Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-11-17
PASSING OF TEE TOMBoY.
Girls OF the Present Are Healthier
and Happier Because of
Outdoor Life.

Tomboy has become an antiquarian's
word. Women who were little girls 20
years ago know how potent of reproach
it used TO be when it was still in vogue
in the homes of the land.
"If you are not a lady when you are
Is YOU never will be-" many mothers
said, in varying language, to their
daughters who were more eager for
romping than for making tatting or en-
gaging their hearts in crochet. The de-
scriptions of the rearing of Harriet
Hosmer in an active outdoor girlhood
were looked upon with some compla-
cency. mingled with curiosity, because
she had talent for marble and chisel,
and because her health was not robust,
and open-air exercise was known to be
good for high-strung girls of excep-
tional endowments. But others who
showed lively liking for playing with
their brothers. and following them and
other girls brothers afie!d or into tree
tops or row boats, bore perennially the
tomboy stigma. There was never girl
of the old unacknowledged regiment Of
the advance guard of athleticism who
would have given up one of the joys
wherefore she made battle against the
conservatism of her time for sake of be-
ing rid of that title. To be sure, thou
sands of little women" felt deep in
ward protest against the ignominy i'm
piled in the appellation, but they did
not know how to say that they were
only following the need of nature-girl
nature as well as boy nature-in find
ing out personally the pleasures of gal
Looping on bareback horses or diving
into woodland "swimmin' holes" or
resting over a game of "mumblety peg"
when some boys jacknife twirled
from eager fingers to make those soft,
delightful, unforgettable thuds of sue
cess into the good green ground.
The young girls of to-day have the
freedom of their muscles unquestioned,
and enter by right into an inheritance
of bicycles and golf clubs. boats and
bathing suits, saddles that are not side
saddles. basket balls and baseballs, too,
that their elder sisters acquired by
sort of slow encroachment of the Zeit-
geist.
The spirit of the time is embodied in
the girl who is to be the woman ruling
the destiny of man in the first quarter
of the coming century. She will step
over its threshold into her kingdom
with the sure-footed grace gained in
climbing mountain heights. She viii
accept its possibilities and responsible
tiles with less strenuousness than nine
teenth century women have always
shown, because action is her birthright,
not her conviction, and health is to her
a necessity, like a religion.
The passing of the tomboy is COM
plete. The girl of to-day at her Amer
lean best is hearty, healthy. happy,
graceful child. She is not expected to
be a young lady, although she is trained |
toward the serenities of that gracious |
estate. She is part of the onward
moving life of her times, as she seems |
to be part Of her wheel when flying |
along city avenues or through wood |
land roads. She cannot remember when |
she learned to ride. her babyhood's |
velocipede having superseded the baby |
jumper wherein her elder sister was
wont to go through violent infantile |
exertions without arriving anywhere.
pIOBItSS VI llt luOuGIh NOuHS
girl-on-wheels has nothing self-con- |
scious in it. She moves joyously, !
gracefully, fair to see, along the path
way "blazed' for her through the |
jungles Of conservatism by the pioneer /
tomboy of the past. There were al
ways tomboys in all generations, ex-
cept that which is now femininely ris-
ing. They were not confined to the
time when a girl who rode 60-pound
be asked if she considered her mode of
locomotion ladylike.
Once in awhile you may meet ladies
of so or 20 or 90, gracious and silver
haired, young-hearted and with live
ly interest in the thoughts and pur-
suits of all girl kind, who will tell you
in sweet voices that they were called
great tomboys" when they were little
girls. And if they recount to you their
maddest, merriest pranks, their widest
and most daring adventures. you will
find that these were commonplace be-
side their granddaughter 3O-mile BIZ
cycle ride of yesterday, cup-winning
yacht of the day before, far her.
aided championship OF last week
or this mornings swim of q mile sea-
ward out toward Spain.
1t must be owned. too, that the girl
of the period far surpasses her prede-
cessor in strength and staying power.
All this outdoor life means vigor. grace
and buoyancy 1t is a fine thing TO
watch a girl athlete. She is bewitch-
ing.-Harper's Bazaar. J.