Women and Physical Training.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13578, 25 April 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

Women and Physical Training.

(" S.S." in London " Chronicle.")

A cynic once declared that the chief topics of talks in smart society are bridge, motors, chiffons, and stocks and shares. But now we musrt add health, diet cures, and physical culture. Some of these subjects may be" voted frivolous, but no one can deny that the three latter are of grave importance. Even as wise a man as the late Mr Gladstone once remarked, " All time and money spent in training the body pays better than any othei'—investment." And the " Grand Old Man's " precept seems .to have .been taken to heart by modern womanhood. Time, trouble, and much money are now spent on the art of health or physical culture. ' And the same spirit permeates all classes of society. Drilling is done in Board schools; employees in shops have their gymnasiums; smart women swim and dive at the Bath Club, or take lessons from Miles or Ji'andow ; and in most private houses one .sees swings, dumb-bells, boxing machines, and chest expanders. Swedish exercises are a current craze and fencing is one of the fads of the moment. A fencing club has recently been founded, and nothing does" more to improve the figure or to give grace and quickness of -movement. And many women practise the 'minor arts of jumping and skipping—even . battledore and shuttlecock. , Skipping, ,by the way, dates from the dark ages, '-as thatgraceful Greek, Nausicaa, is said to have skipped as well as played ball- with her young companions. And the nimble art, has been Tecommended by doctors of every epoch. "Go home and buy a skipping rope, and use it three times a day," was the advice given to a nervous patient by Dr. Abernethy, a blunt Scotchman of the Georgian, period. ; ixil MORNING CONSTTTUTIO^AIr Some of us, however, trust to nature,< and try to win health and strength by walking, tunning, and breathing exercises. • As, to walking, it is an amusing sight to see the smart world at its morning constitutional. A portly duchess marks time in Piccadilly, and in the Park one sees a mixed lot doing ■ rapid turnsold generals and young married women, beardless boys and middle-aged' spinsters, City magnates and Cabinet Ministers, past, present, and future; and, more often than not several of them wil be hard at at. playing Diabolo. . With regard to figures, it is "amusing to note that the ideal form for woman varies from decade to decade. Xhe "straight-fronted" effect has become outmoded, and we now go in strong for small waists, big hips, and broad shoulders; and —most, serious of all—w<| make a tlead set against obesity. In fact, the woman of to-dav has two chief aims in physical cultureshe fights fat, and tries her level best to preserve youthful bloom and a perfect complexion.. And there is need for this growth in grace, as of late tliere has been a marked increase in the number of stout people, especially of stout women. And not old ladies only, or even the muchtaried " Mother of Many," but young martied folk, and, sometimes, even their debutante sisters. Plump girls abound, and several of our recent brides, once slim and pretty, have developed into regular dumplings. Motors, bridge, and restaurant dinners—which mean rich food and no exercise—are, no doubt, in a way I esponsible. Anyhow, facts must be faced, figures must be trained, faces mustbe ', treated" and a self-denying ordinance rigidly practis-ed. * THE PERFECT FIGURE.

But. as usual, there are two sides to this question. Stout folk score in some directions. "Let me have men about me that are fat," says the Caesar of Shakespeare's play, and certain it is that burly folk are often blessed with smooth faces, merry hearts, and placid tempers. And 1 stories have gone the rounds of more tnan one .stout woman who has tried to, "reduce " too quickly, and then awoke to the tragic fact of a homely face covered wnii wrinkles. And physical training should not be overdone; a pretty, dainty creature has no use for big biceps, nor for the make and muscles of a miniature prizefighter. A happy medium is the one thing needful. Women are nothing if not discursive, and the spirit moves m.e to quote the j measures of a perfect figure, as given by one of the best dress makers in London and Paris. " Height, sft. 4in. ; neck, 12£ in.; bust, 36; waist, 21; hips, 37; round the bigger part- of upper arm, xj ; round the largest part- of forearm below the elbow, 11, which should gradually taper to 6in. around 'the wrist." These are, of course, not the measures of the Venus of Milo, but simply those of a well-formed modern woman. The smart world also does diet, cures with much exactitude. Many women go in for almost prison fare, and bread, butter, sugar, cream, and potatoes—all are banned T while some avoid alcohol, others never drink at- meal times, and—weirdest n f a ]j— a few seem never to drink at alt. \n(l early hours bid fair to return to favour; in fact, they are part, of the "simple life," which is a watchword ot the twentieth century. Sleep and rest cures act as a mako-weighr to the modem craze for asceticism. THE CULT OF BEAUT\. This leads up to the subject of face treatments and complexions. Almost every woman has her own specialist, whom she visits once a week, or who f ames to her own house —a more costly process—but secrecy is maintained. A noted " lace-woman" was heard to say that a well-known beauty walked into her looms, and informed her that she had just come from Madame C'lmf-eV ' want, to wash my face," she said, " for I don't like her * treatment." And this she proceeded to do, saying calmly, " Here goes two guineas.'* After which she had a second treatment, and thus spent- over £3 in two hours on her complexion.

Special baths are now much used :as a means of physical culture. Theses are of many varieties, and include mud baths', light baths, electric baths, and some -of a medicated description. And manicure is another of our modern necessities. . In fact, between figure exercises, face treatment, manicure, and even pedicure; much of our time is spent near Bond-street , or Piccadilly. The little rooms, sacred to the cult of beauty, have their own fittings, and are quite distinctive apartments; These " sky-parlours" contain a luxurious armchair, used by the customer during treatment, a big screen, sundry small tables, loaded with jars, boxes, and bottles, and a mixed lot of Japanese fans, weedy palms, and signed photographs of ' grateful and titled clients. And the modern woman goes in strong for luxurious baths in her own residence. Bath sachets are a necessity. Two guineas for a set of twenty scented sachets is an ordinary price, and as these adjuncts are used in both the morning and evening baths, as well as. for face ablutions, it will be seen that much money can Be spent on one's bath-room requirements. • And many women will empty into their morning tub a big bottle of eau-de-cologne. Then there are soap-bowls at half a guinea each, rubber brashes a t ten shillings, bath sheets and bath towels of finest linen—at least £2O a year can be spent on - Thi3 may seem wicked waste, but, after all, it may not be out-of proportion to other expenses. ' Well, we only follow the lead of i;he ancients. The women of classic Greece lived in the open air, tended their forms and faces, practised exercises, and worked with a will to maintain a high standard: of health/ and vitality. And so it has been through the ages, and in the , year 1700 the poet Health is the vital pf-inciple of bliss, : And. exercise of health.