The herald., 1894-01-01
WOMEN N MOTION.
Tho Tirss and Last Ealo IN Grseefal wAz,
Ing Is Not to Hurry.

Ing Is Rot to Hurry.
If you carefully observe throng cR
women walking on the street, you will BE-
struck by tho fact that nearly every
woman walks far too rapidly for aEy-
thing like grace to enter into her move
ments. Tall women for some reason
walk more slowly than little ones. Per-
haDs the short woman gets into the habit
cf hurrying from trying to keep up with
her willowy sister. Then there is the
ierky woman, and there is unfortunate-
ly only too many of her. Her elbows,
shoulders and hips mcvo from side to
side with every movementof her feet. II
you are acquainted with her, You will
find that she has usually nervous tenn
porament. Some women have a gait thst
is hard TO describe. If they were to walk
in the snow OF some place where their
footsteps would be visible, there would
be two tracks parallel to each other and
about foot apart. This is particu-
larly ugly walk, though not nearly -
common as the jerky variety.
These are by no means exceptional
cases. Put these same women In bali
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 Il
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
TxxJss
when about 15 years of age, was afflicted
with most ungainly walk. To euro
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 I
asked for her secret: 81 have no secret.
When was child, my mother i'm
pressed on me most firmly that was al
ways to turn my toes cut. 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 rule
never to hurry, though as 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
beauty and what blemish. A good
walk is, however, about as elusive and
hard to define as 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 o little practice in
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 be long room with a
mirror at each end. Though this is u.s.
ually impracticable, you should by all
means practice in front of mirror, or
you may only accentuate bad habits. II
is unnecessary to say that heavy skirta
and tight corsets are quite incompatible
with freedom of motion. Do not bother
about the shoulders Hold the chest
we'll forward, and they will take care Of
themselves. Then, with the chin well
up and the toes turned out, you may
literally ''walk chalk hne."
It is always hard to tell what to do
with the hands. 1t is said that no wom-
an under 25 has ever learned how to
carry these offending members. But
this, I think, was written of English wom-
en-. The natural way-to have them
hanging at the sides or loosely clasped
in front--is not considered elegant. And
to have them glued to the sides as far as
the waist line, and then bent in at the
elbow, is not only awkward in itself,
but it elevates the shoulders in the most
unlovely way. Therefore most women
try to obviate the difficulty by carrying
something in the hands. 1t does seem
strange that the most useful members Of
the body should be SO unpleasantly in
evidence when they are not in use. But
however you elect to carry them, re-
member that the first and last rule in
good walking is not to hurry Philadel-
IL