The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-19
The Present Type Of America. esir

One evening recently a young lady. Miss Gunsaulus, daughter of a well known Chicago clergyman. left home to put a letter in tho mail box near by. As she showed the letter into the box a man stepped from behind a tree and with one hand grasped her throat. At the same time he raised the other hand threateningly over her head. and that other hand held q stone Now. the old woman type of girl would have tainted on the spot or would have screamed till the burly male protec- tor of womanhood choked her off. Not this young lady. She confesses she was bewildered at first T didn't know what to do for an instant" she said.
 In that pause of an instant, how ever. the athletic training she had fe- ceived at school flashed into her con- soiousness. Miss Gunsaulus doubled her fist and hit the protector of w0- manhood a sound blow in the face. and she adds T struck the man as hard as I could" The neat feminine blow knocked him back and staggered him for a moment. Perhaps the sur prise at finding a girl who could de- fend herself staggered the footpad as much as the blow itself. At any rate, the young lady, having freed herself, took to her heels, the thief after her, as soon as he could recover from his astonishment.
 But here. again. that most admIra- ble school physical training came in. It had Included jumping and running foot races. Fore and fit of wind and limb, the young lady quickly distanced the creature in trousers who tried to pound a woman on the head with a stone.
 T guess he must have been a poor runner" naive1y remarked the new American girl.
 Miss Gunsaulus is a student at the Chicago university intent on securing for her brains as good an education as she has already achieved for her body. The American college girl Is undoubt- edIy the best present day type of that new, finer womanhood for which the world has waited. Pioner mothers and fathers in the newer states saw to it that daughters had equal education opportunity with sons. About the same time it was found that American wo- manhood needed physical culture as we'll as book learning. Girls begin to cycle, to play ball. to walk. to run. to swim and row. to spend hours of every week in active outdoor exercises. N The result is manifested. A new girl has come on the scene. She is taller, larger and stronger than her mother was. She Is graceful as a goddess. and she knows how to walk. which her mother, trained to the short, affected. mincing step of the old woman, did not know how to do. Fashion has an- nounced that the military gait for wo- mans walk has come In. One may hope this long, even. easy stride. legs firm at the knees. chest up, chin in, spine straight, will administer a final blow to the feeble, stufnpy, semicrippled gait of the old woman.
 The foot. the hand. the waist .of the new American girl are larger than those of the old one were, fitting tho taller. noble type. Tn feet can walk, the chest holds a pair of real lungs. Both the foot and hand are better shaped than the old woman's were, for the new girl does not care for baby hands or a Chinese foot. Her feet and hands are made for use.
 Along with the rest of her develop ment, the new American girl has evoIv- ed a face that is different from anyoth CT feminine countenance the world has seen. It is certainly beautiful and as delicate as a flower. But the profile is not Greek or English or Irish or any. thing but her own. though critics admit 1t is perfect after it's kind. The nose Is not long, ,-and it is a trifle tip tilted just sufficiently to give piquancy to the facial expression. Where and how can the girl evolved this nose, who can tell? Anyway. again it is her own The chin of the new American girl is scareIy less marked than the nose. It is in striking contrast to the retreat ing baby chin smothered in fat. that was considered beautiful in the old wo- man. The new American girls chin is in line with her forehead, neither heavy nor coarse, but strong and slight ly squared. And in pluck, will power and intellect the American girl lives up to her nose and chin.
 Katherine Blades.