THE ; OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY " MORNING, MARCH 6, 1910
n v.- it "tv rr-"vrr
,tiow
J
uaits
0
When Fas
Interfere With
Their Feet
Mud
. Pi'--?
ti
-0' fe4 fr
y is,.'' 1 1 ' vc
But If shs aid Jt. h
made much mort obvious
the Important detail that
she att(rcd up to the ultra
edge of fithion. So, ahe
did It. That'a all.
Various mhnor eceen
trlcltlea, Including the
three Inches of hump on
either ahoulder. carried ti .
fair alonr ttntll - th neat ..
most noticeable "walk,"
known aa the kangaroo,
which, awept the country
some five yeara ago. It
did not longr endure, for
the fascinating dlrectolre
gown was already being
moulded by destiny and. '
atk moit men agreed sub
aequently, destiny waa
inking a mighty good Job
of it.
The germa of votes for
women and rivalry with
man In all thlnga were.
however, sending the love
liest of their, sex into ath
letics, and the great, big,
long-legged, mannish atride
gained many ana magnlfl-
phyatcal disability perhaps a ' moral triumph, but
scarcely to be applauded as an artistic one.
But the prime purpose of fixing attention It al
ways accomplished. Besides, It 'was peculiarly suited
to the alender girl, not to speak of the skinny one.
who doesn't exist during these days of gallant admi
ration. Gradually It spread afong the New England coast
resorts, there beginning to be Identified by Its now
general title, the Boston limp. Last year It crept Into
New York and. -to an extent, into Philadelphia.
" WITHSTOOD THE SHEATH GOWN
The eheath gown couldn't quell It. Those male
Ignoramuaea who philosophised over the rigidity of
the Iron-clad corset reaching to the knees reckoned
without our llmpers. They managed to get an effect
of alnuoaity Into their walk which proved that, next
to the human conscience, the feminine figure Is. the
most elaatlc thing on earth.
Its general spread In the East was. however, coin
cident with the advent of the long topcoat, which haa
about a twelvemonth of popularity to lis record. That
coat waa conspicuous for Its "alouchy" At. r
. There waa about It an epitome of the social "don't-
care-a-hang" atti
tude toward every
body, so extensive
ly cultivated of late
years, which made .
following suit. It appears possible. If not completely
probable, that the limp may be universal throughout
the eastern and middle western states by the spring.
But with the advent of summer Its harmful effects
will be materially mitigated by the Influences of
country, mountain and seashore especially seashore.
However ardently and universally the Venuses of
the boardwalks may glide along In their wriggling
sinuosity, all experts agree that the minute they
daztle the admiring multitudes In the effulgence of
their bathing aults, they will return to the normal
loveliness of their natural walk.
The Paris limp Is pretty close to the original
American one, but it la modified by,the latest skirt
acheme through which Paris hopes to claim full
credit for the invention.
The polonaise, or apron skirt, which has berome
the rage In Paris, Is Just now fettering the feet of
Englishwomen as a novelty. It flsres widely at the
lower extremity, but Is almost tightly tied In below
the kneea. The woman wno could get along In such
a lasso noose would have to be something not very
far removed from a disembodied spirit.
If the very latest polonaise of Paris should have
:be success of the dlrectolre, the world will gasp twice
JT TPOiV lovely and suffering womanhood
i J in the United States, at least a
. fresh affliction has fallen.
To the rest of the feminine world it is
imminent.
Paris has it; London dreads it; Berlin
stares at it-askance; and America, more than
all of them, has caught it. .
That is, it may be heralded as the affair
of the United States especially, whether we
like it or not.
For it is the new and startling woman's
limp.
It dales hack at least a couple of years
to staid and conservative Boston, of all places.
So priority of ittvention and adoption belongs
to this country, whatever the amount of credit
attaches to it. It is now widely known, if
less widely practiced, as the "Boston limp."
But such is the jealous care and such the
eternal vigilance with which Paris seeks to
guard its pre-eminence in matters of fashion
that already cable dispatches have come from
both Paris and London announcing the setting
of the new fad in Paris, and adroitly trying to
account for it by reason of the latest changes
the modes.
In this one instance, historical accuracy
unquestionably fixes Boston's claims' to prior
ity, and the clothes have followed the woman
for once in a century, in spite of all clamor to
the contrary.
