Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-05-03
By TEMPLE BAILEY.

aERAcloos'' SAID h'tie busF oii
- as she put or her hat in front
of the Office mirror, preparatory to a
walk with me. 81 look 80 II I'm only
%. What's the matter with me-
Its your shoulders" I said, they
are beginning to sag"
"Oh, we'll" Busy Girls voice was de-
iected, any girl who works at a desk
for nine hours ever. day might as
we'll give up. l am too tired to sit up
straight"
'"The trouble is with you mental
backbone, not with your physical one,
l told her. "any who wishes
may be straight. There is no more
reason why you should be round
shouldered than the woman who bends
over her sewing machine-or fancy
work. You've got to get the proper
mental attitude before you can de-
velop our physical possibilities"
you don't mean to tell rue that an
attitude of mind will help my COM
plexlon, d. you? Mines muddy and
dry"
"You have been shut up all winter in
steam-heated rooms"
And the girls who can get out in
the fresh air are blooming was the
bitter response. ITS no use-as said
before, "a girl might as we'll renounce
good looks when she is tied to a desk"
We walked on in silence, breathing
the freshness of the spring breezes.
"If | make a schedule for you, will
you follow it for a month";" / asked
at last.
What kind of a schedule?"
lone which shall counterfeit the wear
and tear of work."
She promised, and the next day / had
it ready for her.
1t had much to do with exercise in
the fresh air, with a old sponge in
the morning and a dry rub at night. 1t
eliminated all stimulating drinks, al
lowing only a weak cup of coffee in
the morning and a weak cup of tea at
night. And 1t prescribed vegetables
and fruits as the main diet. AS for the
sagging shoulders, she was instructed
to sit we'll back in her chair when at
her desk, to wear corsets which laced
in front, and to give up the high heels,
which tilted her body at an unnatural
angle.
The loss of youthful lines in the
figures of most women is due to the
fact that n ~sedentary occupation
brings many evils in it's train. Lack of
circulation results in heaviness and
dulness-and this state must be cor
rected by activity-which can best be
supplied by baths and exercise.
There is a mental dulncss also which
must be fought, for often women hi
are chained to their desks show wear
and tear in their stunted intellectual
growth. Lack of contact with the out
side world makes them appear mar
row, uninteresting and, in some cases,
positively stupid. Routine is more
likely to blunt feminine faculties than
masculine. A man grasps at politics,
athletics. anything to keep himself
emotionally awake. Witness the crowds
of men clerks who throng to the base
bal! games. while the feminine con-
tingent goes sedately home to wither
M oVer fancy work.
Nothing keeps a fresh ana
unfaded as much as vivid and vital
contact with masses of humanity. 1t
is the limits which we set upon our
selves which contract our lives and
make them stale, fat and Improbable.
A successful s~tenographer has old
how she fought off stagnation.
Il was alone in an office practically
all day. My employer dictated a few
letters in the morning, coming back
late in the afternoon TO sign the cor
respondence. Clients were few and
there were no other clerks. There was
only the office boy, the janitor, apd a
funny old colored woman, who came at
to empty the waste paper baskets
and to get things ready for later clean
ing. At first these three very
place people meant nothing to me. The
office boy was snub-nosed and freckled,
but he was practically the only human
thing on which | gazed all day-and at
last he came to have a certain value
in my eyes. l found him reading trashy