The evening times., 1898-04-04
WOMEN SHOULD
NOT Be STILL
Activity and Exercise Pro-
moters Of Beauty.
Pedestri"nism and Physical Gs mnns-
tics VIII Cultivate Strength Of
Mind and Body.

| cal Exercise for Women delivered be
fore the department OF pedagogy of thC
4 Brooklyn Institute. said: What is sc
| pOetical in poetry. about the ivory white
ness Of the skin and the slowness and
languor insisted upon by the old poets
and nOvelists. is really most unromanti-
| cally associated with indigestion. 1t is
/ one Of the ironies of life that women as
| they stand in literature and romance
! are not at all the women that we
know. Every living animal requires a
certain amount of eXericse TO keep in
health, the theoretical basis being the
fact that so large a part of the animal
body is formed of muscular tissue. which
unused becomes weak. fabby and in
active. Public opinion regarding the
necessity for women has changed great
ly since a hundred years ago. when a
noted French author said it was well
for women to be timid and cowardly, and
a little miserable all the time, because
if they were well and strong. they would
be apt to be getting away from home
more than would be good for them and
they would lose their characteristic fem
ininity and charm.
This idea of the Frenchman is large
y accountable for the fallacies that
still need refutation in regard to the
necessity of exercise. For sitting still
is one Of the worst things woman can
90. Women require a great deal of
movement. activity and change Be
cause their muscles are smaller and nat
urally weaker than those of men. 1t
does not follow that girls under twenty
i've should not have strong muscles.
The type of muscular actions for wom-
en- consists Of movements that move the
body great deal. but only the body and
there is no use in women trying to en-
gage in training or athletics that involve
raising heavy weights. We are return
ing now in our exercises continued Dr.
jacob. Ito the Greek athletic games
which give agility and grace without
overtaXing the body. The fallacy of fif-
~ or 100 years ago that little girls un-
der ten or twelve years Of age must be
restrained from running about and be
taught to sit on the piazza and keen their
dresses clean. is exploded. and i'm Sum-
mer hotels now one seldom hears the
mother telling her girls not to run Ex-
crciSe. before eleven. needs little super
vision. and after that it should not be
checked but systematized and use To de-
velop special muscles. When girl be
comes liStlesS and anaemic and mopcs
about reading "Munsey" or Oneida. a
mother il apt TO think that she shows
remarkable Studiousness. This is lust the
time that il is absolutely necessary to
give gymnastic exercise to a girl. unless
she lives in the country and does not
attend school. Any girl who does not
have to sweep a floor and is going to
school, must have gymnastics to balance
the strain upon nerves and brain. Every
thing possible should be done to develop
a girls chest. especially"
THE most admirable Of all exercises is
the one in which the ancient Greerls were
so proficient, running. This should be
done as far as possible in the open air.
Il expands the chest. draws the air into
the lungs and tends to cultivate grace
of movement. Jumping rope, on the
other hand, is a bad exercise. as it tends
to exhaust the heart without many cor
relative advantages. Basketball. Gewing
riding or horseback are all desirable aud
if girls do not indulge in them volun-
tarily they should be compelled to- All
muscular exercise involves the cxpendi-
ture Of mechanical force, and this must
be met by an abundant supply of force
food, such as bread and butter and beef
steak. The inability Of woman to un-
derstand the correlation between force
and food is singular. As soon as she is
tired "A woman docs not want to eat
when that is the time she should
"A girl in her teens especially is a mine
Of duplicity, and those in charge of her
should bear that in mind, and see that
She is cared for. The exercise of walking /
is admirable. but unless a taste Is en- (
in little girls il is a habit that !.
is difficult to acquire later. The daily 4
,r ~iri-
what gives them their lovely complex /
ions. How stewed | am is their COM /
ment when debarred from their usual ex-
7rcise and kept in the house. Every girl
Of fifteen should be able to walk ten /
miles in the country without fatigue
The bicycle has proved extremely hene-
fetal to a large number Of people vino
had never learned to walk properly Ii
issemnates the act of muscular action
an through the body, it calls into play
lll the muscles Of back and hips. and
hat is a tremendous tonic. and just what
tired. anaemic girls need.
Swimming and horseback riding are
also to be commended for growing girls
While exercise for adult women is not so
IMPERATIVE as for girls under twenty the I
absolute inertia that many women sub
cct themselves to is responsible for many
II their diseases. Women in the country
ire ant TO take less exercise tnan IN ne
.ity. a horse and carriage stands usually
'eady. and if they wish to go to the VII
age only a half-mile away they never
hink Of walking. Sitting still on hotel
DiaZzas and eating three hearty meals a
lay i'm order to get your moneys worth
N the summer are the cause of many
mysterious cases Of typhoid fever that
come to the city boarder on her return
nome.
when a woman is out of health the
irst question she ought to ask herself |
should be. Is il not because | don't take
.nough of exercise? while usually that is
he last question asked.
Carlsbad and the Kneipp cure are all
light, but there is nothing you caught in
Europe that you cannot get in America,
aving thereby time. money and energy.
AIRY out the same rules here that you
would in the celebrated baths, and back
che and their evils will be effectually
disposed of"
.is.xf