St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-25

lively contest it is difficult to believe
that woman can endure such strain.
In speaking OF Women learning to
fence Miss Senac said the other day:
They don't have the confidence to 90
IN hard Just as they would at tennis or
bowls. They are afraid of being jabbed
with the foils- There is no reason why
American ladies should not learn 10
fence as we'll as French or German or
English ladies. They are a. well set I'D
physically as others. but they haven't
the nerve TO go in.
Il have fenced with some of The
pupils of my father. but very few of
theiA were able TO last long. / would
purposely leave my guard down to give
them every chance, but they seemed 10
be afraid 10 accept it.
Mrs. Langtry Is the best American
lady fencer. She took lessons, though,
for three years. and there is no reason
why she should not be good. Mrs. T. A
Havemeyer was very clever, and so was
Rose Coghlan. Marie Tempest, who is
now studying, will be very skillful in a
few weeks time, for she displayed great
aptness from the first"
Actresses who take lessons are as a
rule more self-confdent than other
women. Probably their stage training
has made them this way, and then. too,
they generally take them with view to
use 1t IN their plays, so ii is much a
matter of business with them.
Other well known women who have
taken fencing lessons are. Mrs. Dun
can Elliott. Miss TurnuIe, Miss Kath-
crime DreXel. Mrs. John G. Osgood, Mrs.
Beaumont Smith, Miss Rachel E. Sher-
man, Nina Harrington, Agnes Hern-
don. Lillian Bacon, Mrs. T. NJ. Tying
Miss A. NJ Andrews, Miss n. Field.
Ellta b. Otis, Kitlie p. Chamberlain.
Mrs. II. S. Mott. Miss l.. Graham. Ella
HOLSTER. Alice Fischer, Gertrude Sears.
Isabelle UrQuhart. Mrs. James Brown
Potter. Mrs. Leslie Carter, Louise Fa-
Der, Kate Forsyth and Maria Jugla.
The fencing costume OF a woman con-
slsts of waist, pair or pautalettes
and skirt. They are all made OF the
hghtest material and fit loosely. The
skirt and pantalettes only come to the
knee, and Stockings should only be
worn to within three inches OF the knee
cap, so as to permit of that Joint beLd-
Ing freely at all times.
Shch costume made of blue serge
should not cost more that SO. Suits of
faucier material would. of course. come
higher. For the implements OF war
fare. the follS. ordinary KIND, the outlay
is 81, the mask $3.50, the gloves g, the
shoes s.. This makes the entire
outfit about S25. Miss Marie
tempest has gorgeous prac-
tice costume made of salmon
colored China silk. The skirt IS fringed
at the bottom with lace. which cost sew
eral dollars yard, and the fencing
master is instructed that whatever he
does he must not run his foil through
nDI tn fol. 10
waist is crossed with Nile green ribEon
and a thin strip Of the same is run down
the sides Of the pantalettes. The Berke-
ley Ladies Athletic club has also been
a heavy patron of the art.
A years training IS considered enough
for stage business. although women who
take up with it as readily as Miss
Tempest and Mrs. Langtry can become
good exhibition fencers in a much
shorter time
Within the past few years, since fenc-
ing has become so popular all over the
country, plays have been constructed
around contests with the foils. in which,
when woman is one of the combatants,
she never fails to win.
Sarah Bernhard and other French
actresses have introduced such scopes
with great success. Miss Tempest's
new opera, The Fencing Master
hinges upon combat with rapiers.
Many fashionable Paris doctors pre-
scribe fencing for their patients. but
there are host of pretty ParIsiennes
who do not take this severe treatment
for health's sake alone. but from a
genuine fondness of the diversion.
II is said to be astonishing how skill
fHl Parlsian women become in the use
of the foils. They ale fair rivals of the
celebrated woman duelist Maupin, who
stretched six or seven adverSaries on
the green sward under the deft lunge