Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1904)
St THE SUNDAY 0EE60OTAN, PORTLAND, . NOVEMBER 13, 1904. Woman's Physical Exercise Should Be Light Interview With the Superintendent of Physical Training in New York City's. Schools D UMB -BELLS?" said W. H. Har per, the supervisor of physical training in the public schools of New York City, when interviewed on the -subject of physical culture for women. "Yes, dumb-bells, to be sure, but not ac cording to the old school. I would no more put a girl though what has been commonly called physical training than I would ive her pianos to move. The phy sical culture of the strenuous school Is a dead letter." "What did it do that it ought not to have done?" , "It over-strained fragile women, tiring them into prostration and illness. It racked their nerves "with the y effort to accomplish the assigned task. "When it did ao harm of this kind, it built up lumps of muscle that have no place in the contour of the beautiful woman. "Who wants to see humps and boulders standing out upon a woman's shoulders, arms -and back?" "And what did it fall to do?" . "It failed to give graceful curves of form; It failed to give flexibility; it failed to give nerve relaxation, properly distributed circulation, bodily rest." "Then what should the Ideal modern gymnasium offer?" "Kather say, what should It suppress? In the first place, let pully weights be done away with. I do not consider them harmful; used properly, they may be very beneficial. But they have "been over used by the -enterprising young woman of the now-lying fad that fad which taught that the heavier the weight a woman could lift, the better off she was physically. "Ladders, bars, weights, leather mounted horses all these have been used Improperly in gymnasiums. It seems hard for girls to repress themselves, otherwise they might be given all the apparatus with Impunity. But until, the strenuous fad Is past I should say: Furnish a gym nasium with rings for swinging; mat tresses for floor work; handball; medicine ball; foils and masks; -wands; two-pound dumb-bells, and one-pound Indian clubs. Be sure to provide a piano; the outfit Is then complete." Mr. Harper represents the newest movement in physical culture for women, and he went on to explain what that movement means. It Is based on the principle of relaxation. It Is designed to ease and limber muscles that are ' heavier than a two-pound bell to his most advanced pupil. His point 13 not to work up to the power of handling a heavy weight; It is to use the bells as a means to the end, namely, stretching. The light weight of the bell helps the pupil to put more force into her motions than she would If going through them empty handed. Even the prirmary exercises Involve stretching. One bell is raised high above the head, then the other. . Both are raised, are stretched forward, to the sides. As soon aa a few motions of this kind are learned, the steps are intro duced. Here enters another reformation. The new school does not give arm-work with out leg-work at the some time. Mr. Har per says: "It used to be customary to let a pupil stand rigidly still, sometimes for half an hour, and go through the most difficult arm-work all the time. The result was that the circulation was violently stimu lated In the upper part of the body alone. The modern Idea Is to push the blood Into stronger and quicker circulation through- cramped by the ordinary life of the non athletic woman. If she writes at a desk, stands at a blackboard, stitches at a ma chine, rides in her carriage, her muscles are not having full play, her body Is not free. There Is a bodily constraint In any life without athletics or some form of physical culture. Even housework, . al though good as far as It goes, has Its limitations. It leaves certain muscles un moved. The new school remedies that fault of our modern housed life and does its best to make up the time when the fair sex reached for its own cocoanuts and. ran I wild In forests. Every form of exercise j Introduces what Is known as "extension work." This means nothing more than stretching. In the dumb-bell work the reformation shows more than In any other line. There was a time when you could see in every woman's gymnasium a graduated row of' bells hanging against the wall. The be ginner was given a light wooden pair, gradually the weight jwas increased, final ly a heavy Iron pair was put Into her hands. She had developed a manly muscle In the meantime, and she wielded these irons vigorously, pumping them up and down as violently as her brother. She was proudly . becoming "hard." She stood rigidly