The San Francisco call., 1896-07-05

Then she executed some sort OF my terous
maneuver by which she seemed to step over
herself and finally crawled out from under her
own arms flushed but triumphant. "I can do
it backward, too" she explained, and she
bent over until she resembied a picture l once
saw in doctors book. 1t was labeled Apis
tholonos and made deep impression upon
me, even after the doctors explanation that it
was the picture of woman in Fl of hys-
terics. The reversed performance was as sue
cessful as the initial one. Portia came up
smiling but breathless, snd as she, appeared
under the wand loud snap sounded through
the room. Every woman of us knew what had
happened, but Por tia looked annoyed. "Tkat's
the third corset steel I've broken in week."
she said discontentedly. 'fWhy don't you wear
patent waist?" asked the suffrage advocate;
they're quite as much support as the corset"
"rve tried them," was the reply, "but the
buttons fly in every direction when exercise,
and then ones dresses never do sit quite so
well over them" "But," continued to say
'isn't it rather inconsistent in a deYotee of
athletics to wear corsets at all?" "Oh, l don't
wear them at all tight can put both hands
in mine after they're laced about the waist
1 couldn't get along without them"
How many women have heard make this
triple assertion?
1 sought we'll known gymnasium in
structor.
"oh, yes" he said, women are coming to
me every day for practice. Some of my pupils
are doing splendid work. Talk about the
emancipation of woman-there's only one way
leading to it. Give woman a sound body and
bicycle and she'll emancipate herself and all
the rest of the race"
The professor was waxing enthusiastic
"Why." he exclaimed, "if the last three gener-
ations of women had been healthy. athletic
specimens of their kind, we should never have
had the present spectacle of disconnected
complaining sex, demanding their rights and
wanting to do everything that men do. Women
don't need the ballot half as much as they
need good blood, healthy bodies and we'll
developed systems Physical culture is giving
them these"
"Then suppose you agree with Rabbi voor-
sanger" l said, "that three generations of
women without corsets will do as much as the
ballot, for woman and the racer
The professors face clouded. "Do you
know" he began, eonfdentially, hthats the
greatest trouble have with my pupils? They
come to me full OF enthusiasm and seem to
think physical culture will work wonders for
them. but while they're willing enough to put
on boomers they want to swing clubs, climb
ropes, 90 up ladders and fence and box while
they are wearing corsets. l tell them
gymnastic exercises cannot be successfully, or
even safely, taken in the things, but they do
not believe me- Why, I know a teacher of
what she calls harmonic gymnastics who
actually wears them, and advises her pupils
to dc so. Now, l believe that, even nandi-
capped by corsets and toothpick shoes, our
women are the better for exercise, but
why, look here" and he produced picture.
81 wish," he said, "that the Roetgen ray could
give us picture of corset liver but we're
not far enough along for that But see what
our modern shoe is doing to the bones of the