But, when all is said and done, one
grave question remains:
7 T . I 4 f
tl a$ inc American woman, VI tier tnven- ins. where milady didn't hesitate to pass a tether
tion of tllC Hmp, done anything tO be proud thonS between her knees from back to front of her
r,p gown, In order to compel her exceedingly attenuated
I ' Fklrts to the display of all the curves she had been
able to persuade nature to donate to her.
Now. while these wars of fashions were raging, de
mure Boston, with no fanfares or pronunelamentos,
was cultivating the limp. The first exponents of that
more than erratic art date back as much as two years
ago. They were without any exalted honor, even in
their own city.
Lone Innovators, they were mostly women who
were Inspired to secure attention, whether the means
they used were beautiful or not. Indeed, popular
opinion instantly assumed that the limp wasn't beauti
ful; If anything, it intimated heroism under grave
' 1
t J
1 ' : M
J.
lUrious
Facts
T
cent specimens wherever gentle womanhood was
reaching the conclusion that it didn't pay to be so
very gentle, after all.
So the hearty, almost husky swagger had Its innings,
and that In vigorous conflict with the first, mincing
steps of the revealing- dlrectolre and its alluring cous-
LET us attack that last, mogt serious feature of
the. subject with no terrors or hesitations.
What is the limp?
The exponent of the limp, instead of walk
ing with the axis of her body in plumb that is, hon
estly upright so that a plumb line would fall straight
from tbe crown of her head along the middle line of
her body has transferred the axis to one side, usually
the right.
She stands and walks with the right shoulder pro
jected sidwise and forward yes, and upward so that
she Is continually In a condition of unstable equi
librium. That is the strictly scientific analysis of the limp.
With that projocted shoulder hump upward and
forward, she, carj't walk otherwise than with her left
leg and foot in a measure trailing after her. Her
ambulatory movement is accomplished with a sway
and a dip which suggest, above anything else in the
world, the limp of an energetic paralytic.
Observe, however, that she doesn't mean it that
way. Her permanent mood fnspirlnar the limp is on
of aggressiveness, rather than of apology. She has
exaggerated the swagger, and has fallen into the
Cli.irybdis of the limp.
The result is an anomaly in walking. There Is al
ways the suggestion present of the mannish stride,
but the limp is necessarily only one-half of it. If
the limper could only hike up the other shoulder and
trail the other fdot with every alternate step, she
would attain perfection and the Impossible.
She has tried It tried it In front of home mirrors,
tried it along ancestral halls, tried in side streets. But
che can't. So she is doing the best ahe can with the
available ha.lf of it.
THE CONSEQUENCES
Hence follow various inevitable consequences. Her
expression takes on a curious blend of the drawn
mouth and neck muscles which is plaintive rather
than assertive. Her hips operate unevenly, the right
one maintaining a steady elevation at the expense of
the left. Her spine, notwithstanding the undulatory
wriggle with which she alms to progress, is prone to
assume, a distinct tendency to curvature, , which per
sistence in the limp is liable to confirm.
And those who nave most closely studied the new
walking fad unite in the averment that a degree of
nervous disturbance, attributable to the continual
contortion of the spinal area, is Inevitable.
It may be considered the final evolution in a evele
of unnatural walking styles which it has taken more
than thirty years to complete. -
In the seventies the Grecian bend, with Its camel
like hump to the figure behind, became the universal
rage, dictated, not by the exigencies, but by the oppor
tunities of the bustle. A woman didn't have to stoop
nnd enormously empnasize uie "h' curve of ber spine sro-round as a ride in the realms of ineffable bliss.
in order to bring into prominence the rear elevation To the child who' can go everv dav. and who does go
of her figure. The bustle did that for her. until she frequently without difflcultv, the lions and antelopes
presented the appearance, of a human gargoyle of are as commonplace as the cattle In oastur t a
Venus Calllpyre country bov.
It quite ultra-fashionable in Its air and gave It an ex
tensive vogue. The more it wrinkled at the back the
more ultra It was.
All a woman had to do was assume the Incoming
limp, and her uplifted shoulder and accompanying hip
aet the long topcoat into an attack of epilepsy.
An Impressive feature of the advance of the limp
Is that thus far. In its pure estate and undebased
by the contamination of the vulgar. It has not been
seen in combination with a tightly fitting coat.
EFFECTS SLOW TO SHOW
While the effects upon the limper are sufficiently
obvious within a few weeks, it takes from one to two
years to bring about radical consequences, probably
more important than the tendency to spinal curva
ture and nervous irritability.
