The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-07-20
IDEAS for Tno1nem.

This question. always Interesting. is being
put again upon the carpet al seaside
places. where fair summer girls are Vie
ing with each other to be considered ath-
ietic-taat attribute upon which their
grandmcthsss locked with ~undisguised
horror in Her young days.
Everything tends to show that the real
" up-to-date gsri is nightly interested
in her fine physique. Witness the myr-
lads Of machines of all makes and de-
sertptions to be found where the ocean
rolls in. ali Of which propose 10 tell the
American girl how tail she stands in her
stockings: how much to a fraction she
weighs before breakfast. before lunch and
before dinner: how much she has gained
ana lost to the minutes part Of an inch
when she donned her natty bathing suit
and entered the brine.
whether women are growing taller or
NOT said a bright young matron speak
ing of the subject recently. sis of minor
importance. Mi real question is, Are they
growing stronger? Do they hold them
selves better than they did in the good
old times?'
Luckily for the American girl this
question can, easily be answered in the
Affirmative. The great impetus given to the
study Of physical training for girls has
really opened the way for a deep reform.
and actually set hosts Of young women in
search for the perfect beauty of develop
meat which IS more pleasing TO the eye
than any amount of mere charm of face.
Perhaps what is generally taken for the
increased height of the fair enthusiasts
really means that they know more about
the correct method of carrying the form
than did the women folk of fifty years
ego. Even during the last few years sen
sible waist measurements are wonder
fully on the increase and one Of those
pirched, il~l-shapen creatures with a wasp
like form is beginning to be a general
object Of pity. Deformed women OF this
pattern viii soon appear as freaks only.
Pinehing and athletics are not compatible,
and the athletic appetite has come to stay.
The young woman of today realizes too
thoroughly just what good. healthy sport
has done for her and the idea has been
deeply rooted. The girl nowadays who
cannot rev, swim. play out-of-door games
and ride equally as well as her brother
is ..out OF IT. as the sehoolboys say.
Inc training received in modern
gymnasiums is not perhaps as vigorous
and unmercifu, as those in which young
Roman matrons were developed. This exer-
else is more gradual, since the f~railties
of the Niaeteentth Century are n~ecessar-
ily taken into consideration. But many a
American girl could exhibit a phys
icue in no way inferior to her celebrated
sister of early Rome.
The question was asked not long ego.
What is the correct measurement for the
woman as she is ideal:zed in art? And
an authority upon this matter was quoted
as follows
Measuring woman's height by the cele-
brated Venus de Milo. a perfect woman
should be 5 feet S inches. A woman Of 5
feet 5 inches should be 1873 pounds in.
weight, or even 40 if she be otherwise
well formed and in good proportion. With
extended arms she should measure 5 feet
s inches from tip to tip Of the middle fin
gers. That is exactly the same measure
rlent across the arms as is found in her
height. Her hands should measure one
tenth Of her height and her foot one
-es1rh Of tae same The distance from
the elbow to the middle Of her chest
SHOULD be precisely identical with hat
from the elbow to middle finger.
The measurement Of the foot should be
exactly repeated in the length from the
top of her head to the chin: and the line
between the armpits must also correspond.
Her waist should not be more nor less
than a inches. The bust is 81 inches
measured beneath the arms and 40 if Ike
above. Her upper arm viii be 10 inches.
How many woman's Page readers are
perfect specimens OF the fair sex judged
ny this exacting standard"
Some surgeons in London are now al
legged TO be able to. make dimples and
other beauty marks which rival natures
work They charge high prices for their
d.nlples, but there are said to be women
willing to pay.
There Is a hospital In the English me-
tropolis where attention is given ex-
clusively to this kind Of thing. The wom-
an who desired to rid herself of wrinkles.
crows feet and generally to improve the
condition Of her facial c~ulticle, can retreat
from the world for a time, enter the
abode where beauty. skin deep, is manu-
featured, and submft to a course Of treat
ment which as a mere cure for disease
weuld seem a~ppaling-for it literally
means being aayed ahve by acids and
electricity. When she energies with a
farlsless skin OF babylsh texture she will
begin the study of her features, and. if
not found satisfactory. they, too. in turn
must be doctored. The nose may be
Strengthened by wearing a metal mask,
the mout made the proper artistic size
by a surgical operation. and the eyebrows
arcned to 2 syrnetrieal curve.
The two greatest difficulties encoun-
tered in remedesing personal appearance
are the reduction Of surplus flesh for the
fat woman and the creating Of adipose
tissue for the lean woman. The stout
woman who wishes 10 become graceful
and sylphlfke must follow a dict pro-
gramTne and undergo a series Of daily
exercises that win prove a pain as well
as a WEAKNESS to the flesh. while the
substituting Of Venus-Iike proportions for
an emaeiated figure is even a more tedi-
Gus and difficult task. involving The com
plete building up of the nervous system
and digestive organs.
Enansel is rarely used nowadays by the
most enthusiastic devotee Of beauty. Ar
- - 80.