The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-06-26
WOMEN THROW THE DISCUS.
Daughters of France Take Up the
Sport of Ancient Greece as
Beauty Exercise.

who have followed her development of
recent years it must have been appar-
ent that her former hatred of all eX-
ercise is disappearing very rapidly, if
it has not already entirely disappeared,
says Ladies' Field.
In some sports even the French wom-
| an of fashion has advanced a step or
two beyond her sisters, and among
these sports the latest and most nota-
BILE is discobole, the throwing of the
discus.
One great point in the game of dis
cus-throwing is that it needs no spe-
cial costume, although, of course, short
skirts are an advantage. tits game
far more of skill than of strength.
The throwing of the discus shares
with ping-pong, and with billiards, the
advantage of being a game at which
men and women can compete on abso-
lutely equal terms, and its importa ton
into France dates from visit paid to
Athens by M. and Nine. Waldeck Rous-
seau during the Olympian games some
years ago.
The throwing of the discus as it
should be thrown entails far more
than a mere swinging of the arm or
twisting of the wrist. 1t means the
use of the entire body, and the putting
of the whole weight and strength of
! the body into the disc at the precise
moment that it leaves the hand.
The discus, as used by the Paris vo-
taries of the sport, is always light, and
! made either of aluminium or of hollow
steel and lockwood, so that the mus
cular strain should be reduced to a
minimum, and for this purpose, the
tendency is to use as light and slender
disc as can be made. The one eX-
/ IRENE is fiat, thin ring, similar to a
! lightweight QUOT, and the other is n
fiat plate of metal and of teakwood, -
or Is inches in diameter, while there
are many INTERN ediate kinds of discus,
and all have their advantages and advo-
Gates.
! The heavy metal ones are easiest to
hurl. but they involve more strength
than do the others. The fiat, light
plates need very little strength but Il
great deal of skill, and it is not easy
to hurl them any distance, owing to the
air resistance which the plate encoun-
tiers as soon as it rises or falls out of
the plane of projection.
With the heavy metal discus the
wrist and fingers do not come much
into use, for the slightest pressure of
the forefinger held against nick or a
fiat edge will give it a sufficient rota-
tory motion to keep it in the same
plane from delivery to descent, and in
throwing the player whizzes round to
increase this rotatory motion.
For pianists and women with weak
wrists or fingers a very light disc is
preferable, and from the hygienic point
of view hollow steel or aluminium dis
Gus has been found to be the best, and
is by far the most popular in Paris.
Brass and copper must never be used
in any circumstances. No matter how
bright and FURNISHED these metals may
be at the beginning of match, the
perspiration of the hand and moisture
of the grass set up superficial oXida-
tion. and create a thin film of oxide
| WHICH lHHS Prouuce sores II, Hs is more
than likely, 1t enters the system
through the pores or through any
abrasion in the skin of the hand.
1t is pretty sight to see French wo-
men, who, as rule, are graceful in
everything they do, throwing the dis
Gus. AS the plate shoots through the
air it suggests the flight of bird, and,
as each thrower runs after her own
disc and marks the place at which it
fell, the exercise the game demands is
good for the locomotor muscles as well
as for those of the arms and chest.