WOMAN’S WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 18975, 23 June 1923, Page 14 (Supplement)

WOMAN’S WORLD

DAME MELBA WILL SHE ENTER POLITICS. LONDON, June 7. The Daily Mirror states that Dame Nellie Melba may shortly stand for Parliament. In an interview she said: “It is too early to say anything definite, but ideas have been suggested, and I will admit that I am not opposed to them. After all, I can speak well, and I have a few brains. At present, all I am thinking about is my health, and whether I will be able to sing at my best before their Majesties at Covent Garden. —Sydney Sun. THE DANCE CRAZE CONDITIONS CONDEMNED. DANGERS OF CLUBS AND HOTELS. LONDON, June 19. At the annual conference of the British Association of Dancing Teachers, the president said he wondered how much longer the art of dancing was to be prostituted. Young people were degraded and the country shocked by repeated tragedies due to the granting of dance licenses to fashionable hotels and restaurants and glittering wine palaces, with mad musicians whose lack of taste was only exceeded by those for whom they piped. Social dance functions must be purged of the vulgarities introduced by clubs, wine sellers, and carnival organisers. Legitimate ballroom dancing did not require such meretricious aids as balloons and toys, and such childish amusements. and so-called subscription dances demanded stricter parental supervision, otherwise the return of the chaperon would become a necessity. NEW DANCES IN PARIS. LONDON, June 19. Simultaneously with the British Dancing Teachers’ protest, comes the announcement that the International Congress in Paris fail-

ed to arrive at the simplification of present methods. New dances offered for the study of experts include the “Frisco,” which many declare to be adorable. Another is a Czecho-Slovakian dance which is a combination of old and modern dances. It is assured of success. Others are the “Mississippi,” which is a variation of a onestep originating in Copenhagen; a modern valse, and the “Riviera.” It is certain that the jazz, fox trot, and Java tango are utterly out-of-date.

LORD LASCELLES’S COUSIN MARRIES PRETTY' TYPIST. The latest romance to stir London society is that of Lord Lascelles’s ccusin, Mr Francis Orlando Bridgeman, formerly of the diplomatic service, who yesterday was married to Olwyn Jones, a pretty London typist. The couple met when travelling daily from London to the old-world village of Pinner, where the bride’s parents lived, and where Mr Bridgeman has since purchased a mansion.—Melbourne Sun Cable. WOMEN AND SPORT BENEFITS AND OTHERWISE. CONTESTS THAT ARE DANGEROUS. An American professor recently considered deeply the effect of sport on the modern woman, claiming that over-indul-gence was working harm. Marriage and motherhood—not long-dis-tance sprints over hurdles or high jumping —are the crucial tests of a woman’s vitality (it was argued). Anything which tends to lower or vitiate the physical well-being of a woman should be prohibited. Recently 2000 men and women participated in a great athletic carnival in Berlin, and at another gathering at Monaco British women scored all the victories in the international field and track games. The nervous and physical strain which produces a marked athletic face in women is not a good thing for the race. It is that last effort, that final spurt in the final yard which is responsible for many physical handicaps in later life. There are sports and organised games which keep girls in perfect physical trim, as well as aid grace and beauty, and there are athletics which produce a sound body and a good co-ordination between brain and body. Bulging muscles, set faces, and over-developed limbs are not wanted in women. Grace, elegance, poise, and good health are of far greater importance. Better results, from the feminine point of view, are achieved to-day with rhythmic work, folk dances, and physical culture specially adapted to the needs of women, than by the old method of swinging clubs and jerking dumb-bells. JUMP—AND THE LANDING.

Short spurts are not harmful to women, low hurdles are not dangerous, but the high jump is particularly injurious. Or, at least, it is the heavy landing which lays up a store of troubles. Putting the shot is another sport gaining in vogue in Europe —but which should never be undertaken by women. An American paper recently catalogued women’s sports, and stress is laid upon the fact that all the games under the heading of “safe” are safe only if played in moderation. Spinal curvature is very often the lot of hockey and golf enthusiasts. The list follows:

Absolutely Condemned: Broad jump, pole vaulting, high jump—in competition. Very Doubtful: High jump, weight throwing, running more than one hundred yards in any competition. Safe: Archery, ball throwing, basket ball, dancing, field hockey, golf, horseback riding, low hurdles—but not in competition; rowing, running—but not in competition, skating, skiing, snowshoeing, swimming, tennis, walkng. Not only Safe, but especally Beneficial and Suitable: Dancing, rowing, running, swimming, walking. Organised games, like basketball, lacrosse and tennis are of benefit to women, though if a girl is not in the best of form, constant tennis or hockey or golf will tend to make the figure lopsided. For the production of perfect symmetry of body, poise and grace, without undue muscular development—fencing for women stands alone. Yet there is a mental keenness required which gives little relaxation. Swimming, of course, is ideal exercise, but again long distances and championships are fraught with doubtful success. TEAM SPIRIT.

Y’et there is one aspect of sport in general which has a particular application to women, and that is the inculcation of a team spirit. “Loyalty and a sense of honour are among the most difficult qualities to develop in girls,” said one man, inviting criticism. If a girl plays in a team she must deliver the goods. She must play fair according to the rules of the game, and games, besides teaching quickness and precision in play, teach also loyalty to each player. And to be a good loser is much more important than to be a good winner. No matter how much they try to bluff themselves to the contrary, women are the mothers of the race, and potential mothers cannot afford to ride the hobby-horse of sport to the extreme limit. If they force

their strength to do it, they will pay for it: As when girls collapse after big events, or when they find their wrist put out after boxing, or when the strain of constant hurdling makes itself felt. The sporting girl who is admired by everybody is not the one who comes in gasping, with a hot, dusty face after a cross-country run, but she who can play a good set at tennis, surf and swim in good company, perhaps take a round at golf or a canter down the track. Basket-ball is excellent as a school game, lacrosse is admirable, and hockey too, in its place, but prowess on the football field, or the possession of that endurance which enabled the completion of the perambular race, is sheer unwanted lunacy. For, as one woman said: “It is possible for the girl who develops most in mind and body to develop also in the fine and womanly art of being charming.”