The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
EAT, STAND, SIT, PROPERLY.
ruBEE TIpS FOR WOMEN VINO WANT
TO BE HEALTHY.

,mc when II was considered fashionable for a
.oman TO faint frequently, grow hysterical over
rifles, and have ut least one chronic ailmcnt.
,To,iay such u woman, instead of being cuddled
and made much OF, is passed hurriudly By with
, vord-not of sympathy, but rather OF scornful
n,tv. She Ia referred 10 as Poor thingl' And
u there is one thing that will make a woman
cast of her invalid ways 1t is that phrase.
Women nowadays are turning back to the
ways OF the Spartan girls, who believed that tho
nhysical training Of the sexes should be identi.
cal and prac;ised what they preached. They
were taught to run, 10 leap. to cast the javelin,
ia play ball, and to wrcstlc. Their Athenian
sisters did nothing of the sort and were not COM
,orablc to the Spartan girls. Once an Athenian
said To the wife OF Leonidas:
You Spartans are the women who rule men,"
Yes" she answered and we aro tho only
women who bring forth men,"
There is u lesson in this retort for all woman
Kind. American women. be 1t said to their
credit. are beginning to apply it. Old women.
Young women, and schoolgirls are giving moro
attention than ever before to physical cul.
turc. Three women were discussing the gen.
eral interest in physical training for women,
In a restaurant not long ago. 1t was one
of those little places where a man feels
himself conspicuous, for 1t was patronized
almost exclusively ny women shoppers.
One of the takers was white haired, another
was middle aged, and the third was an athletic.
looking girl Just out of her teens. The middle
aged woman turned out to be a teacher of physi-
culture. and she talked In such II clear, practi-
cal way that pretty soon all the women at the
nearby tables were listening to the conversation
Of the trio. II all started this way:
Il wouldn't order chocolate 6clairs II i were
you." said the middle-aged woman to the girl.
why not r. asked the girl. q" I'm not in
training now. AS long as I was on the basket
ball team at vnssar l wouldn't have dreamed of
giving such an order; but I'm II graduate now,
and chocolate Gclairs are so good
They aren't good for you" insisted the mid
ile.aged woman. You told me yourself that
"ou were never in such perfect health as when
you were in training and confined yourself to
nutritious, wholesome food"
That's so, 'Sacquiesced the girl meekly, but
without countermanding her order.
Physical culture teachers as n rule make
three Mistakes" continued the middle-aged
won an. sailing her rare roast beef vigorously
BY way OF emphasis. II think the first three
questions they should put to a pupil are: What
do you eat for breakfast, luncheon, dinner, and
between mealsl How do you sit. and how do
why. what funny questions the last two
would be, exclaimed the girl digging into the
middle OF eclair number one.
moi at all" answered the physical culturist.
in the history OF this world OF ours it has never
become an art. When II comes to eattng-well,
m tssl n'M Mfii n aSPsif issr a59 9o es eating fear that
What queer notions you do have" COM
msnted the CIR, ordering a double portion Of ice
please. I'm sure 1 have a good. healthy appe-
lite" she went OF, and think 1 not only know
There's no question about your having a first
rate appetite put in the elderly woman. who
proved ysl to be the } E,i5l,s sr and, N raSTi., ~. mid.
which vns hi is the craving Of a strong. healthy stom;
o. giving it the proper. food. Nearly ali young
women do the same thing, Every time you do
that You weaken your muscles; which you tell
me you are so anxious to train. You can
have given il the proper food. Now, I'm
;sacher Of ffa physical c uiteSee every Py' director ssfay
d, gymnasium, every master Of q swimming
shonld pay a great deal Of attention to what
tnSir pupils ear, and try to impress on each pupil
i1s nf to- fet661 nt p n iqaa; EyeF md PoE x Is lis sr in.
structor in gymnastics will tell him what
food is hest for him to take he will
mother. The same is true of a girl. Let the
t,r,cher tell a girl that certain things will harden
hi figure and certain other things viii make the
muscles OF her cheeks firm, which is one OF the
. .be;s so "t ret bdraaI; "a, a PRETTY .6dsy , com p!e abon.,, and
giving up al rich pastries and sweets.
Up TO this time ths enthusiast continued,
almost exclusively. to the development of their
rms and legs. This is a great mistake. wo-
siiSni Ton , 9Th the 1 dSTelo snne f' Of t i" kly Vital %" OF.
t'GS. The, legs and arms work much more
; sly II the vital organs are we'll developed.
women shoulc be trained from the time they
~ out, OF swaddling clothes to hold the alb
"oFnlnSl muscles tense. Then we would hear of
. such thing as displaced organs. But, dear
me, get me started on the physical development
OF women and ~ never stop"
W.. its so Interesting" exclaimed the girl.
l3u sad something about women not know
nv rWeiii told the truth" said the enthusiast.
desk there to pay their che ks. At least twenty.
nps nave been up since we've been sitting here.
stout woman there now with her abdomen thrown
she i pra, 1R ~ qIP ss part part 6 81 her BODY hsla back;
Asbitnal method OF standing is Just the cause Of
me trouble, Glance at the thin. delicate.look-
Ioty 10 all wrong. You can see that her alb
n"fnt,hi muscles are thoroughly relaxed. SO 1t
throws nearly all her weight on one side when
~ stands, and you can see, that this has
woman STANDS so that one shoulder grows higher
ihan the other or her back gets twisted and an.
other becomes ,~lop-sided in some other way. A
!1trgsted to her care TO stand correctly is guilty
y almost a crime. The harm done to the out
w Tic nouy Is notilnk compared To the In
Jury done to the machinery inside.
American women have, US a rule, disagree.
ale nasal voices. II they only knew 1t, il all
comes from, their not knowing how to stand
property. The only women In this country who.
as u rule, have sweet voices are the Southern
women, and the only way | can account for this
Is that trey don't stand at all except when they
ere absolutely Obliged TO. 1t isn't that they
xhow how TO stand any better than their
Horihern sisters, but they have a prediction
!M' sitting or reclining. II you don't believe
what say about nasal voices go into any
si,kool in this city, public or private, and listen to
my or hundred pupils read they will nearly all
rew through their noses instead Of through their
mouths. II a child has been taught to stand
WIN shoulders thrown back, lungs expanded,
VIC nhdoniinal muscles hell tense, the body bent
slShuy forward. so az to distribute the weight
"llHliy on the ball Of each foot, the voice Will
.ohle rich and clear and full straight from the
mouth instead Of meandering around inside,
"tGlGIng the vocal chords altogether, and finally
through the nose"
What have you to say about women not
showing how to STIR asked the old lady.
That they don't even know how Ia sit as
vel as they know how 20 stand" she answered.
lerSing out each word distinctly, when a
Iiri frsl goes in for physical training the teacher
shNlid teach her to eat wholesome food. such as
ile'GS, chops. rare roast beef, whole wheat
otctd ami vegetables. Girls don't need tea and