The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-19
BY KATHERINE MORTON. Copyright, 1908 by T. c. Mcclure )

Now that girls are taking up carpen- try in various polytechnic schools all over khe country, it has been discovered that the work is worth while as a gymnasIlc course alone even If there were no brack- cts and book racks and tabouretteS to boot at the end of the course. The g1ris who have learned to wield plane. saw and chisel have developed muscles in way that make them the envy of their flat chested sisters.
 A young woman who graduated Tn this course at a large school, where her classmates were boys, is now teaching what she learned to a normal class Of girls She shows her biceps and her full, strong chest with immense pride. and tells her hearers that nothing except the carpenter tools ever could have deVel- oped her to the line, sturdy American type that she is.
 The plane alone is worth q years course in any gymnasium I ever saw" she says. Tt is a whole turn hall in itself. I wouldn't be without 1t for any thing in the world. even if burned every pretty bit of woodwork I turn out as soon as it Is done. I don't want any pull Icy weights to dangle against my wall. any horse to vault any ladder to climb, any rings to swing in, any rope to twist, or any rowing machine to pull in. while
 
 keep my circulation up. my skin clear, my whole body 1.-the and active. The car penter work ought to be given to all girls, whether they intend to use the art of carpentry or not It's wonderful mental training in accuracy and judg- ment and niceness: and it is physical training. as well, for the whole body" This, it seems, is not whim of the young womans own. There arc plenty 11yifh hnr in fan all xxyIaA ArxK manual training say that she Is right. So why not take a course in carpentry instead of regular gymnasium work, if the opportunity offers. and have the fruits of vour labor for the adornment of your own home in addition to the healthful exercise that the practice gives?
 If you cannot attend a regular class in the trade. you might practice 1t bit in your own home. You probably will not turn out any very useful articles. but you may put together a box stool or brace a shelf against the wall and while this is being achieved, you will gain chest and biceps.
 The head of a carpentry department says that women can do as good work as any man in the light part of carpen- try. Strength is not required tn such an extent as to prevent the weaker sex hold ing its own.
  light carpentering," he says. If A wo- man will concentrate and make her brain and her eye work, she will be successful. The great secret of this work is thai the whole body must be used. The body Is a bis hammer, directed by the brain. The fault of the amateur is that she tries to make her arm do all the work that her body should be performing. When the body learns that 1t is responsible for the force given to the tools. then it comes to be benefited by the effort'
 In handling the plane, don't attempt to work with your arm alone. Unless you have had lessons. you will find that you are standing still beside the bench and reaching forward with the arm only while you follow the surface of the board. This is bad for tho work and bad for it's physi- cal benefit,
 Flaming, says the instructor. is the bes. of all carpentry exercises for the mus cles. It is a whole calisthenic course in itself. So it bchooves you to make the most of #. to get all the muscle build ing out of it that it officers.