The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-08
FOR FEMININE READERS
METHOD USED BY A THIN LADY WHO
WISHED TO GAIN FLESH.
The Planning of Meals One of the
Trials of Observation-Disclosures Art OF
Packing-Prefty Summer Gowns.

| She was tall and painfully thin. Her race
| was pretty, and in drawing room, with
the proper background Of sofa cushions and
with enough diaphanous drapery. she might
| have been really beautiful, says writer in
| the New York Sun. In the light Of day and
the necessary frankness of street dress she
was too thin for any aesthetic purpose. The
| necessity for increased flesh was in her case
| sufficiently urgent to send her to the doc
/ tors She was a student at a dramatic
| school connected with one of the Broadway
| theaters. 1t was perfectly plain that she
could never stand in the gaze of the public
| with any great chance of success as thin as
| she was then. She had appeared several
| times, and there had always been some
vague suggestions on the part of her friends
/ that flesh was very much needed 1T
wouldn't hurt you to take on few
| pounds or well, you're not too fat" or
| some other suggestion, equally decided, If
yelled, followed their praise of her. The
/ last suggestion that decided her to take
positive step came when she had an oppor-
tunity to get an engagement with profess
| sional company under very favorable cir
cumstances But it would have been neces-
sary for her to wear short skirts. and the
| impossbility of that was as evident to her
managers as 1t was to her. That settled
her mind as to the matter of taking on
more flesh She went to the doctor to find
/ out what could be done. The regimen Of
theatrical life usually fattens women quick
| ly enough. But some flesh was necessary
for her before she could start on her ca
| reer.
She was young woman in good health,
| ctr Of
the average woman of her age, and nothing
in the world to keep her thin beyond the
| fact that it was not her nature to be other
wise. She ate what she wanted without any
idea Of what its effect would be-
The doctor heard her story, and to the
| complaint that she wanted to get fat and
| do it Immediately he was not reassuring.
What do you weigh now?'' he asked.
zone hundred and two pounds was the
| answer, land / am five feet eight inches
| high. l want to gain about twenty-five or
| thirty pounds as soon as l can, and maybe
I'll need more. I have never been anything
| but thin, and don't know how much it
needs to be plump. l want to be plump"
| The doctor suggested that thirty pounds
would be enough, and he added that it
| would be becoming. He was profession
| all doctor, accustomed to speak with little
ceremony to those of his clients who fol-
| lowed the theatrical calling The girl was
| too much interested in the question of the
| thirty pounds to pay any attention to the
| possible compliment. Besides, she herself
knew that she would look better
| The doctor prescribed, and within three
! weeks the girl came back to say that she
| had gained nine pounds. She continued to
| follow the rules which the physician had
| laid down for her, and she continued to in
| crease in flesh. BY the end of two months
she had gained twenty pounds and the
third month gave her three more. Ultimate
ly the number was increased to twenty-five.
The thirty never came. AS there has been
no diminution, however, in the number of
pounds she took on, it is not improbable
that flesh may continue to come until the
other five have been added.
The usefulness of this course of treat
| ment is never likely to be so great as that
of the process by which Miss Amelia Sum-
merville added to her fame She was like
the majority of her sisters on the stage and
grew stout. 1t rarely happens that any of
them have to be helped toward that result
1.-The advice that the doctor gave me-
said the girl who had gained flesh and along
with the increase a place in which she wore
short skirts as well as any one could have
done, was chiefly in regard @ v hat | shou d
eat. For breakfast took usually some UNI
derdone bacon, not cooked until it was
dry, but juicy and greasy; a glass of milk
and cream, potatoes, usually roasted or
stewed in cream, marmaade or preserves or
some kind, and buttered bread, not toast.
l happened to like bacon, which was the
best thing for me when cooked in that way.
so could get along with that. The milk
was not SO easy nor. for that matter, was
the nlarmalade. / hated both of them, but
as the alternative was coffee with sugar,
/ preferred the milk and cream.
Potatoes for breakfast We're rather Off
rrafo cffArNO IN hTJf Gfl n
them until they were easier than l sup
posed they would become. Formerly used
to drink only cup of coffee without sugar
AT luncheon l ate more potatoes and drank
a bottle OF beer, with bread and butter end
sweets afterward. When l was not equal
to the beer I took more cream and milk. l
always hated buildings, but they had TO be
included, SO l ate farina and rice and BLANC
mango and every other kind. For dinner l
took everything 1 wanted and some things
that / loathed. Beer was one OF the latter
things. 1 had no salads or pickles. no red
wine, as no wine of any KIND t excepting ,iG:
rarely came my way. Before going to bed
1 drank glass of milk; That was told
never to miss. The doctor said that any
body would grow fat On the ordinary oiet
that I took at meals, but it was the milk
at night that really, made the difference
That he said, would make any person
stout who stuck to it long enough. was
in a hurry, though, so every possible felp
sweets l wanted, and, as 1 have 10. taste
for them, that privilege was not highly APP
precated. The doctor sail it as the fact
that l cared for nothing that made flesh
that had always kept me thin. 1 had never
eaten a great deal at any time. and the
things did eat were not of the kind that
| increased flesh. / was always muscular for
a woman, and when ] uid begin To grow
stout l had a foundation Of muscles that
prevented me from becoming stout in way
that showed how quickly ha acquired my
flesh. l was told to walk no more than
four miles a day, and to sleep eight hours
/ did all these things, and the result. was
that the flesh came JUST as wanted ii 70.
while But 1 have a long time to wait, and
/ doubt very much if it will be too excess
| sive for years to come. 1t is certainly bet
| ter in the meantime to be comfortably
| plump than to remain scrawny merely for
| the purpose OF avoiding flesh that may pos
| sibly come after a number of years It is
| not only better If you happen to be an
| actress-it's positively necessary. Every
| body on the stage cannot be a Maud
| Adams"
Summer Gowns.
De-