The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-13
The CAUSE OF WOMAN.
Rr,OLITION SPORTS HAVE MADE
~ WOMAN'S LIFE.
The cir, Of To-day Compared with Her
Great.Grandmother- Living in
Apart ments Destroy the Heme.-May-

In recent aTtlCle on Inc iunNcnCe
If spor, in American Life William Fred
erics PIX. an accepted authority, describes
,be par, now taken by won in practically
avery form Of oltdoor athletics. sport,
in the present acceptance OF the term
hr -av.. is graced by many women devo-
tees and he gives the names OF num-
beer who ride 10 hounds AZ fearlessly az
men He enumerates the women cham
mon golf players and says of the game
nearly all of the ladies' In those families
who own country estates have done much
70 place it in it's high position" Many
of them" he continues, drive or ride In
the summer open-air horse shows: others
have kennels for the breeding Of fine dogs.
Ne describes the country clubs which have
sprung up near all the cities, where the
BUSINESS man, after hard days work
repairs 10 meet his wife and daughter
Tor afternoon tea or for a round Of golf
and an informal dinner"
And here" he says, the modern Ameri-
can girl, whose grandmother considered
grace hoops or croquet madly exciting
exercise. learns to put her hunter over
four bars, or to drive a golf ball $50 or 200
Yards and to grow sunburned. 1.-THE and
resourceful Here this new race Of clear
cut manly, modest. athletic young men
earn to make companions of these bright
eyed girls, to associate with them in frank
comcradcrie and to win their friendship
and respect" This new athleticsm. he
thinks has sounded the death knell of the
eaeminate dude who played his small
part and provoked 80 much contemptuous
criticism. And the frivolous embroidery
rirI. has disappeared too, and her modern
sister is far more attractive In her pretty
evening gown because she has learned
he Use of the hunting or golf skirt and the
outing shirt waist during the day As
$50 grow to be better sportsmen we be-
come better liens we learn to ride straight
and play fair and hit hard in life"
A great deal has been gained when these
qualities are recognized as just as essential
20 a woman as to man, and when the
negative, habby type, glorified in he ro-
nance of past ages has been replaced by
generation who can ride straight and
play fair" The vices of women have not
been so large and aggressive as those of
men, but have been just as destructive
70 their own nobility Of character and
10 he peace Of mind of those with whom
hey we're intimately associated. 'The
history, must eventually disappear under
This new regime She is the product Of
indoor life, air without ozone, petty ex-
actions, small aims, WORKOUT nerves and
existence on dead level. A woman could
not come in from ride with the hounds or
an exciting game of golf and settle down
to any diversion so thanksgiving as mag
ging," Many Of the physical and mental
ailments OF women, which are real and very
hard TO bear. could be cured by moderate
course OF outdoor athletics.
A hundred years ago Mary Wollstone-
craft that wonderful revolltionist in re-
gard to her rex. was begging that women
might wear thick- oiled shoes and be per-
mtted some outdoor exerci beyond a
mincng, decorous walk. She was cried
down with scorn, just as were all pioneers
along this line for the next three-e core
years. WoTen who now have scarcely
reached middle life can remember when
eroquet was severely denounced as not
proper for them in their young days. Little
girls who yielded to the natural instinct
to develop their mus cles were stigmatized
as -tomloys." The older ones were held
to an indoor life by the injunction that only
thus could they attract hus band. Men
thems elves believed that the strictly do
nestle woman was the only kind they could
owe, because they never had known any
other. And in marriage alone was there
any future worth wornan's living for
How the men and the women, the times
and the customs, have changed! A dis
covery of the age has been comrades Zip
between the sexes pure. delight
'ul, invigorating relation, free from senti-
ment and restraint and not necess ariy
terminating in marriage. This has been
developed largely through outdoor pas
INES. but important factors also have Ieen
coeducation. industrial life together and
he growing custom of summer vacations
which promote informal acquaintance.
This comrade>hip has extended to the
carried and at their various social func-
lions the women no longer gather in one
room to chatter over babies and servants
while in another the men dis crts bur inees
and the news of the day. Even the linger-
ing Of the men in the dining room over
he wine is becoming obsolete, and the
women tolerate the cigars in the library
rather than forego the society of the
-mokers
Obviously it would be impossible for this
great change to take place without &C.
rasional ins tances of detriment to women,
-"rn" Of whom ahu the great lii erty which
has come to them; but these cas rs are few
and are more than compensated by the
iarger, freer, saner life that has opened
ont to all women. Its beneficial results
arc quite a. marked in men. for while the
keen enjoyment of athletic sports il in
nowse diminished by the participation Of
women. their very pres ence has eliminated
times. The country club TO which men
brlng their families will not be place Of
nt"mperance or immortality. and the men
who are di honest, coaise, loud and untidy
are soon ruled out of sports in which women
partake The "Clear-cut, manly, modest
athletic man" referred to above is the
direct res ult Of modern conditions which
do not allow the retrogres sion toward a
primitive tate Of savagery that If inevitable
when men ISOLATE thems elves from women.
There will be "A very decided dissent to
the conclusion reached by Mrs. Russell
sage, in an article in the September Club
romans Magazine, that the servant girl
difficulties, apartment life and other causes
are reducing lis to nation without homes
On the contrary, in spite Of all obstacles.
there Is no other nation in the world where
the home is so conspicuous a feature. These
homes are. indeed, the foundation Of our
republic. they are the one element above
all others which assures its stability and
permanence. II is often said that no man
with a home can be an Anarchist, and in
this country a home is, generally speaking,
within the reach Of every man. In the
Old World absolute ownership OF home
IL almost unknown to the wage Garner.
A leaSehOId Of ground is the most he can
hope for, and they are comparatively few
whose wages ever will enable them to build