Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-27
WASHINGTON WOMEN
WORK TO CURE NERVES
STRENUOUS PHYSICAL EXERCISE
coUNTERAcTs STRAIN
Nervous Prostration Threatens by
Reason Of the Great Social Rush
and Some Fad Is the Rule to Take
Minds Away From It
Special to The Herald

Special to The Herald
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26.-Nervous
prostration Is the spectre which haunts
nearly all women who have to endure
the grinding fatigue of a Washington
official season.
Two of the cabinet hostesses are
virtually on the invalid list because
they did not heed the warning of tired
nature. Miss Flora Wilson. daughter
of the secretary Of agriculture, has de-
clared her intention of remaining away
from the capital while her father holds
his present position
She Is now in Paris, where she has
been for two years.
Mrs. Shaw, one of the most robust
women I'm tho cabinet set, last spring
came almost to deaths door and was
for weeks in Baltimore sanitarium-
all because she kept on receiving and
calling and appearing at official gath
erings when her health began TO fail
Mrs. Shaw will soon sail for France to
consult experts about her condition.
Perhaps ii was the fate which over
took these two which has frightened
many of the other women in official
life, but never before have they put
themselves through a more thorough
course of training to prepare for the
winter.
Mrs. RooseVelts Panacea
Mrs. Roosevelt, like her distinguished
husband, finds a panacea for all ills in
open-air exercise. When she does not
shop, which she does two or three times
a week, she will walk to some friends
or to some point of interest, She thinks
that keeping the mind intelligently en-
ployed is to ward off nerve trouble very
effectually.
Mrs. Taft, wife of the secretary of
war; a fragile looking woman, last
spring felt the insidious approach of
nerves. With friend from Cincinnati
she rented a cottage in oxford, Eng
land, on the Cherwell, and one of the
primary duties of the day was to row
some eight or ten miles. When the
weather was too rough for the river
she resorted to the macintosh and
walked miles through the hill country.
Mrs. Taft returned to Washington
looking ten years younger and with
her nerves as steady as the rock of
Gibraltar.
Mrs. Root wife of the secretary of
state, is one of the most delicate women
in the official set Like Mrs. Taft and
her predecessor, Mrs. Hay, she intends
to make her visits without the coach
and four.
Miss Edith Root, who is her mothers
constant companion, delights in good
cross country run. She often accom-
panies the president when he desires
a rough ride and a genial
companion.
Mrs. Knox Runs a Dairy
Mrs Knox, wife of the former attor-
ney general, now senator from Pennsyl-
Vania, conquered her nerves in less
conventional way than Mrs. Roosevelt
and the cabinet women. When the an
nual catastrophe overlook her last win
ter she Joined her son at their farm
near Valley Forge, in Pennsylvania,
and began to conduct a model dairy.
She took complete charge of this part
of the farm, superintended the feeding
and milking of the cows, and when she
began to grow stronger did most of the
churning herself.
Mrs. Fairbanks, wife of the vice pres
ident, declares that she does not pos
sess nerves, and it would seem that this
is 10 idle boast. Mrs. Fairbanks has
an iron endurance, and she attributes
her fortitude, mental and physical, to
the fact that she never allowed herself
to worry over anything, great or trivial,
But she always takes ample rest, no
matter what her engagements.
Mrs. Foraker, wife of the Ohio sena-
tor, is a hostess of Washington who is
constantly at her post, and has never
vet succumbed to the strain. She is
good walker, and may be seen almost
any fine day shopping or attending to
her household errands. Mrs. Foraker
is one who believes that sometimes
nervous prostration is only another
name for too much prosperity and the
lack of an engrossing interest in life.