The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-01-21
Harms Girls Health.

tne early collapse OF women and the
many ceeas of .prostration
which wreck women's lives, according
to DIR. Fenton r. Turck. The arti6-
cial system Of education which sur
rounds a girl from the time she can
walk is mainly responsible for the
utter breakdown of the system before
a oma reaches the age of 80, says
DR.. Turck, and the many stomach and
intestinal troubles with which ome
are afflicted are the result Of tight
lacing and the desire of mothers to
dress their daughters for society and
to show them in their prettiest before
the world.
DIR. Turck returned to Chicago yes
terday from a clinic held OF Musca-
tine, Iowa, Wednesday, where he
denounced the forcing Of young girls
into womanhood too quickly. Thirty
cases of stomach and intestinal trou.
bles were brought before the clinic,
and DR.. Turck pointed the lesson on
tight lacing, which he maintained
brought about most of the troubles of
the female sex. He declared that the
false education of the girl was begun
by the mothers, and that they were
mostly to blame, because they placed
the approval Of the neighbors before
the health Of their girls.
THE evil in connection with the
education Of girls is not confined to
Cities" said DR.. Turck yesterday. Il
found that the same stomach and in
testinal troubles, which are designated
often enough as ervou prostration,
are just as prevalent in country towns
as in big cities like Chicago. Mothers
all over the country want their little
girls to look cute and they allow their
boys to run around in the open air.
Now and then a girl breaks through
her environment and becomes a tom
boy, the dread Of all mothers. The
word 'tomboy' should never have been
invented. The girls should be out in
the open air and play rough games
just as much as the boys.
"The little girl starts with her dolls,
which keep her in the house. The
boy gets a wagon and goes into the
open air end wheels dirt. The little
girl is made a show of all the time,
because her mother takes a pardon
able pride in her appearance. The
boy. can have a dirty face and the
mother will say: ooh, he lisa boy
The girl is tied to looking pretty, and
she must not soil her frocks. The
boy gains in strength an6 the girl
loses in proper development.
"When the girl goes to school her
mother fondly wishes her to excel in
her studies. The boy is allowed to
to play as much as he likes. The
mother takes more interest in helping
her girls in their studies than she does
her boys, because the latter have been
allowed natural liberties and rebel
against school books.
"Then comes the age of the corset,
which is laced ON a young girl during
the most important period Of physical
development. The slightest pressure
OF the thorax at this time will con-
tract it and bring in it's train a series
Of ills which cause the breakdown of
women in country towns as we'll as in
big cities.
mothers cling to the false educa-
ton of girls because it seems to be in
the fashion. If the parents of q girl
are poor the girl is sent into a factory
or o dry goods store, where she loses
much of her nervous strength. If
the parents a,e well-to-do the girl is
forced into society, but does not sue
cumb as early..as the poor girl because
she has better food and breathes bet
ter cir when away from society func-
tions. .
"Then the girl marries, bears chill
dren and has the care of q household.
The nerves cannot stand the strain.
The stomach has been abused and for
ced out Of its natural place by the use
Of the corset. When o woman eol>
lapses it is called nervous prostration,
but most Of the trouble comes from
the artificial atmosphere in which q
girl lives from her early years.
"Physicians earn most Of their fees
because mothers viii not give their
daughters an equal chance with their
boys to get strong. Lately, however,
there isyan inclination to make it un-
fashionable for. women to be weak.
AS soon as this idea becomes popular
there will be less need for doctors and
there will DO fewer cases of nervous