The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1908-01-20
SCHOOLS IN Department..
They Are Now Teaching Young Society
Girls How to Appear at Court.

WILLIE 1lOW w 0pPSdk az COAA1
There are two doors in the room and
as the long procession of girls march
out of one each girl gracefully wheels
around and drops a deep courtesy to
the duenna, who stands in the centre Of
the apartment, her watchful and criti-
cal eyes regarding her pupils steadfast-
ly. In at the other door the girls ar
rive, bow to a second mistress, and as
they pass the head" make a reverence
as profound as before, says the London
Daily Mail.
1t is the autumn term in q girls
finishing school and the pupils who are
being tutored in the foregoing manner
will next year make their first rever->
ence to their king and queen at court
On their introduction into society. 1t
Is their last few weeks at school, and
the "embroidertes'' Of manner and of
movement are being carefully Insisted
upon by their mistress.
In the modern girl the modern mis-
tress of department finds malleable
stuff. Trained in the gymnasium from
her earliest days, her limbs are supple
and her movements under command,
but there is in some instances a
thought too much force about a girl
of seventeen.
She must learn not only to courtesy
but to walk across a room without be-
traying that s~elf-conscious air that re-
suits in such awkward and angular
movements; she must accomplish the
act Of shaking hands not with the zeal
of the schoolgirl, who is apt to squeeze
the hands of those she likes so closely
that their scream aloud with
pain, nor with the Emphatic noncha-
lance Of the utterly Indifferent, but
with just the proper amount of fervor
and frankness that makes the custom
so acceptable and charming. !.
All this knowledge the mistress of
department imparts, as well rs the side.
issues of sitting and standing grace.
fully, listening to conversation inteui-
gently and without b~etraying impati-
ence, doing nothing without idgeting
in a tiresome manner, and so forth. %.
For many years the teaching of de-
pertinent has been allowed to decline;
it is revived now as an outcome of the
well known prediction evinced in high
society for the gentle girl, as opposed to
the hoyden of athletic aspect, who wa
the type most apparent at the beginning
of this century.
A very famous mistress of deport-
ment teaches her girls the game of
ball. She has been busy teaching this
exercise for years and years, as we'll
as the use of Indian clubs and a very
pretty fan exercise. and it is noticeable
that among her pupils are included the
most elegant and justly admired mem-
bers of society today.
The game of ball was ,praetised by
the Greeks in far-off classical days, and
then, as now, there was Astounding
beauty in it. Apart, too, from the very
obvious fact that 1t is beautiful to
watch and of very great fascination
to the player, it is productive of sym
metry Of figure and elegance of car
riage, bestowing a particular grace to
the throat and shoulders and roundness
to the arms. The eyes, too, are trained
by the ceaseless watchfulness required
While throwing the ball from hand to
hand round the back, under the arms
and in various other gyrations.
Fan drills will appeal more forcibly 70
demoiselles whose last school term has
arrived. The movements partake of
the nature of those required to make
the court courtesy, leading up to them
by a series of poses, each one an cpl .
tome Of elegance and very characteris-
tic Of the various movements of the
minuet, a dance in which the fan plays
a prominent part.
Furling and unfurling the fan calls
into evidence the turn of the wrist and
the display of a pretty hand, the head
is raised or depressed in d that
point may be given to the expression
the fan helps to make manifest, and
the movement of the arms, of great
Importance when an awkward girl has
to be drilled into grace, must be prop
erly controlled.
The novice at first descends with a
"wabbling'' movement from sid to
side that is far from pretty, dips down
in a most ungraceful heap, and then
cannot get up againl
Her instructor teaches her the correct
movements one after the other with
the utmost patience, showing her her
appearance before a looking glass, until
at last the descent is all that is grace
full and the slow ascent full of dignity
and beauty.