The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-05-20
FENCING.
PRACTICE or THE FRENCH IND
 IT4LT1N ETHODS
With Foil and Broadsyyord.

With Foil and Broadsword.
 Fencing, the art so long associated
 With the dark ages, black cloaks ant
 terrible duels, has recently gained
 in It's rehabilitated form as a moderr
 game and exercises a considerable
 vogue among the fashionables. BotI
 men and women engage in it. Ii
 seems to have come as q recent dis.
 coVery that the game of foils has in il
 the most fascinating elements that
 can combine to make any pastime en-
 Joyable, while at the same time it is
 healthful
 For women it is especially fitted, the
 art being one which requires rather
 elasticity than great strength. It has
 lyong been recognized as a useful ad-
 Junct to training for the stage, and
 there are among the sisterhood of
 leading actresses several who give the
 use of foils prominent place among
 their enjoyments. In Boston at pres
 ent Is one of the best fencers of this
 ilk
 Olive Oliver, who in the part of Mrs.
 James Larrabee. plays the adventur-
 ess in Sherlock Holiness is an enthu-
 slastic follower of the art, giving it
 unstinted praise both as an enjoyable
 sport and as an exercise for women;
 "especially for ungainly girls" as she
 expresses 1t.
 In the fencing rooms of any of the
 well-known masters of New York or
 Boston may be seen the prettiest of
 work amog the women pupils The
 room is long and in it's center extends
 a strip Of rubber or burlap mating,
 twenty feet in length by three in
 width. The walls of these rooms are
 generally decorated with many crossed
 swords antique armor, military paint
 ings or engravirfgs, pictures of ceebra-
 ted fencers, and last, but not least the
 diplomas as "Maitre d'Armes" or "Pre- vost'' of the master himself The courses necessary to get these diplomas in the celebrated schools of fence abroad are usually of four years duration; years, too,sDent at constant work both physically and mentally, for there is no art more difficult of accomplishment in its higher branches than that of fen cling. In the fencing room of the Amer ican master the woman pupil enters with her foil in hand and takes her po- stion on the extremity of the mat far thest from the master, who stands in an easy position of constant readiness If the pupil wears the costume best adap- ted for the sport, and which is de rig ueur among the leading woman fen cers, she is clothed about as follows: Light buff leather reinforced fencing shoe, not at all an unbecoming or un gainly article; black stockings, with | gymnasium bloomers and a short plat- ed skirt, which reaches to the knee, or | just below; a fencing jacket of light | canvas heavily padded or N'plas- | tronned'' in the front, with very high | neck, a garment which has to be fitted | with considerable accuracy in order to give free movement and at the same time offer perfect protection from the touches of the sword-button. A light gymnasium belt mask and light gaunt- lets complete the costume. The master gives the order: "Ready--on guard" at which the pupil assumes the easy and familiar position of watchfulness which long experience has dictated as the best in which to receive and give attacks with the sword point. If the lesson be in the "lunge," the master will criticiee the style of each position. Such com ment as Use the left arm both as a drive and balance,'' Be careful to keep the right root straight to the front" are the accompaniment of the The movements are all quick, easy and graceful, at the same time being rather extreme in appear ance. Speed, judgment and control" these are the three keynotes to good fencing in the byes of the greatest number of leading fencers. Among ( such opponents these attributes are svinced to a degree which seem hardly possible, or human, to the novice. Boston has at present more fencers md a greater general enthusiasm in the { sport than any other city of its size in Z he whole country, and this develop nent of interest is greatly owing to { he efforts of few fencers who, of l ate, have sought to place the sport be- t ore the public in it's prettiest phases. C The trouble with former bursts of en- ' husiasm in this direction has been that s fther the masters engaged to teach t were not people who understood the $ American temperament, and who r worked rather to prejudice the art, or t { has been taken up purely as a soce- O y fad without being backed by those V rho had the stamina to follow it to any, o hing like conclusion. To group of u tanch enthusiasts in the Boston ath- stic association must be attributed, a 1ore than to any others, the rise of the '' Tt here of late The association has f, ffered trophies to be won by club a cams; 1t has put up individual medals, e ut best of all, it has worked on a high o lane in fencing, it's members empha- W [zing the ''rolitessae" of the sport as si luch as the mere element of competi- I on. Fencing is an art trying to the el erve and temper, and the close observ- q nee of etiquette is quite necessary. o1 he leading fencers of the Boston Ath- te tic association, Atherton Brownell, a ames F. Parker, Sewal Cabot, How to rd Clapp and Manuel De Diaz, have W lways been ready to aid by their per- al )nal effort any of the exhibitions that ir ave taken place during the last two al ears, and deserve credit for their gen. n 'ous action in this particular. el There are two schools of fence gene- hi lily recognized, the French and the bl allan, and in these two schools Bos- u m has a number of masters, the Ill rench school rather predominating. fC f the pure Italian school, Signor Marco hi iacenti instructor at the Boston Ath- al tic association, is the leading expo- P snt, and indeed there are not few nc stinguishod fencers who place Piasen- re