The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-09-12

spreading that prevalent
Il educational methods i'm pub
lie and boarding schools.
seminaries and colleges. not to mention
conservatories and places of specialized
instruction. however advantageous they
may be to boys in training for II vigor-
Gus and effective manhood. leave much
to be- desired in their effect upon
women. The article which we printed
on this page the other day from the
Medical Record. giving Montclair. n.
| j., physicians view AS to the need OF
better physical training for young girls
was merely one of many protests from
| authoritative sources ut the inhumanity
| ana. from a rational social standpoint.
the stupendOus folly of grinding out
| the health and real happiness of our
girls in the high pressure mill which
we conventonaly can '"modern educa
| ton"
| one does not like to admit. and the
traditions Of rhivhry are all against
| admitting, that the American girl has
any faults;' but the cold truth con-
fronts us every day. and it seems to be
getting colder as the years pass that
the American girl of the period is de-
teriorating physically. Not that she Is
losing her beauty. IT by beauty is
meant smartness of appearance, dis
tinction in dress and charm of manner,
there can be no gainsayal that she il
far more beautiful than" ever her
mother or her grandmother was, beau
tiful though they We're deemed in the
hey day of their charms. But there is
his sad difference to note The mother
and the grandmother kept their beauty.
for the reason that they kept their
health. whereas the American girl Of
today sacrifices her. reserve stores of.
vitality to the ruthless demands of ir
rational fashions. and when old enough
to wear the crOWn of motherhood, as 1T
ought to be- worn. in the bloom OF
health. finds before her far too often a
dreary vista of invalidism or Of nervous
decline
We know 1t Is customary to meet this
argument by citing the spread of fem
mime athletics and by pointing to in
stances of healthy womanhood pre-
served into old age. But the fact re-
mains as we have stated it: fact con-
tirmed by vital statistics. by the testi
mony Of physicians and by common
observation. Our birth rate is declin-
ing as our national wealth increases:
in other words. when parents are best
prepared for children in the sense Of
having the means to feed. clothe and
educate them. fewer children come.
Why: Not because they are unwel-
come. Let no man think SO meanly of
the American people as seriously tn be
leve that. Trace down the reaADns
wherever possible to do so frankly, and
see il the chief among them is not the
physical unpreparedness of our over
educated and over nervous sisters and
daughters to bear the strains and cares
Of maternity without personal sacrifices
which only martyrs invite.
1t is silly to say that this is not a
matter for public discussion. 1t is IL
very vital. matter for not only public
discussion but also public remedy. The
evil Is plain. 1t does not disappear
when we shut our eyes to it. There |
must be ways to alleviate it, and dis |
cussion should bring these forth. And |
the starting point of any wel-ordered !
discussion should be the fact that d
system of education which begins by |
putting upon young girls d tax of en-
durance beyond their natural powers,
and which continues through inter-
mediate grades ana closes without |
placing as uppermost the need of a |
sound and sturdy body to carry the
graces of ii wcll-trained mind and the
moral beauty of IA cultured soul is a
crime, carrying its curse down to
future generations.
,rla teacharS of the Nesuuahuninr