during the performance. The up-to-date teacher offers nothing Some Dainty Coiffures and Smart Blouses These Are Essential This Winter for the Feminine Theater Goer k N THESE days of luxurious costum I ing and bare heads for theater and concert, the importance of the coif fure cannot be set aside. It is not suf ficient to have the hair clean, well brushed and arranged with a moderate degree of becomlngness. The head which sets off a smart gown must match it in elaboration and show smooth and regular "waves, puffs, colls and braids, all to be raised from the cranium In a way to suggest a dainty wig. To accomplish this, professional fingers are required, and now, as in the olden days, previous to all smart eve ning functions, the halr-dresse'r goes x'rom door to door to coax rebellious locks into wonderful structures. False pieces are required for tho majority of heads, and such bits go under the general titles of the trans formation, the Parisian parting and the regent dip. The pieces are made up with indescribable lightness, and for the most part to order. Many of them mingle with the natural hair in a most deceiving way. There is never a false or heavy look, for instead of the old matted, palpably unnatural "rats" all front padding is now made of long hair. These lightly-wired "pompa dours," or "transformations," or what ever they may be called, are put under the growing hair or over It. If under It, the stralghtei1 outside hair parts here and there to allow a false love-lock to emerg; at the back, the ends of the pompadour are gathered into the" long up and down braid used, or the double figure "&." effect, which is of later In troduction. The low hair dressing, which dis plays a chignon-like arrangement of puffs and braids under a net Is also much admired, as well as a broad- looking simple braid. This last style of coiffure, upon youthful heads, is fre- j quently ornamented with artificial flowers sprinkled with rhlnestone dew- j drops, which produce a most brilliant j picture. An enormous number of tin-i sel and flower ornaments are used for evening coiffures with very dressy or low toilettes, and some are so expen sive as quite to take the breath away. But tho ordinary high bodice which the heater or concert calls for, does not demand these spangled bows; Iri descent butterflies and diamond sprinkled wreaths, which, in Paris, deck elaborate puffings set like pincushions at the top of the head. A smooth, wide waving of the front and side locks, with such combs and slides as appear fitting, seems to be the chief thing here for the ordinary evening head. Then it must not go to the coiffeur newly washed. A modi cum of natural oil is necessary for good results, and this is besides sup plemented by a dressing that keeps the hair from scattering, and supplies It with a brilliant burnish. Many, indeed, are the valuable se crets the coiffeur might pour into the listening ear, but the final word on the hair subject has a literal colden weight To be well colffed one must spend money, and much money, for human hair Is growing dearer every day.jmd the false pieces are so deli cately made that they are soon unfit for use. Professional .care of the hair Js also indispensable, for Imorance on the subject of correct washes, dyes and methods of treatment will naturally result In poor results. As to dyes, the fashionable colorings still include many shades of auburn with a bluish- black,, for the sentimental thing. "But In Paris," writes a corresponaent 01 authority, "a number of the best coif feurs object to dyeing and only resort to it when absolutely necessary. The consequence is one encounters many women with gray or turning hair su superbly dressed, who look years younger than if their heads were tintfeM a youthful hue. A certain colorless brown mouse you - might almost call It which goes with a white-skinned, dove-eyed type of French woman Is also enormously admired." Thus wags the world on the subject of hair. A word on bodices may follow. A group of pretty theater waists dis played with well-dressed heads shows each a charming relationship with the accompanying coiffure. A Louis Jacket, set off by a low looping of braided hair decked with pink roses dew-dropped with stones. Is of blue and white pom padour silk In a brocaded grape .de sign. The -absence of belting permits a -very becoming plaiting at the slender waist line, which is held down by gem ornaments. The sleeves are wide, three-quarter length and turned back with deep Louts cuffs over a fall of lace. The high stock, the Tound col ter and the vest are of all-over lace in the same pattern, with