomach will
easily absorb any reasonable quantity
of fruit taken at proper easons.
Weak and abused digestive organs
will have to be treated mor carefully,
but will ultimately grow accustomed
to a fruit diet and be all the better for
If no do GOOD frnif rpt1ct no rrOnarlv