The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-26

The outdoor girl has received her nrst
rebuff Heretofore she has been pictured
BY artists as a perfect type OF modern
young womanhood, and while poets have
not sung her praises, it Is because she dis
dams suoh tribute aud prefers TO meet man
ON the tcnnl. court or golf course rather
than hear him signing beneath her window.
Now, according TO a London weekly. no
les q personage than Queen Alexandra
has frowned upon the outdoor girl, ard has
expressed the opinion that outdoor sport
produces unwomanly .rait. The domestic
women with a tendency to literature is
cited as more feminine type.
Despite the popularity which the outdoor
girl has gained within recent years, she has
always had her enemies. Thew have been
mostly Of the type Of woman who IL 40 made
up. padded and generously provided with
false hair that any violent exercise would
BE- her undoing Then. there have been
gentle grandmothcrly souls that have
arisen now and then in Indignation over the
immodesty which they found in a gymna-
STUN suit or the lack Of femninity they as
scciated with punching bag or bicycle.
Mothers sometimes write TO prcfee-
eors Of girls colleges and ask that their
daughters be excused from the athletic
classes on the ground that they feared the
Influences Of such sports as are INDUCED In
on the refinement OF girls
These opinions. however. are seldom
shared by the women who preside over the
leading girls schools Of the country. Nor
do physicians deny the healthful benefits
70 be derived from outdoor exercise for
girls.
Most OF the athletic trainers at the GIRLS
colleges are doctors, and they. as we'll a.
the directors OF gymnasiuns, are enthusiast
ito over the refining influences Of athletice
Mentality develops from exercise. they
say. and refined instincts assert them
selves In the well-trained, well-kept body.
Not only will the muscles grow firm and
the flesh hard through exercise. but the
complexion will clear, and grace, ease and
poise - well a. a happy disposition and
sosenoe Of irritability will como as sys-
tsmatic athletics are persevered In,
1t 10 Idle to cavil at the athletic woman"
said the director OF physical culture at one
OF the big gymnasiums who has in the past
had charge Of the athletic classes in one
Of the famous women's colleges. Re
suits tell the tale and books Of record at
the various schools show the improvement.
mental and physical. that ia accomplished
by properly conducted athletics.
with improved physical health you
cannot fail to acquire better mental poise
and cheerful way Of taking life. Mental
indigestion never occurs unless the body
h lacking in it's proper training and e1-
ercise.
The unhappy. disconnected. envious
l. o.. IA ~ss~~s a.
the well woman who spends an hour or two
each day In tho open air. A woman may
suffer from no actual disease and yet she can
he no fretful. irritable and unhappy that
abe makes every ono miserable who comes
In contact with her. She is never the
woman who walks. rides. rows or fences.
Insomnia, poor circulation, ansmia,
are all conditions resulting from lack OF
exercise. The conservative whoman who
objects to riding . bicycle pays for be'
folly In unhappiness.
As TO any tomboyishness or freedom
Of speech or conduct resulting from ath.
lstics for women. can only say that
for twenty years have conducted classes
Of girls OF all walks Of life and can most
strenuously state that the contrary 10 the
case
Slang IL not the language Of the athletic
girl any more than II IL OF every girl IL
college A fondness for slang can never
be attributed to athletics.
The growth OF slang as a converse.
tional habit has been phenomenal within
the last few years not only with English
speaking people. but with all nations. OuI
society plays teem with 1t and thew arr
said to possess brilliant dialogue as con
sequence. There is 4 school Of slang IL
literature but its growth cannot b traced
10 athletics.
'Oirls use slang now ana write slang In
their letters and It IL considered smar-
rather than rude. II is not . pleasan
habit. but then. was the old p runes ane
prism girl more desirable'
sShe was pinohed In the waist, an d wors
small ahoss and tight gloves, she EN- broid
cred all day long and read novels. sh'
tainted on slight provocstion and she Wal
Subject 10 Mysteries.
'whsn you conpire this sor Of CDR
with the splendid. vigorous outdoor CIR
Of to-day who can ssy that the old typ
was more womanly' II she was. then wha
constitutes womanliness?
We should rejoice in the fact thai
athletics became q fad for women
The English woman VINO walks ana NUM-
\ quito different creature from the Arneri
osn girl Of to-day who is quite a. feminine
In her golf suit a. In q ball gown\
There are no horsy woman In Amcrics
such - those Of England, although oul
women own and understand horses ane
ride to the hunt But the horsy woman
In q tan coat and with field glass slunl
over her shoulder IL typical Engiisl
picture.
THE athletic girl tina. this country hal
produced 10 q companionable, sensible
young woman who cares little for the "trip
periss OF dress or for oosmetics. Sh'
goes to bed early 80 that she may rise will
The sun for morning gallop or a mil
walk before breakfast.
she lives on healthfu food for her sp
petite Il healthy and she Graves no sweet
and candies or sentimental novels. Al
these feminine faults have passed ava,
with the coming Of the girl athlete
che Ss.s 10 know and love nature. 10
Gls spsnds her time out Of door and
more familiar with sea. sky, wind, rain an'
sun than women for q century past hav
been. She breathes fresh air rather thai
the accented drawing room atmoOpher