pipings of blue velvet. This Jacket represents, one of the novel theater garments of the season and it is meant to be worn with a plain velvet skirt in the same color. In a fashion equally fastidious and quaintly old-time is a point Marie An toinette bodice in ivory mousseline velours. A tight swathing of the soft material over a closely fitted lining, and short sleeves which are feats of millinery, are delightful features of this waist which Is shown with a skirt in the same material. The yoke is of lace draped with a fichu of India mull, and the bodice fastens slightly at the left front under three bows of corai pink taffetas. The third bodice in importance is of orange lace net. The wrist length sleeves are shirred down the outside, the fullness falling in a puff above the tight cuff piece. In soft contrast of col oring is a lace yoke in pure white, over whch the net blouse opens in a long V outlined with folds of orange velvet. Three rosettes of the same, held down with topaz buttons, finish the front of the waist. A fourth corsage is made quaintly charming through a sash and fichu drapery of embroidered India muslin. French gray silk, in a trclllsed vine pattern, composes the gown Itself, which accords admirably with a de mure crown of braids. The fifth waist, which is also part of a costume, shows the elegant and smart combination of mauve and pale blue, as well as the puffings so univer sally employed. The gown Is of blue silk and the trimmings of mauve chif fon and velours mousseline combined, while the skirt front depicts the old robe treatment French makers delight to exploit. ""But," the fair critic wfll say, "since the subject was theater waists why in troduce the skirts." and Madame the Modiste will tell you that it is because the high world now looks a little cold ly upon 'the odd bodice. Ravishing ones are seen and they are exploited by smart dressers, but the harmonious ensemble of a costume is thought to supply the most satisfactory get-up. Numerous splendid skirts of velvet, silk, poplin, etc. are accompanied by waists entirely of lace, but whatever the color of the skirt the bodice matches. If more continuity Is desired, bretelles and sashes of the skirt material are often added. The only exception to this, maybe, is In the Jacket of colored brocade, which may be worn with a black or white lace skirt. Numbers of such coats are seen, brilliant ly hued. and made dashing with stiffened tails, gemmed buttons and rich laces which form smart cravats and sleeve trimmings of much beauty. Charming details of the theater get-up are some new French gloes, whose wrinkling arm pieces are ornamented with mlnlpfce lace rosettes or insets. These, Incongruously enough, are of suede, and the ornamentation comes from tho fact that sleeves are so much shorter than formerly. Then they may, in a way, be called gloves do style, for they are designed especially for the pointed, high busted bodices which owe their inspira tion to the courtly old models. With such bodices and gloves', a black velvet band about the bare throat and velvet bracelets are said to be worn in the even ing by chic women In Paris. Magnifi cent gem brooches fasten the bands, and a unique ornament is sometimes worn in the highly dressed coiffure . This is a large, flat rosette of yellowish white lace, placed against the pin cushion of puff to look like a tiny cap set slightly sldewise. ' MARY DEAN. out the entire body, distributing It equally. Circulation is the watchword. On It depends everything. All the system is stirred to activity. The skin Is cleared and brightened; that Is the outward and visible sign." So here is a word to the wise, who want to better their complexions. As soon as the dancing steps and the dumb-bell motions are . learned separately they are combined, and we have all sorts of pretty bends and twirls and stretches. There la far more grace In the new work than in the stiff, muscle-building old style. Not but that the new builds muscle; but that Isnot the primary object, and the building is carried only to the point where It rounds out the form sufficiently for beauty never beyond that. Indian club .exercises are the same as ever, with -the addition of dancing steps. This work is based on the same princi ple, that the circulation of the blood must be evenly distributed, throughout the body. All the exercises are given in quick time for the sake of . this circulation. The piano means much in that it Inspires grace. If you will experiment you will readily And that it is easier to fall into pretty poses and move in pretty curves in 'rhythm with music than at the instiga tion of mere- counting. It Is claimed that the old school failed to Increase the flesh for the thin In that It worked their flesh off. It is an estab lished fact that violent" exercise, causing profuse' perspiration, does this. In the last century all women, .