Evening star., 1925-08-31

He further suggests that the
mothers of many of the healthiest
men in history were never known to
indulge in sport. We recall reading
that the mothers of some of the
brainiest men have lacked scholastic
training. But no one seems to have
thought to suggest that therefore. for
the good of the race. women should
cease to indulge in education,
1t is doubtless true that men ex
hibit superior grace in some fields
of spert-on the track and base ball
diamond notably. because a man runs
more easily than a woman, and ease
is one of the essentials of any grace
full motion. But even should men
excel in grace on every athletic field
this would not argue that girls should
abandon sport. Certain it Is that
the average sport win not destroy
whatever natural gracefHlness a girl
may possess.
know of no one more exduisitely
graceful than a certain Philadelphia
tennis star, whose slightest motion
has been described as poetic
rhythm" And yet she has indulged
In the most vigorous sport since she
was old enough to hold a racket
An eminent golf expert remarked
to me that he could think OF moth
graceful than Glenna' Collett driving
a golf ball.
Our mid Victorian dreamer cites as
proof of the extreme ungracefulness
OF women IN sport numerous press
pictures of the leading tennis stars
in action--Lengien among them. He
stresses the grotesque poses as evi.
dence of the extreme awkwardness
developed by sportswomen. A local
photographer, whose business is
making action" pictures of this type.
remarked that these grotesque and
unnatural poses caught in action are
ordinarily not due to the awkward
ness of the performer, but rather to
the unfortunate timing of the picture.
He illustrated his point with the
French star himself. Writers who
cover Lenglen's matches. he said,
have described her repeatedly as
wildly graceful figure fashing
through her unbroken lire OF vic
tories. Yet some OF her action photo
graphs are impossible. The reason"
explained the photosra pher, lis that
the human eve caught the complete
picture. while the camera snapped
only an unfinished motion which ap-
peared awkward and out Of proper
ton
UW0 tHitU N0f1IeS ktfI1.
Poor deleded critic. He is even
now worrying because his 10-year-
daughter insists upon taking "sundry
swipes at golf ball. He feels sure
that she will grow up with large.
fat feet and a complexion like a
Colorado homesteader's wife" And
he knows she viii be utterly un-
fennininet
He has doubtless noticed some
feminine star with the above-men.
toned chara cteristics and immediate.
ly drawn the conclusion that indulg-
ing in her favorite pastime made her
that way. A glance at her photo
graph taken at an early age would
doubtless have convinced him of his
error. 1t was God and not sport that
made her that way, There are mas
culine women Just as there are
feminine men Both are creatures of
fate, not environment.
1t is true that women who make a
business Of sport to the exclusion of
all else are apt to develop a perma-
nent tan and perhaps some unfemi-
nine lines, but. observing the average
sportswoman, we can safely say that
the innately feminine women remain
so. even when they overindulge in
sport.
And their feet do not become large
.nd fiat. In their sport shoes they
may appear SO, but I'm slippers they
are really quite reasonable size. a
local woman golfer who has played
since 1914 tells us that her shoe size
is just the same today that it was be.
fore she acquired the insane desire
to pursue an elusive little pill over
hill and dale. In fact. she says some
of her recently purchased slippers
have been a half-size smaller. due to
her reduced avoird0pois.
The worried parent may safely
smooth his furrowed brow. Small
daughter is in no danger Of losing her
feminine charms on golf course
satisfying her natural pleas
ure in outdoor sport. And notwith-
standing his opinion that the pleasure
is forced. we believe 1t to be quite
natural. Two women who direct hun
dreds of girls daily in their athletic
activities declare that i'm their opinion
girls derive the same keen enjoyment
from sport that boys experience. 1t
is their opinion that the average sport,
if not overindulged, is highly benefi-
cial to the fair sex and was intended
by nature as part of their life.