Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-26

II
American girls. Bowling swimming.
boating. skating, tobosganing. snowshoe-
Ing ere all widely popular, and have
their share Of attention.
COMMUNICATING.
Bowling has penetrated into city life.
and we md bowling clubs wing with az.
ternoon teas an ong the social events OF
the year, especially during Lent WHEN
other amusements fall OF. Bandsorns
prizes for both gentlemen and ladies a.,
presented BY the matrons, ard the play
Is carried on In, tournament sfyis Ia thu
country bowling alleys are usually a.
juncts Of the TERMS club. and .ars much
used
In city end country alike women In
dulga very generally In skating. and tho
hrst Ice ~ crowded with throns Of
graceful skaters. Any country girl would
De ashamed not 10 skate. and city girls
make up pleasant parties for a trip to
some suburban pond. or open their coun-
try houses for jovisl party. Rut ,her.
are no organized clubs: everything ts
cone In an informal way
looogyaning and snowShoeing have also
Deen introduced from the West AMI from
Sahada, the fOrIner especially being In
great favor at one time as a form OF
isshlonatis amusement The Essex coun-
" country Club had a slide which was
mum pauonlsed SrowshOelng Is more
confined TO the girls who live All the wear
round in the country. as I, ,ases gr.a,
osai OF pracHc- 20 become proficient In
". In The colder Northwestern Statss a..
peciaiiy. these winter si,rfs have ,
wide development Around 81 pau,
MIMI, Tor instance snowshorlng r. very
nuch In vogue IA q diversion for merry
parties Of Young people.
In aquaues American girls are nizo pro-
audi L.
OF amusement. and there are few ills
living near water who do not know how
TO manage oars and paddle The women,
colleges and the large private bosrdinr-
schoois Keep boats and encourage rowln.
ana swimming. Many have regular
crews, and row annual races with each
other and with scratch crews 81 the
neighborhood. and they row very xau
TOO, IN true varsity style Wellesley coi.
lese, near Boston. pays special attention
10 nor crew. and has yentured on sitting
seats Inc girls wear LOOSE blouses. short
sA'ttS. ana knlckcr6ockers. The summer
"at'Hns-places likewise set up races Tor
| girls. which are one Of the chief anuSa.
ments Of the season.
Women also do a great deal OF Yachting
as attested by the large humber OF ~
men on the American Yacht REGISTER
| VINO own yachts and sail them themSelves
| All aiong the shore are small clubs. ani
! girls may pe seen any day dar,ing hjther
anu thither IN small catbcais and fore.
| ahl-aits' ana showing considerable skNi
| in their management. In the matter ~
larger craft, too. they are BY no mean,
backward. Though ladies' are NOT very
! generally admitted t. our larger Yacht.
clubs. there are clubs I'm Boston OF which
they are yacht-ownng members. with tho
! flsht TO nv the cOlors: ami the New York
facht-Ciuo Is now discussing tho question
OF the admission Of women
! American girls are very .s.een" aho,,
eano.ng. and are sknfuI at lt--indeed. they
are most expert. and often reckless pad
elttS' shooting rapids ana even taking 20
We saillns canoe, very t.cklish business
even Tor man. They 80 out ia bathing
costumes. and are not q bit disturbed by
an occasional iucOng. The sport -
equally IN vogue on quiet country streams.
where TIE canoe gl.des silently along be-
tween steep banks Ok fern and meadow
grass. alder bushes. and Wild swamp.
Browihs. all sairrorcI IN The clear sur
FACE. There ara no v0m-n's clubs for
! canoinS, but the mems canOe-clu6s ad.ni;
women as mcWierA
'anoinS implies swimming, Of course,
AMI many women are az home Ia tho
water. The gymnasiums have swimming
classes. besides which there are many
nice swimming schools where girls are
taught 10 SWIM. II is quite an ori.nary
accomplishment, but not 50 common as
some others
THIRTY THOUSAND.
In the cycling ~orls there are. nc-
corfing TO the last report. no Joss than
3pvJ women who own snI ride bicycles
There are cycling clubs everywhere for
women. ana la'so portion Of tie mems
clubs are open to them Most OF these
CLUBS are email affairs nov ever with fe,v
OF tho appointments OF "A clubhouse he-
yonl small building for the r.ectiars
ara shed Tor lie wheels a. the an. 90
they are more elaborate. but there are
lar 700 many "a mention IN detail 'Cy-
GINS IN fact, Is the amusement par cxcel-
lciice OF the people. aui g. not talr,n al, "a
a regular sport by the uprtr classes.
The cycling -, h. by no nears tho same
a. that engaged IN tennis. rlIin. and
other sports. Il - essentially popular
the principal form 81 outing OF tie vast
majority Of the middle classes the smaller
shopkeepers. tradcsmen. mechanics. and
clerks. This applies % both men AMI WOO
men. | do not mean that the upper
classes do not take to cycling: (, would
be absurd T. say 50; but they are too few
10 give their stamp 10 cycling. The
women. especially OF the upper classes. II
they cycle az al. are not apt 60 use the,r
wheels IN public.
There are plenty Of cycling newspapers
with w0mens departments, but the ICY
cling Interest is so evenly divided between
men and women that the latter read thu
body Of the paper with as much intercs:
as the former. ] know Ok no cycling pa.
! pcrs for women only.
Racing has taken place among women
cyclists. but il IS a great novelty. and Il
discountenanced ~ the women them
selves. Neither ls the rational costume
much In fashion.
Golf has not become fayorite IN
Americas and t. still taken up more OF
Iess as fad among the ultra-fashiona
bles There is q good deal OF gOiing done
at Newport. where the gay set have Itads
d purchaee Of ground for a club uSs
polo-fsld and links. The ladies now picy
on the mems links. but viii soon bav'
one " their own. Here golf Is ent.rel,
a society affair. The game IL really only
about two or three Years old with us
IL was started as a more serious sport Al
Yonkers. on the Hudson. a half hour b,
rail from New York. Here links wa.
laid out and called the 81. Andrews" n
honor OF the Mecca " all true golfers
| Though Intended for men. this link 1.
now used by women also. stiff as II T.
Al Southampton. Long Island. there Is
Ladies' Golf club. ana goliing Is In hig'
tayor. Golf has also been taken up By
the Meadow Brook Country Club. which
! has a very good links Women there g
In for IL very largely. and use the mems
links. There is also some talk OF link,
on staten Island Golf Is quite fay0rit'
In California. but, Ia general It's vogue !,
very local ana shows little indication
OF spreading. much less OF supersedlns
tennis.
sucn Is the general aspect OF women'i
sport on the American side OF the Allan
tic The field Is far too large for salts
factory treatment within the limits o.
one article. which can only give a brle
} outline Of the most important lines VI
development. In conclusion. let me sa,
that with all this Widespread interest u
5 sports. there IL no tendency among Ameri
can womea 20 become sporty There ar
q fast sets where this Is the case, but th,
{. American girl. taking her all I'm all, dee,
not devote her time and energy 10 spor
{ 50 much as 10 smack OF the stable and IN,
Z field She IS kept IN balance by too man,
I other things that OCCUPY and interest her