Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-11-29
MODERN sPoRrswoMAN.
Number in Hunting Field Increasing
Pursuit Of Big Game.

The active participation in heid
sports by women marks modern dc-
vclopmcnt. Fifty years ago no wom-
an would have handled gun, much
less a rifle. or would have dared to
beard a lion or Il tiger in the heid. or
have dreamed OF day on the moorS
all to herself or taken "a hunting box
with string Of hunters for the WIN
ter. Yet women do all these thlnS5
now Sport for women is catered Tor
as amply as sport for men; ladies
golf links, championships. rifle clubs
and tennis tournaments flourish amaZ-
ingly.
The number of women in the hunt
ing fclJ increases every year. and
mary of these Dianas ride as hard AS
men. Lately they have taken to riding
astride, and wearing neat brecchcs
and boots. so that it is difficult to
distinguish the sexes on horseback.
ard certainly the thin young girl, look
ing Just like a boy. is a very attract
tive figure but she is essentially mod
ern the girl who walks the moors
all day, who climbs hills and brings
down her stag with an unerrlng rifle
is rarer. but she exists. Salmon and
trout fishing rank next in popular
esteem.
Curiously enough. this love, this
craze for sport in women synciironiZes
with the possible extinction of sport,
for already it is difficult to keep up
hunt subscriptions. barDed wire rem
dLrs riding unpleasant if not danger
Gus, and the breaking up Of large
estates will soon make game nres"rv-
ing impossible. Sport will be con-
fined to fishing or to grouse snooung
over desolate and barren districts.
where the heather flourishes and the
ptarlnigan breed. ON these lonely bill
tops wild birds will still be found
when the rest Of England is divided
into allotments and building estates.
With the women who care for sport
il is a very real and solid enthusiasm
They will follow their husbands i'm
Africa, in the pursuit Of wild game,
they will tramp the stubble and the
tulnip fields all day, they will hog the
water INCREASINGLY. they will crawl.
scramble, creep, climb and lie motion
less for hours on the chance of getting
a stag.
IN al sport there is u certain Gle
aradaric which is exceedingly pleasant,
and the Friendships Of the hunting
field. for instance. are among the most
enduring and delightful of memories.
Even rivalry is good tempered. re-
spcct and admiration are experienced
fer those who are keen and skilfu in
the sport they prefer 1t is littl"
strange to say the least of it that 50
he
sport, rifle shooting and games at
time when the great mass of men go
r. look on at contests in which they
Themselves play no part and Of which
betting is one Of the most objection
able features.
From real sport the element Of mon
cy getting is entirely absent. Hunt
ing. for instance. is the most demo-
cratic Of pursuits: the nohleman
mounted on his 300 guinea hunter. the
doctor, the schoolboy. the farmer and
the trainer, all are equal. all interest,"
I'd. all enthusiastic. People may hunt
for various reasons. but to the eX-
pert majority it is tho hounds work
ing and the science of-hunting that
appeal most kecnly. Women probably
love the gilllopng. but it eXhileratcs
ana eXcllcS llltUI NIlilc lIitii piNsShN'
has almost entirely obliterated the use
of bad language and hard swearing IN
the hunting field.
IT would appear as though tho mas
cuino development Of women. IN"
sense OF rebellion and revolt had driven
them to enter the same sports as
men a tendency strongly developed III
modern girls schools, where hockey,
golf and cricket are more highly ap-
preciated than the ladylike accom-
piishmcnts and quiet study of our
mothers Needle work is at dis-
count. but the eye. the ear. TIL" hand
and the body are all trained IN field
sports. and the modern Diana, with her
zest. her joic de vivre and her lhde-
penGence has apparently come to stay.
-Lcndon Chronicle.
CANE iNEC NE RARtES