The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-09-12
The TabOuret,

There is one bit of furniture no bed
room should want for-to wit, the tabou-
ret The little footstool, Indispensable in
its way, will not fill the place of this more
sufficient rest" for bate out underpin-
nings, " to use the washer lady's' Gu
phemism.
Amply supporting weary legs the tab
ouret, together with an easy chair, fur
nishes a delight substitute for the couch
when resting and reading are to be com
hined.
Physicians all agree that woman
should as much as practicable keep her
legs on a level with the rest of her body.
An occasional indulgence in that mannish
trick of placing them even higher would
help amazingly toward doing away with
those tired feelings and that dragged sen
sation.
Fashionable women, to whom the noccs-
sity of never showing fatigue and of ever
looking their best" has taught the mack
of acquiring maximum Of rest in min
imum of time are fast falling into mascu-
line habits Of posture when in the seclu-
sion of bedroom or boudoir, This era of
exercise gives them their cue They learn
on the tennis court or in the ''swagger''
gymnastic class how entirely restorative it
is to lounge and loll about
On the other hand, in the less leisurcd
class, there is regrcttablc proportion of
women who, sOundly intelligent in the
main. cling to OLD fashioned and mistaken
notions of decOrum. These estimable WON
EN- could not by any inducement be made
to give their aching limbs little health
| fu! tcrty and relaxation. They do not
re-. rim their old fogyism they choose
to u.Ho, the fact that the muscular and
| lii turn nervous system thrivcs quite as
| surely on "a variety of attitudes and mo-
tions rs does thl stomach on "a catholic
diet or ones spirits on the spice of life.
Those women who preserve the "bolt
| upright" Oh Ill occasions when not actu-
| ally in bed need not hope to retain into
middle life youths most alluring charm
Elasticity. Muscles kept ever on the
stretch must lose their elasticity ere very
| long. There is, it is true, a sort of auto
matte springincss that some ever active
/ women carry with them into extreme and
extremely gracelcss old age These metal
lie jerks and starts hold about the same
relation to the easy buoyancy of youth
that the dance of the grasshopper bears to
the soft litheness of u pretty Angora.
have in mind one young matron and
mother-an acknowledged beauty-whose
! health keeps pace with her looks. Not so
long ago careless maiden literally on the
eve of her marriage, she scandalized the
proper folks of certain New England vii
lago by kicking football on the green
lawns Of her future country home. Sensi-
BILE girl, she is now happy in the possession
of IA physical foundation equal to the social
and domestic burdens that send half our
society women to untimely graves. Wom-
en- may or may not--abOut rs they choose
keep at bay the dreaded heart failure.
To go back to the innocent cause of this
plea for more limb room, | want to say
of the tabouret that it may become a most
picturesque and important part of the
mise en- scene of those hours of studied
deshabille whsn pretty woman, prcttier
than ever in flowing tea gown, receives,
half reclining, her intimatcs only.
In winter room, furnished in mahog-
any and tapcstrylike portieres, the tabou-
ret is effectively upholstered in old fash
Toned worsted filled canvas, which seems,
If not In reality to owe its gay pattern tc
the patient fingers of some passed away
kinswoman. Something cool in texture
should cushion the tabouret for summer
india silk, linen or denim, or, best of all
square of lovely mating. The japanese
matting-a combination of cotton and
swamp grass, deliciously dyed is finely
woven and reversible, and therefore ex
tremely durable.-Mrs. Mariana +. McCdn,
IN 81. Louis Republic.