Evening star., 1898-12-26
TALL GIRLS.
n Discourse on the Upward Growth
Of Young Americana
From the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal.
Ideals Of beauty change from age To ace
and differ among different peoples. Tho
curious thing is that humanity is appar-
emily capable of the physical transforma-
lons that the ideals demand The state
fheht Is made that American girls are taller
ana larger than they used to be- and fig
ufes are given 10 prove it. Nor is there
anything improbable in this The increased
attention to athletics in late years would
account fer ii easily enough. There are
few sports now in which women cannot
and do not take an active part. The
healthy girl of today walks rides rows
sWlms, plays golf, and sails a boat as freely
and naturally as her brother does. and is
an entirely different being from her nra-
deceSsor or a generation ago. That this
should nave Its effect upon the future of
the race goes without saving. DerhaDs. but
the hSuTes to which We have referred prove
that physical culture will add an acfpal
men TO the stature OF given person. apart
from Inc Development of waist chest
lungs, arms. and SO on. Thus bv taking
thought any girl can be taller than she is
Nevertheless, there still remains some
thlng lneNplicabie in the fact that the race
changes to meet the ideal. How long is II
since the small. soft, clinging creature was
celebrated as the divine type of woman
mood? Read the novels of forty or fifty
Years ago and see what bundle of affecta-
tons the herOineS Were. They sacrificed
everything to their conception of female
delicacy' and fancied that men would de-
sptse them if they acted like reasonable be-
lnsS. IheE ran TO one extreme COM
pletely as the new woman has run TO the
other. Perhaps the new woman is more
or less confined to fiction; she is not TO be
confounded with the athletic girl, at any
rate: but she is not further from the nor
nal ideal of womanhood than her weak
los
then as now the ordinary woman ran into
no extreme at all. Doubtless many of the
traits from which we are wont to generalize
are superficial and do not affect I'm The
still We should be conscious of living in
very different atmosphere If we were
transferred suddenly from the presence OF
the girl of lS2S tC that of the girl of 1S4S.
Those skilled in such matters have often
noted that other changes than those in man.
ners seem to have a fashion of their own.
A Well-knoWn woman in society or a pop
Ular actress is initiated ad nanSeam until
dark hair or thin lips a pale complexion,
what not, is common as the opposite
things were six months before. Whatever
type happens to strike the fancy is mul-
tiplied n hundred times over. The sarcas-
tic say that il is all art, but there are GER
tainly authentic cases where the beauty
was genuine enough-be it blonde or dark.
Titan RED or Vatican blue, that at the
time was reSnant All this only shows The
adaptability of woman to her environment,
in which respect she is two or three CEN
turies ahead of that wretched creature.
man. For our own part, We are glad that
just now the healthy. tall. athletic girl has
the field. even though the result may be
that at fashionable weddings. as we are
told. il is 10 unusual occurrence to see the
bride towering several inches above the
bridegroom. This is no argument for wo-
men to stop growing, but rather a warning
to men to forswear sack and live cleanly,
and so keep up with their partners in the
game Of life.