The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-01

are ready to enlist in corps Of their
own forming, to take part in the war
that seems to be threatened, has caused
many smiles at the idea Of dainty FEM
unity going to battle, but it Is a fact
that mingling with the jingling Of cav
airy accoutrments and the clash Of
swords in the hands of soldiers Of
Uncle Sans army and navy there is to
be heard the music of thin rapiers COL
l1ding in the fencing room where swell
New York society girls gather to prac-
tice the art of fence and parry. While
this exercise by the members of the
exclusive set Is taken for the purpose
OF cultivating health and grace. it
shows that those who regard as fool
ism the suggestion that women can
nght like men are a little off in their
reckoning, as they would find If they
| crossed swords with some Of these mod
ern AmaZons.
Fencing is to be more a fad than
ever this summer. With te golf sticks
OF the society girl will go a bundle of
Tolls; With the golf boots will be pack
ed the Fencing mask and padded Jack
ct. At all the seaside resorts and at
the fashionable rendezvous in the
mountains there will be fencing clubs
Win ther regular headquarters, where
the girls will meet to receive instruc-
ton from some past master in the art
Of using the foils.
IL Is known to every student Of phy
steal culture that no exercise gives bet
ter play to the muscles Of the body
than fencing. Besides developing the
figure. and turning weak and deleicate
women into 1.-THE bundles of muscle. It
lmparts to the eye an unerring accur-
hn
stead in her daily life. Fencing will
give to the poorly proportioned woman
Inquire to be envied; it reduces the
stout woman to slim and graceful size
making the waist small and supple
lmparting to the limbs an elasticity.
and to the ankles a frmness. that few
other exercises give. good fencar
must necessarily be graceful; grace
and cleverness with the foils are in
separately associated; an awkward girl
cannot be a good fencer; to become a
good fencer she must overcome her
awkwardness, SO that there can be no
better cure for the fault of lack of
gracefulness-a very serious fault for
society girl-than to be Thoroughly
taught the art Of fencing
An accomplished fencer has nearly all
the muscles Of the body under perfect
control. To acquire this, constant prac-
tlce Is essential. To begin with, wrong
poses must be corrected. Before the
art of parry and lunge is learned, the
pupil must be taught how to stand in
perfectly easy position, with the body
held SO that in lungfng the balance can
be quickly recovered. To be q good
fencer 1t Is necessary to know how to
avoid useless movements. When once
girl has learned to stand erect in the
graceful posture Of the fencer, she can
be relied upon to be at her ease In any
kind Of an assembly, for she will have
acquired the grace that comes only
with perfect confidence, the confidence
that knows that every muscle is under
control and obedient to the dictate Of
the will.
1t is remarkable how fencing develops
the bust. So frequently are the chest
and neck muscles called into use during
fencing bout, that in q very short
time they become hardened, filing out
the form, and rounding the curves of
the body, SO as to give the greatest
beauty CT outline possible The waist
comes in for it's share Of the benefits
impaired to the entire body by fencing.
as 1t necessarily shares in the calls
thenic movements comprised in the
constant swaying of the body. Thus
fencing enlarges one part of the body
while 1t reduces another improving the
figure in the way that every girl wish
eS.
Coming to the consideration of the
limbs. the left leg, which supports the
entire weight of the body during a
fencing bout, and 10 held as rigid as q