The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-12

ply the creation of grazing grounds for
sheep and cattle. of which they are now
so destitute that in Japan you never
see two or three cows together: indeed,
I have paid copper coin in one of the
villages as price of admission to inspect
that wonderful animal. a sheep, shut In
a cage! Why, then. does not japan
borrow cricket from US. as it is 10 be
hoped she will soon take the Roman
character for the printing of all her
books, instead of that cumbrous and
costly 'Honji,' the Chinese characters OF
which rob every japanese boy and girl
of five or six years of their school time?
The answer is that she cannot. A
dwarf bamboo grows over all her downs
and uplands, which pricks the living
membrane of any grazing creature into
Inflammation and death, and this, It's
said, absolutely forbids her the cultiva-
ton of turf, which. indeed, is nowhere
seen from end to end of the country.
Cricket, however. is not a game for
girls or grown-up women, and, in con-
tinuing to encourages athletics as a
most important part of female educa-
ton in the united kingdom those are
wise who insist that such pursuits
would be pressed too far if they tended
to change women into men and to Gre
ate champions and athletic prodigies
where the nation would fain see healthy
wives and mothers. 1t is good to behold
the strong and vigorous frames. the
rosy cheeks, the graceful step, the su-
perb and stately figures which have be-
come common among us since this age
of exercise so happily dawned; but no
one wishes to observe too many of such
devotees of the gymnasium as are de-
scribed to US in The subjoined passage
from the pen of lady of long expert
ence: I am aware that some have done
we'll at high jumping and in mems ath-
leticS, but they are rare exceptions
which prove the rule. They spoil their
carriage and department develop mus
Gle at the expense of gracefulness, give
an unnatural forward inclination to the
head, and. above all, a strained, tense
expression to the face. You can see this
for yourself in any gymnasium fire.
quented by ladies, and much the same
description applies to most violent ex-
ercises performed by girls and women
"a too ardent passion for exercise
tends to unSex young woman, the
true ideal being that she should de-
velop and bring to their best uses those
special points which make her woman
hood perfect. The Greeks. who were
masters on this subject. never allowed
their women to cross the line which
separates the glory and the beauty of
Artemis or of Pallas from the massive
dignity of a hero or a god. In their
best statues. and almost nowhere else.
can be observed to what splendid per-
lection Nature can bring her archetvDe
of lovely line and form, the happy fe-
male soul inhabiting the faultless fe-
male body. The legend is that in order
to execute his greatest work-the i'm
age of Pallas Athene for the Acropolis
the sculptor Phidias selected their
several charms from fifteen of the most
beautiful maidens in Attica, so lofty
was his conception of what a woman
may be. so rare is it that they do full
justice 10 the building of that palace
of flesh with which Nature ever strives
to endow them. Shall 1 be thought too
bold or accused of patriotism more
complimentary than sincere if ven
ture to express the opinion that the
renowned artist of antique IIellas
might have found in Great Britain that
which he sought and without taking
nearly so much trouble?
Yet, in sober truth. and with no want
of respect to ancestors, it will hardly be
denied by any good observer that the ris-
ing generation of womanhoOd does display
an extraordinary advance in comeliness,
grace of carriage and healthy develop
ment of the physical side of life beyond
high authorities, the ancient Greeks, val
ued feminine beauty not merely for its
own sake, but because of the harmonious
adaptation of body to soul of which it
was the outward and visible sign. If the
pagan world could so honor and revere
mere human beauty; there is more than
this, and with better and higher knowl-
edge, to estimate as it deserves, the dig
nifty of the body and the duty of educat-
ing it to be the obedient and willing in
strument of the spirit. Everybody has
heard that solemn text: What, know We
not that your bodies are temples of the
contemplate such a height from the low
ground of a few casual observations upon
the modern culture of hygiene: but the
road is straight and plain between and
there will be more and more of right hv-
ing and lofty thinking as we multiply the
number of those who understand and
| ton of the body."-London Telegraph.