TRAINING THE AWKWARD GIRL

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 69, 14 December 1907, Page 11

TRAINING THE AWKWARD GIRL

Tljere'are-two doors in the room, and as the long .-procession'of'girls marches out of one, each girl gracefully wheels lound and drops a deep curtsey to the duenna who stands in the centre of the apartment,' her watchful 'and critical eyes regarding' ; her pupils steadfastly. In at the.other-door, the girls arrive, bow to a second mistress, and as'they pass:the '"head" make.a reverence before her:'as'profound as. before. ■'-,'...■'' .'-It'is-the autumn term in a girl's finishing school, and'the pupils whoare being tutored in' the foregoing manner, will next .year make their ..first-reverence to ■ their. ' King and Queen >at Court on- their introduction, into society.- ■ It' is" their hist few weeks;-'at.' school, '''and'-tliei ■"embroideries".--qf manner, and of/movement are being'carefully insisted, upon by 'th'oir mistress. ' • '■'■ .-• "-.•-• . In-'the modern.girl the .modern'mistress of. /lepprtment finds malleable stuff.;. .Trained in: the' gymnasium from her earliest days,: her. limb's •'arc: stipnlb and. her • movements ''under' command, but there is. in. some .instances' a. thought'too 'much force, about the 'girl of seventeen. , Prowess in the hockey field has made her a little too athletic. She needs to learn the beauty of repression; her breezy mannersome people would call it gauche— must, bo tempered into the rather languid grace that accords so much more suitably with trnined dresses. She must learn not only to curtsey, but. to walk across a room without betraying that self-conscious air that results 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 owners scream aloud with pain, nor with the lymphatic iidtinhnlaiirp■ of tjie .utterly indifferent, hut' with just 'the proper, amount of fervour'and frankness that makes the. custom so acceptable and charming..! :■ .All this knowledge the mistress of deportnic!pt imparts, as well, as the side issues of sittihg ! and standin's'gracefully.' listening to conversation' intelligently- '! |lf l without bo : , tfayi'ng: impatience, doing nothing' without fidgeting'in' a tiresome/ manner, and •so forth:.' .-■-"." '.-For'-'mnny year's the. teaching of deportment;'has been allowed'to decline; it is revived'now as an outcome' of the' well-known predilection evinced in high society for the gentle girl-, as opposed to the hoyden; of .athletic aspect, who: was the. type most apparent at'the beginning of this century. . •jV very, famous mistress "of deportment teaches' her girls the game, of-ball. .She has bo'eii'btisy'teaching- this exercise for years and Tears, as well as the-use of Indian clubs and a very pretty fan exercise, and it is noticeable'that'among■ her pupils oiie: must r.earch for' the most elegant and justly admired members of society to-day. The game-of'ball was' practised ; by. the Greeks, in far-off classical clays, and then, as now',, there was ."abounding, beauty .in it. Apart, too, from the very obvious fact that it is beautiful to watch, and'of a very great fascination to'the player,-' it is productive, of symmetry of figure, and elegance of carriage, bestowing in particular grace,to the. throat arid shoulders, and roundness to the. amis. The eyes, too. are trained by the ceaseless watchfulness required: while . .throwing- the balV from hand to hand, round. the hack, under'the arms, and in various'other'gyrations. ' .'' '■ '