The most Important Injury is fo the chest, shoul
ders and lungs, for the bent and contracted position
seems to sink in the upper torso, making a "hollow"
chest, which, once acquired, Is extremely difficult to
remedy.
With the Indorsement of Paris, and with London
as much, and the police will be liable to take to the
woods. While It has a more than discreet train In
back, It is so short in front that the wearer will have
no discretion whatever as to showing all her shoes
and, what is more, several inches of whatever may
overtop them.
So much for the lower end of the limp and Its ar
riving gowns. At the other, milliners are already
HKHK Is a proposal to establish farms for valu-f
able fur-bearlng animals In thp forest of
Canada. "
L'pon experiments in aerial navigation for mili
tary purposes France spent $238,500; Germany.
$1.30.000; Austria-Hungary, $27,500, and Great Brlt-j
aln. $2,350. in 1908. I
Bled eight feet from the ground, a rubber-yield
ing tree of fifteen Inches diameter gives threa pint,
of liquid. -
On an average a man requires 1S00 pounds of
food per annum, a woman 1200 pounds and a Chili.
800 pounds. f
Of all places of Importance, Sydney, New 'Boutfc
Wales, is farthest from London as the crowfllea
KJ420 miles. (
In Ceylon the manufacture of salt la a govern
ment monopoly, and yielded in 1908 1.760,551 rupee
l585.000 to the revenue. '. j
Boys over 14 and girls over 12 are legally
titled to get married without the consent of tbe(
parents or guardians In Scotland.
Prison rations in England give 51 2-5 ouncea
food dally to the prisoner doing hard labor, bii
only 4$ 4-5 ounces In the case of a prlaoner dole
light labor.
.J
Alpine Idyll
f-j-HE monstrous Alps toss up their peaks like cloud
I To kiss the sun orgllmnier with the stars,
Man seems of nature less than these mute rock
That scorn his step and echo, laughing loud J
When shrieking he, precipitate, plunges deep , (
Into the silent, echoless abyss.
Ixok. where the Schneeberg with eternal snow :'
Streaming like age across his wrinkled brow, " ,
Keeps silent sentry through the centuries!
groaning under the mental strain of figuring out what. , ' 1 , , . 'm,T arK""
" s X- The slow procession of the Pleiades,
it will do to the chanticleer hat. Will the roostervAnd make these crags partakers of our bliss
...... . . With vows and kisses thrown across the world ,
feathers have to perk themselves up or droop thera- Has life for us no guerdon but the roar " '
selves down Of fate that thunders in' the path of death.
' , With silence and the laughter of the gods?
Alas, poor woman! W. M.
is London.!
L
ONDOX, the old rascal, a dozen -centuries
older than New York, is certainly getting
as giddy as young Broadway. The staid
landed folk of England's worthy middle
class are simply scandalized. All the world smiles
or frowns, according to the measure of charity,
when stories of pups in evening dress and lapdoga
in velvet-lined kennels emanate from the old me
tropolis. Extravagance is always fascinating, es-
ttiDortiaa
pecially to those who cannot afford to be spend
thrifts, for it simply bores the plutocrat. Alonte
Cristo would not have found the 'account of his
own expenditures good reading. The follies of one
capital are only interesting to another in their sug
gestiveness. Fortunately mighty few of 113 are
Croesuses, so we have the normal appetite for
Monte Cristo tales.
We. should like to know, along with Uncle
.Teptha from the crocheted-muffler counties, "just
to what pree-cise extent them wealthy folks, with
more'n's good fer Honest people, has asccuded the
height o' folly."
Uncle Jeptha may now put on his spectacles,
for, without a doubt, we have some startling evi
dence of the way our fplks and other folks in
London "are going it" more than he can digest
in thoughtful moments with the aid of a whole
peck of assarted "scraps."
OufFollies
T
HE rich, as well as the poor; rilust be amused.
The idea that the superwealthy man can get
all the enjoyment he needs out of life by
fondling- his money sacks and holdinar down
the lids o his various chests and strong boxes is
painfully fallacious. There is just one other feature
about amusement (before we chink the philosophical
side of it), and that is. it must come hard.
