Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1903-08-08
TO STAND GRACEFULLY.

The preliminary step In acquiring
graceful carriage in sitting, standing
and walking is to stand correctly and
practice balancing or posing. Raise the
heels quickly from the ground and
stand as high on tiptoe as possible.
Then lower the heels with moderate
speed. without tipping the weight Of
the body backward. Again, keeping
the heels on the ground. alternately
lift the balls Of the feet, and put them
down with slight pressure. In this
way it Is possible to learn how to stand
correctly, with the weight evenly bal
anced upon the feet Draw the knees
in firmly. Draw the hips we'll back.
The chest must be thrown out, and
then the shoulders will drop down and
back, as they should. When told to
throw out the chest it Is good idea
at the same time to raise the head
slightly and after that draw the chin
in. If the body can now sway easily
back and forth from the feet up, the
position is correct.
TO learn to sit gracefully Is an art,
not an instinct The woman who I'M
derstands the art gives no evidence Of
the dominance of one part Of her
physique over another. Nor does she
lounge. She sit erect, Erectness Of the
trunk, good pose OF the head and
graceful disposition Of the lower limbs
are necessary If one would sit well.
The fatigue Of sewing is trebled when
woman sits with bent shoulders,
curving the spine above the waist and
the resulting cramped chest depresses
all the vital organs, forcing them from
one to three inches below their normal
position.
Above all, it is important for the
short person to sit erect for, when in
perfectly upright position one may
gain an inch or two in height. The
woman who knows how to sit and
stand erect can apparently add to the
height of her figure, and impress be-
holders with far greater sense of dig
nifty than another with natural advan-
tages indifferently cultivated. She also
grows more of thoroughbred in looks
and movements.-New Orleans Picay-
une.
THE GENTLE SIDE OF SERvIA.
Servia is almost a tabooed subject.
but woman who has lived in that
wild and picturesque land says that
1t possesses a charm of Its own which
once felt is not soon forgotten. The
women are comely and extremely
graceful, as a rule, says this traveller,
and the men are not all as. uncouth
as recent accounts would lead one to
believe. The national costume Of the
tall and comely Miltzas and others
seems only designed for the stage or
the fancy dress ball. Over a chem
isette of lawn, muslin or some other
very fine material, the usual habit is a
body or skirt of some rich silk. Ma
genta Is a favorite color; occasionally
white muslin Is used. This garment Is
trimmed at the wrists with a deep
embroidery of green velvet, edged
with a deep embroidery around the
neck, at the bottom and the wrists.
If the embroidery of the dress be
of gold, then that of the jacket will
be Of silver. Around the waist is worn
a large sash, with the ends hanging |
down In front, often as low as the bot |
tom Of the dress. The headdress is |
small cap. generally of red cloth, fitting
close to the head. Sometimes this cap
Is made of leather, silvered Of gilded
to represent gold ducats. Around this |
cap the hair, real or false. Is braided
in deep band, so that every part Of |
the cap is concealed, except the fat
round top, from which a small gold
coin or a pearl is pendant.
OF the Servian beauty who wears
this costume her poet says: "Only let
her look tender. iris all heaven melt. |
ing down from above" But in the
Servian folklore she is constantly al
luded to rs a most discreet young
person. "a girl that looks before her"
When, as in the Serb story-book, sho |
marries the king, she makes his ma
jesty sign an agreement that In thu. |
event of his growing weary Of his
lovely bride. and sending her away |
from the palace, she may take with her |
the thing she likes best. His tickle
majesty does grow weary of her and |
does want to send her away. The dis. |
Greet young person then pleads, per |
that as she may take with |
her what she LIKES best she will take |
his majesty himself. So the clever
young person keeps her crown.