The herald., 1893-11-10
WOMEN IN MOTION.
The First and Last Rule In Graceful Walk
ing Is Not to Hurry.

women walking on the street, you will be
struck by the fact that nearly every
woman walks FAR too rapidly for any
thing like grace to enter into her move
ments. Tall women for some reason
walk more slowly than little ones. Per
haps the short woman gets into the habit
II hulrying from trying to keep up with
her willowy sister. Then there is the
jerky woman, and there is unfortunate
ly only too many of her. Her elbows,
shoulders and hips move from side to
side with every movementof her feet. If
you are acquainted with her, you will
find that she has usually nervous tenn
permanent. Some women have gait that
is hard to describe. If they We're to walk
in the snow or some place where their
footsteps would be visible, there would
be two tracks parallel to each other and
about a foot apart. This is a particu-
larly ugly walk, though not nearly SO
common as the jerky variety.
These are by no means exceptional
cases. Put these same women in a ball
room, and their every movement in
dancing would be full of grace and
spring. 1t is because they have been
taught to dance, while the ordinary
means of locomotion, complex though it
is, are left to chance.
An easy, graceful walk is not impossi-
BILE of requirement, though, like all
things that are worth having, it takes
time and patience. Julia Marlowe,
when about IS years of age, was afflicted
with most ungainly walk. To cure
herself of this she used to walk for miles
along the seashore every day, with her
hands on her hips to keep them motion
less. Whether she succeeded, no one
who has ever seen her on the stage need
ask.
One of the most graceful women have
ever seen told me the other day when l
asked for her secret: Il have no secret.
When l vas child, my mother i'm
pressed on me most firmly that l was al
ways to turn my toes out. This keeps
the knees straight, SO that all the move
ment comes from the hips. keep my
chest and chin well up and make it arule
never to hurry, though as I never mince
my steps get over the ground more
rapidly perhaps than those who seem to
walk faster"
In learning to walk it is best to begin,
as Herbert Spencer says about style,
with a knowledge of what constitutes a
beauty and what blemish. A good
walk is, however, about as elusive and
hard to define as q good style. Still there
are some very imperative "don'ts'' that
are well to remember.
Don't, for instance, look at your feet
when walking, but hold your head well
up in the air.
Don't shuttle your feet. A little
thoughtfulness and little practice il
high stepping will soon break up this
ugly habit.
Don't bend back at the waist under the
impression that you are thereby walking
erectly. 1t throws the stomach forward
and is almost as inimical to grace as
round shoulders.
Finally, don't allow yourself to walk
"pigeon toed'-that is, with the toes
turned in or straight. You can never be
graceful in movement while you do.
An ideal place in which to practice
walking would bo long room with q
mirror at each end. Though this is us.
ually impracticable, you should by all
means practice in front of mirror, OF
you may only accentuate bad habits. II
is unnecessary to say that heavy skirts
and tight corsets are quite incompatible
with freedom of motion. Do not bother
about the shoulders. Hold the chest
well forward, and they will take care o.
themselves. Then, with the chin wei
up and the toes turned out, you may
literally "walk chalk line"
1t is always hard to tell what to d.
with the hands. 1t is said that no won
an under 25 has ever learned how t.
carry these offending members. Bu
this, think, was written of English won
en-. The natural way-to have then
hanging at the sides or loosely claspe
in front-is not considered elegant. An
to have them glued to the sides as far a
the waist line, and then bent in at tn
elbow, is not only awkward in itseli
but it elevates the shoulders in the mos
unlovely way. Therefore most wome
try to obviate the difficulty by carryin
something in the hands. 1t does seer
strange that the most useful members {
the body should be SO unpleasantly
evidence when they are not in use. Br
however you elect to carry them, r.
member that the first and last rule
good walking is not to hurry. Philade
phia Record.