The youngster on the famous East Side of New
York who saves up for a whole winter in order to
take one trip to the park finds the lions and antelopes
encnantea creatures, and enjoys a spin on the merry-
Now, Che rub of it lies in the fact that with
enough money at his command nothing comes very
hard to the rich man. If he owns a horse and wants
something swifter, more thrilling, more expensive, he
has but to buy an automobile, the price of which
does not make an impression upon his bank account.
When the automobile fsils, he may turn to yachts or
even aeroplanes but they all come so easily and their
charm is necessarily short-lived.
When all legitimately adult joys are worn thread
bare, there is nothing left but to start all over aKaln
with the kindergarten sports that tickled his childish
fancy. It is really a pathetic situation.
London society women, who have all they can
possibly spend on their own attire, which, by the
way. is no mean sum. are dressing their dnps to
match Foor. unsuspecting dogdnm! It must bear its
share of humanity's foibles, because humanity cannot
carry enough on Its person to be novel and original.
In the fcreat English metropolis the pet doggies,
the little fellows wno are not too hwivy are never
permitted to walk on the street. They are dressed up
furs, silks, velvets or broadcloths, according to
the occasion, and carried in the aims of their ultra
fashionalile mistresses when they appear In public.
When there Is a demand the supply responds In a
hurry, and London now has Its dos tailors, dog bar
bers and 1I0K maids. The latter are persons of no
little responsibility, for their duties include a thorougn
knowledge of the lady's wardrobe, so that the dog
mav be decked our In clothing to match.
There are Norfolk suits In Scotch plaids and
die. ks for outing: occasions. The unfortunate pur
must wenr hit velvet xmoltinj taeVot ffidonr. anit
when allowed out of his kennel after dark neve:,
falls to appear in a black evening garb, stiff ahir '
and all. There are goggles for the automobile, anS
shoes of patent leather and kid for all occasions.
And all this aa an outlet for the play spirit tK
human beings who have overdone sports, fashions!
social functions, and have come back to the primitive
doll craze after the Monte Cristo fever had W0rk4
Its blamedest. j
On our own side we have not beard much Off
tiddle-de-winks at Newport, but when It come ti
racinf? turtles in a bowl, as some Baltimore chappie
recently did when everything from polo to poker haff
become a bore, we begin to think how. long, lonr
ii?o. we used to watch potato bugs chase one anotheij
about the edere of a bucket with feverish interest, -j
At the rtaltimore club two large, vigorous terraplrf
were selected and dubbed Otello and King Leopold, A(
tank was prepared, snd half the clubmen In thej
Maryland capitnl turned out with bets and real racing
enthusiasm. All were frleeful at the prospect Of
brand new diversion. As it happened. Leopold wot
out. but orly because Otello became frightened as h'f
neared the finish, and drew in all his members, thUf
sacrificing the advantage of a fine lead.
At ptesent Jt is not considered altogether eon
slstent with dignity for millionaires and their wive"
to roll hoops, spin ops and Jump rope, but with In-creaslna-
wealth will come final desperation, and tic
one need be surprised if. on his visit to Grosvenni
square in 1920. he finds' the millionaire residents doing
these verv stunts to while awrtv the wearv hours.
Is l: (rld llness? Is It all fltv thit 1 tak!nf ue?
n errlp on London's society folk' CharltaM phllos' f
nhers miuht claim that It I onlv manifestation 1
the Inful burden of wealth. At any rate. ha mafll
festations themselves ere aMddv and clownish noith
English journals bewail the decadence of time j
honored English manners and conservative aimplieltvj
Thev Jav It all at the door of wealth, and sr5.
s. athinarlv of American and South African mllllo'i t
aires, stock broker and newly rich merchants In tb'
same breath. "OenMlitv In the best sense ha glv
wav to folly." thev sav. - -. t
Instances of dukes and marquises refreshing the? -fashionable
rssemblle with sandwiches and clart ;
cud are cited in pontrnst with the extravagant, din t
nrs of he present s-Iddy swirl, wherein wealth Is th
standard f .eligibility, ; ,y
The patron r-e"iis of Tendon Is no longer the e!at
conservative, old fellow he once was: tbera I t duh
ef that Me ie a alddv frnMpkm eh trle f
the pursuit of now enterintn-ntX View thrM!,jrf ,
n generally the cndsl '-us ; atanth . Ear' 1
nnla -at tr mlMl ! wh rnt tb t'
which rnnnev frnni the enlonle and America 1
ting their titled representatives.
a, i- 1