The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-07

which Is about their only article of cloth
ing, by a cord tied around the waist
ana drawn as tightly as possible. This
doubtless accounts for their comparatively
small waists. English workwomen also
1nJure themselves by wearing number Of
heavy skirts attached only 20 the waist
band. The German peasant woman dis
cards wristbands altogether and wears her
garments suspended from the shoulders by
means OF waist, which gives her a more
vigorous figure than the English peasant
woman. The mode Of dress of the Chinese
woman Is such as TO allow the most perfect
freedom Of movement and room for develop
ment at the middle portion Of the trunk.
1.-THE famous English beauty, Mrs. Lang
try, has recently had published detailed
account OF her physical proportions, by
which 1t appears that her hight is 81 inches
and her waist measure only 20 inches. Mrs.
Langtry takes evident pride in the fact that
! many or her measurements correspond very
closely with those Of some ancient Greciau
models, but she omitted to call attention to
the fact that her waist measure is only IS. s
per cent. of her hight while that OF the
queen OF all the ancient statues of women
which have been discovered, the famous
Venus de Milo, is 40 Der cent. of the hight
Mrs. Langtry's waist measure, TO be in the
same proportion as that of the Greek beauty,
should be 81 inches. ] have taken the pains
to make measurements of a considerable
number OF male statues. the work of emf
nent ancient artists, preserved In various
European galleries. and find the average
proportion OF the waist TO hight OF seven
famous models to be 46.4, or little less
than that of the Venus de Milo
Il have recently made measurements of
forty-three young American working
women, wearing loose garments, and found
the average waist measurement to be a. Is
inches, or AGA per cent. of the hight
Some Of these young wsmen had but re-
Gently been induced to adopt q healthful
style Of clothing. In the case Of twenty.
five of them ascertained that previous to
such adoption the average waist measure
had been p. 3 inches, which had afterward
increased to %. s. inches.
~ find the average waist measure OF girls
from to II years of age to be 90 inches |
have in some instances found the waist
measure In girls of IL to be 20 inches. From
this time on the waist ceased to grow under
the influence of tight lands, corset waists,
or corsets. The fashionable dressmaker in
slsts that the young ladY's figure must be
formed and so, as she develops, she grows
into a mold like cucumber in n bottle
And thus 1t happens thai we lind the
civilized woman with waist dispropor-
! tionatey small, as we find among the aristo
cratic class OF Chinese women. dwarfed and
| Of China is compelled to hobble about in a
most ungraceful fashion, requiring usually
one or more persons to sustain her in keep
| ing her balance. She cannot run, skin or
dance as can her large footed sisters She Is
willing, however, to endure the inconveni-
ences OF being cripple and the loss OF the
Use of her feet and legs rather than forego
the pleasure Of being in fashion. If the
SACRIFICES which the civilized woman makes
TO fashion were no gre eater there would be
| comparatively small ground for complaint,
but the constant glrding OF the waist re-
| suits in mischiefs of vastly greater mag
nitude than those which the Chinese woman
| intiicts upon he self.
IF these comparisons show anything
| they prove that the small waist OF the
American woman is a deformity. There is
| no physiological reason why she should have
q smaller " aist than her savage sister, or
why Mrs Langry'S waist measure should
be 26 instead OF 81.
"As the flat-headed woman watches with
growing pride the progressive depressions
OF her infants skull, as the Chinese woman
glories in the shriveled stump Of what was
once her child'S foot, In like manner does
the civilized mother pride herself on the
smallness of her daughters corset-defor med
waist. Her effort TO secure a change In the
natural contour of the human frame seems
| to me more monstrous violation OF the
laws of beauty, more disastrous to bodily
| health and vigor than any similar
| barbarity practiced by the members
OF any savage tribe. How such
disfgurement of the physique
could ever have come to be considered beau
tiful is problem hard TO solve since it in-
wolves violation of all the principles Of
are handed down to us by the great mas
| ters.
Not to go into the many physical all
ments which are superinduced by wearing
corsets, will say that the least OF these is
the deleterious effect they have on the lungs
| | have experimentede extensively with new
| form Of pDeumograph or pneuograph, frem
which | have secured tracings that repre-
sent the whole respiratory movement and
emphasize my conclusions as l have ex-
planned them to you"
| FREYD FREYTAG.
EA UNSCRUPULOUS IMITATORS