-fat and thin alike, were given the same kind of hard lessons. Abdominal work .of all kinds Is one of the specialties of the new gymnasium. Mr. Harper" claims that dancing Is one o the best exercises for the abdominal muscles. The- jarring strengthens them. Certain twisting and bending movements effect the. same result. That work Is prominent also. Mat work, as you may or may not know, la done while lying on a mattress on the floor. The legs are stretched to their full extent, -up, odt. and so on; the knees are drawn up on the" chest; all the muscles In the region of hips and abdo men are forced Into action. "Handball is one of the best games a girl can play," says Mr. Harper. "It Is light and quick. The blood Is started inta brisk circulation, hut the physical strain of the game Is- not Intense. "Dancing and rope-Jumping- Jar the body In 3Uch a way that they amount to an abdominal massage. They are Inval uable in strengthening the abdominal muscles which are" so inclined to be weak. When women have strengthened them selves In this way there will be less need of stern corsets to 'flatten the stomach to say nothing of less backache and better general health." "Medicine ball" Is the big, lightweight ball tossed from one to another. The tossing Is required to be at short dis tance. This compels quicker action and less muscular force, the end and aim of the new work. The rings are of benefit because they give extension. A girl dangling from them by her hands cannot well avoid be ing stretched to the utmost. "Physlcal culture was a fad In the last century; today It is an accepted part of every education, based on scientific prin ciples," says Mr. Harper. KATHERINE. MORTON. Price of Diamonds Once More 'Raised The United States Buys Four Fifths of the Entire World's Product. HOEVER has been planning to : buy diamonds as Christmas pres ents must now go deeper Into his pocket- Only a few days ago the dia mond trust, as the De 'Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited. Is generally known, has boosted prices 5 cents on the dollar. This will take out of American purses, accord ing to trade experts, an extra revenue of more than $1,000,000 a year. The United States now buys annually enough .diamonds to constitute four-fifths of the world's ejitlre output. It Is esti mated that the diamonds found in one year are worth 530,000,000. The diamonds both rough and cut. imported into this country yearly are valued at $24,000,000. If the De Beers Company, whlcfi con trols nine-tenths of the world's output of rough diamonds, continues to ' advance prices as it has done diamonds will prove a far more profitable Investment than the most gilt-edged securities of Wall street. In the last two years the trust has raised, the price eight times, and each time 5 per cent. Desirable stones, therefore, are valued 40 per cent higher than at this time in 1902. Smaller sizes have been ad vanced from 20 to 30 per cent, according to the availability. Helps Impoverished" Peers. To many a European nobleman tho boosting of diamond prices will bring as much satisfaction as to the directors of the De Beers Company. The importations of cut stones into this country last year amounted to $14,000,000 and not a few of them were from tarnished European coro nets. "When a poverty-stricken Duke sells the family Jewels," as one. Maiden Lane dealer expressed It, "he does it secretly. It Is an act of which he is deeply ashamed. He hires some agent to dispose of them In order to conceal his own Identity. Be fore the buyer sees them the coronet or tiara or whatever it may be Is broken up and the stones recut and remounted. On any opera night one may see glittering about the necks and arms of any number of New Tork women Jewels that once adorned the courts of Kings and Emper ors. I daresay that if the Czar should want to sell the great Orloff. the fourth greatest diamond ln'the world, for which Empress Catharine II paid $450,000, In order to add to his war fund he would find plenty of would-be purchasers In America." It Is not long' that this country has been so fond of diamonds. Forty years ago Americans spent only one-twentieth as much money for them as they do now. The South African mines now produce 98 per cent of the world's supply, and they are prospering more than ever be- only does the mine reveal small gems of