Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24
THE GIRL YOU
WOULD LIKE TO BE
BY KATHERINE MORTON.

WY YHILE the summer was I'M
~ doubtedly intended for lolling,
MAJ Iounging and for idling, the
Wv strenuous American woman
when she does not spend II In a
lightning trip around the world. induIge2
in even more exacting physical culture ex-
ercises than she does in the cold winter
days. II YOU have ever spent summer In
Newport you will have to stretch your
imagination in order to give time to the So
ciety girl to rest for rest she simply never
does She Is on the go from morning till
night. BY the end Of the season she is usu-
ally a champion tennis player, golf player,
swimmer or rover, and has succeeded in
decreasing her weight to a minimum. A
good many Of the women in Newport in the
pursuit Of sylph-like figures undergo tor
lures which the early Christian martyrs
would have hestated to contemplate. They
certainly accomplish the results, but. oh.
at what a price! In order that all too solid
flesh may melt the Newport matron will
swathe herself in rubber bandages, or,
worse still rubber suits. On top of this she
will wear her ordinary clothing and VIII
quicken the sweating process by donning
her golf sweater or even her heavy leather
automobile coat. 1t sounds warm, does it
not? Bundled up this way, the would-be
Sylph exercises in the privacy of her gar
den and the flesh literally melts off Ter.
Now, while this is undoubtedly the quick
est way Of getting thin, If pursued for any
length of time it is too severe a trial. for
II is more like a perpetual Turkish ba tn
than anything else OF course the subject
is allowed to eat anything she chooses or
TO take as many maps as she likes, and this
Is one reason why this particular obesity
cure is popular among the self-indugeat
women Of the smart set. On the beach, IN
the wee hours of the morning you may oc-
Casiouauy see stout woman, clad in her
bathing suit, running. bounding up and
down in the deep sand. She must 90 this
for an hour before she takes her dip. che
soft and deep sand makes every step diff
cult and heavy. An hour s daily exercise IN
this way is guaranteed to reduce almost
anybody. Now these methods of oxysenz-
ing the blood and in that manner reducing
the weight certainly startling and they
are laudable in that they demand so much
heroic perseverance; but their traces are
usually visible in the haggard ard tired
look of the subject, and personally 1 think
that less strenuous methods more to be
advised. particularly in summer time. The
way the summer girl exercises. he she
slight or stout. is enough to worry any one
She does not worry about it until the
tumn. and then she finds that she has either
OYer-develOped her muscles, made them
stand out like those of an athlete, or else
that she has attained the likeness and also
the thinness of the greyhound-a fine thing
in a hound but not so in a woman. We see
a great many girls whose enthusiasm for
athletics has led them to overdo. While
there has probably been nothing so fine for
the physical condition of the woman of this
country the fad for sports yet, even in
this realm, common sense should step in
and warn the enthusiast that she - sacri-
fciHg beauty to strength. Extreme strength
Is the attribute of the male; when it Is
seen in a woman it takes away from her
beauty and from her chief charm-grace.
The woman w'.o punches the bag (and this
is one Of the best exercising machines for
home use) should be careful not to override
velop her back.
Here il picture of an over-developed
back. 1t is that of a woman athlete and
champion bag puncher You will see that
the muscles are enormously developed and
stand out along the shoulder squarely, al
most like a board. The hollow down the
back is completely filled in, but not with
soft fat. as should be to fulfill the require
ments of beauty, but with hard, protruding
muscles
Few women have perfect backs: usually
there Is deep hollow between the shoulder
blades, and the shoulder blades themselves
are pre-eminent and ugly. This hollow can
be nlled by the moderate use of the punch
ing bag or by some of the exercises below.
Physical culture will work as much i'll as