The Carlisle independent., 1909-09-30

cries weave in and out, arms rise and fall, 1.-the bodies pose and change and pose, in attitudes learned carefully be- forehand
 They copy attitudes from Grecian urns with pain and hesitation. Why not? So the piano player finds her way, awkward and halting; only little by little does practice make those hard notes fall like showers of pearls. So the graces of these earnest girls, at first stiff copies, became natural and free, poetry of attitude and ges- ture all their own.
 When they quit their classical drap- cries for tailor suits they take their graces with them into daily life. These solemn rituals become habit, give them-in our careless daily life a touch of gravity and dignity that surprises and delights young men. So they would have their girls.
 "The classical draperies are of i'm portance to impose graceful habits on our bodies,' said one girl. And these ideals are in the air. Fashion itself Is coming round to them"
 Really" I asked. Has fashion the slightest tendency to corset reform?" 1 was astonisEed by her answer. Remember, these girls are girls of fashion; and fashion has always laughed at corset reform. Corset re, form is in the air of Europe, yes; but when I wrote few months ago that the Roumanian minister of public in struction had prohibited the corset in the highest normal and professional schools as "a permanent obstacle to the development of the body and the normal functions of the organs" I felt, nevertheless, that I was mislead- ing the reader.
 What does Roumania count? What l does it count that the Bulgarian tsar banishes the corset from "all schools where girls remain up to the age of 17?"
 What does it count that all students of Russian lyceums and high schools Of music, ballet and beaux arts are or dered to deposit in the cloakroom the cuirass which they wear under the HdluS Ol COIS6l, duu tudI ll6 OZdT Nicholas, in signing the regulation, added in his own hand that "the de- velopment of feminine charms will be | the gainer?" It counts nothing that | in Scandinavian countries the mass of girls have voluntarily abandoned the corset through devotion to outdoor sports"
 These are unfashionable lands, | where the costume of women matters nothing. Even in Paris the otherwise powerful League of Mothers of Fami- l lies got itself laughed at by taking up corset reform six months ago. It's l 52-page brochure, illustrated by pho | tographs of paintings and statues, an- | atomical cuts and portraits of floating | kidneys was reviewed ironically by | the boulevard press. Its letters of en- couragement from 100 Paris physi- clans, 100 painters, sculptors and poets and 100 actresses and professional beauties, beginning with Sarah and Rejane, fell fiat.
 The great Paris dressmakers merely smiled. When asked about those 100 actresses, they laughed: Sarah Bern . hardt is still bony; but Rejane? She | fibs-a woman of that corpulence without a corset-fl"
 Then suddenly they began hedging. Yes, concessions might be made to the demands of suppleness and grace; the tendency toward more classical garments might suggest a kind of cor set reform.
 The fashionable girls of whom l speak understand this perfectly.
 ''The great dressmakers and the corsetmakers themselves can alone make the reform general" they admit. And the grace movement is forcing them"
 The grace movement! Do you smile at it? Do you see anything futile in earnest girls copying the poses and gestures from Grecian urns?
 We pay great prices for Tanagra figurines and I ask why?" one of the girls said. Why do we so admire them, if not for their grace alone? Their beauty of face and figure is nil. Their beauty of attitude and gesture is everything. It is within the reach of us all. Why not try for it?"
 STERLING HELLO.