great value, but It Is worked by blacks, who have an hereditary instinct for stealing. Whenever human hands, therefore, can be supplanted by Iron fingers, a machine la- built and put Into operation. In dig- glng for diamonds there Is also more debris In proportion to the coveted prjze'. than In any other line of mining. A vast amount of earth must be sifted as If wlth? last year the De Beers Consolidated j bearing soil will bear on an average notf Mines, Limited. marketed $26,205,860 worth of diamonds and realized a profit of $11,511,490. American Men and Machinery. Americans, however, are proving them selves to be diamond diggers as well as diamond wearers. In the management of the huge plants of the De Beers Company at Klmberley .most of the officials are Americans, and a large proportion of the mechanical devices used bear the talis -manic initials, "U. S." American ma chinery and machinists are appreciated at Klmberley for several patent reasons; In diamond 'mlnlnsr esoeclallv a comnonv Is likely to suffer losses from theft. Not' ' 1 ' i- 8KAXT COCFFCKHg. NATURAL AXD ACQUIIUCD. aulte four grains of. diamond. If the a,iw,uw cudic yaras ot rocs ana uin. b- cavated from the New York subway werai as rich In diamonds as that of the Kim-rj. berley mines, It would be found to con tain gems worth only $3,000,000, or about one-fifth of the cost of excavating the underground road. In their rough state .the "subway Jewels" would weigh only 130 pounds, or what might be carried off by one man. Accordingly, the diamond miner must have machinery which will handle vastT quantities of earth and still perform the' task with extreme minuteness- Old Devices Soon Discarded. One evidence of the way the De Beerl Company appreciates machinery Is to be' seen in the great mountain of Junk which?' towers up near its mines like a Golgotha-.' Here may be found machines for intri-' cate workmanship and of huge dimen sions, many of them costing a good frac tion of $1,000,000, yet all abandoned to make way for superior devices. Here a whole plant, although hardly used, may have been dumped, because some new" system had been discovered which made- It antiquated. Whenever a mechanism is found which will handle a few more tons, of dirt it is adopted regardless of cost. Despite all the labor-saving machinery, introduced the De Beers Company stllr employs 10,000 blacks, whom It guards' almost as closely as keepers watch the In- mates of a prison. The Kaffirs contract to work not for'a day or a week, but for a term not. less than three months, and. for that length of time they are shut off from the rest of the world. Elffht hours of the 24 thev are at work rln the mines loading the tunnel cars with the "blue stuff, or diamond-bearing clay, and the other 16 they are loafing" about the "native compound," as It is; called which. In fact, is an outdoor jail having walls around It to prevent any escape and a roof of wire netting to, make any attempt at throwing the dia monds outside to an, accomplice futile... When a Kaffir Is about to be discharged, he Is put In an isolation ward and care fully examined and then watched for a day and a night. , Stealings Are Enormous. Yet even In spite of the most rigid pre- cautions it Is estimated that more than' $1,000,000 worth of diamonds are smug gled out each year. Most of them find their way to Natal, where they are sold by the leading merchants. No question Is asked concerning their origin One way of smuggling diamonds which escaped the eyes of the De Beers de tectives for a long time made veritable martyrs of its perpetrators. A Kaffir, shortly after being admitted to th com pound, were he lucky enough to find a. rich enough prize, would cut a deep silt in the fleshy part of his leg, where it could not easily be detected, and hide the rough jewel In the very quick. He -would, then conceal himself in some unworked part of the mine until the sore healed. It is now regarded as certain that the pipe-shaped pits from which the diamond be arinj? clay is taken are the craters of extinct volcanoes, and that this clay. .which, because of Its color, Is called "the blue dirt," has welled up from tha bowels of the earth. The diamonds are bits of carbon that have crystallized under great heat and pressure. Grease la regarded by the Kaffir as eveny more of a foo than the largest labor-.' svlBg" machine. A year or more ago a, kind of "stlckusB," called Stau Iter's lubri cant, was discovered, which picked out the diamonds far more rapidly and Just as accwateir s the mea employed for this woefc, Accordingly the "men. were dts ebre lad-tbs grM nrimgttutsd.