The Republican journal., 1904-05-26


ing Made Easy" What to Eat" "In City
Tents" Etc.
Copyright, 1904. by Christine Terhune Herrick)
The outdoor life, no less than the in
door life, is::bound to leave its mark on
a woman's face and bearing.
By this | do not refer only to the
effect of wind and sun on the complex
ion or of fresh air on the general health.
l mean as well that the occupation to
which one most devotes oneself will in
time alter the expression of the counte-
nance. Recognizing this, it behooyes
the woman who takes up any outdoor
sport to avoid the snares connected
with such a sport.
1t is not long since the papers were
full of what was known as the bicycle
face" There was no necessity>for de
scrlbing it. We all knew it as soon as
we saw it. An eager, anxious look,
straining forward look, sometimes an
expression almost of terror,-it did not
make pleasant impression upon any
one who saw it, The bicycle face was
not the property of women alone, men
had it, too, but oddly enough, it was
seldom seen Oh children. They, bless
eheir hearts. were too busy enjoying
their wheels to have any powers to
waste on worrying about anything.
That the bicycle face was not neces-
sary accomplishment of wheeling was
proved by the fact that it was not uni
versal. More than that, it was usually
to be seen upon the unaccuStomed and
but when the transient expression was
IA, hnannoa
either the result of carelesSneos or of
a lack of appreciation of the effect even
a passing mood may have OF the feat
ures, if the mood is repeated frequently
enough.
Perhaps it is matter of course that
when a timid person learns to ride
wheel the lack of self-contidence should
for the time being show in the face, but
this lack of self-confidence is not an
abiding thing. Unfortunately, how
ever, the look sometimes is. One can
see that in other than outdoor pursuits.
Facial tricks are easily acquired and
even when recognized are hard to shake
off. They are worse when their owner
fails to know they are in existence.
l was amused one evening to observe
the expressions of the faces of several
persons who were sitting about room
engaged in various pursuits. At one
side of the room an elderly man was
writing. All the while the pen moved
his lips moved aiso,-not repeating the
words he was writing, but twitching
back and forth in a measured fashion,
as if the thoughts of the brain had
their counterpart in the movements of
the lips.
Another member of the family read
book in which she was deeply inter-
ested and the play of the authors fancy
was indicated by the motions of the
readers eyebrows. When there was
something a little unusual, or amusing,
the brows went up almost into the hair,
when there was pathOS or matter for
Indignation the brOWS were drawn to-
gether. 1t was no wonder that the fore
head was a maze OF creaSeS, Longitude
nal and vertical. Next to the reader
sat her sister crocheting. In an out
went the needle and every time the
hook drew the wool through loop the
lips were pursed up. While the mother
of the girls, who sat sewing snapped
her eyes theoretically with every stitch
she set.
Perhaps this may seem an exaggera-
ton, but let any one who questions the
possibility of such set of expressions
in one household take the pains to give
a little study to the facial tricks of
those about her. Possibly the group
inStanced may have had especially mo-
bile countenances, but there are plenty
of others. When we see this sort of
thing provoked 10y ordinary indoor avo-
cations, is it any wonder that more
exciting pursuit leaves its mark on the
face?
While bicycling was one of the first
sports to receive the honor of having
an expression named after it, other
sports have followed III its wake. | do
not refer now to the expressions gained
by athletes. The look of the football
or the baseball player, may, like other
occupations, have whole range of eX-
preSsions of its own. And there are
other outdoor ways of life that leave
their mark,-a mark that is not OBJ
jectionabe. We all know the gaze of
the sailor or of the man accustomed
prairie There is nothing unpleasant
about these. 1t is when the bicycle
face means set look of anxiety or of
peevishness, when the fixing with the
eye of the hole to which the ball must
be driven means the golf Squint, when
the long stride across the links has pro-
duced the slouching ungraceful gait
which has been dubbed the golf walk,
that it becomes necessary to give the
subject Of these idiosyncrasia some seri-
Gus consideration.
There can be no good thing without
the defects of its qualities. Our care
must be not to let the defects outweigh
the qualities or to permit really ad-
mirable thing to do us harm as well as
good.
Take bicycling, for instance The
wheel may have seemed to lose its pop
ularity for brief time, but it has come
back to stay,-not, as some one says, as
a fad, but as a homely custom. The day
has probably gone by when people 60
bicycle mac, although when one sees
the wheels of the present day one can
pardon an occasional attack of mania,
but the time has arrived when the
bicycle is a matter of course, not only
for getting about the country on errands
and the like, but also as factor in de-
veloping a higher physical standard.
Anything that will make stronger
hearts, that will stimulate torpid Or
gans and clear the brain is bound to
have the support of thinking people
A |, ,%<~,, slo