The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-24
By Margaret D. sangster.

fCopyright. 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
 If you ever, Dorothy, in the house of some old-fashioned friend, pick up one of those elegant gift books which were in vogue in the sos. you will re- member the steel engraving that show cd the ideal girl of yesterday.
 She was a willowy creature, with a delicate face, long silken ringlets shad- ing her cheek. very small waist, and iong graceful hands She had been taught to de embroidery and other fine needle work. She excelled in the plano playing of her day, which was a less severe accomplishment than now, and she was refined and reposeful. But there was something little depressing in her charm. A dirgelike hymn, fa- naiIiar to your mothers. epitomizes that girl as she used to be-
 ''Sister, thou vast mild and lovely,
 Gentle as a summer breeze,
 Pleasant as the air of evening,
 When 1t stirred among the trees"
 have attended the funeral of more than one such exquisite girl, and have helped to sing that very hymn beside the silent sleeper. With the knowl- edge of hygiene which is universal in the twentieth century. we are learn ing that the girls who used to be sac
 
 need not have died so soon. Very early in life they were taught not to run or jump, or do anything unfit for a little lady, and as they grew older they wore tight stays, abridging their breathing power; they slept in unven- tilated rooms, being afraid of the nigh air, and If by any fatal chance they came near a case of tuberculosis, they Tell victims to 1t along the line of least resistance.
 It may have been twenty years age or more that the reaction against this style of feminine languor reached its height. Then, the athletic girl was greatly in evidence So far from car ing at all about her looks, she was in- tensely proud of a sun-bronzed and wind-tanned complexion, of red hands and arms. and of a sort of rude robust ness that eliminated the touch ot daintiness to which every girl shouiI aspire. We have reached a saner day and our girls have learned that they may live an outdoor life, have perfect hoalth and lose no jot of attractive. ness.
 we'll remember in my girlhood hearing a man comment unfavorably on the thickness of my walking shoes He said sotto voce: How can that girls mother let her wear those clum sy, thick-soled shoesT Being some what quick of temper and well ac' quainted wi.h the youth. ventured tc tell him that the shoes were adapted to the climate and the weather anC enabled me to. take long walks wIthou discomfort. He crushingly replied NO elegant young woman ever takei long walks, or wears anything excep thin-soled shoes"
 suppose few girls who have growI up under the excellent regime whicl ta weather. can believe that this critic voiced a general opinion. l have hat reason all my life to be grateful fol the independence and wisdom of very sensible mother, who thought it a dut! of her daughters to be we'll Not mere ly a privilege-a positive, religiou duty.
 Without health. ones pleasure is in terfered with on every turn mi would be a small matter If one chances to be useful were not als greatly diminished by fragile and un certain health People who are nor bid and bIue, and easily discouraged who make mountains of nolehills an see lions in the way where others wall safely, are usually the prey of thei nerves and have net reserve fore enough to carry them through wha they undertake School girls. and thos at college, too. sometimes break dow through overwork. although I am In clined to think that this Is seldom tn case unless in addition to their legiti mate work they attempt somethin else.
 Unless a girl is very strong, sh should not try to pay her way throug school or college by her own worh Some girls do this successfully, bu they are exceptional. Still more dan