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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1911)
r - BR II - Ay . ail v 1.1 1 II;'. . "i L-I A'!-jritf --.J : A iV-tf 4 i r v ! - p1' : -v 4 1 ' . I . i Vl - 5,:-'" Jibli ..' Every-Year Sees Our . w omen Going Further Back Toward Male Lines, Is the Opinion of Dr. Dudley . Sargent of Harvard ; TIRST of all, you needn't worry about ti it. . Suppose your figure is becoming more masculine t Suppose Prof. Dudley A. . Sargent, of Harvard, really did :ay itf-an& he really did. Suppose more than half the artists and doctors agree xvith him? . Xou're not doomed to grow side whis kers tomorrow morning, any more than you "were doomed to eternal wasp-waistedness and hock-bottle shoulders because your dear mam- Mas had them d quarter of a century ago. Nor to discount the interesting future a little bit rare your children, if they be daugh ters, written down in the Book of Fate as pre destined to the welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight championships of the boxing ring. They will have only themselves and omnipotent Dame Fashion to thank if, in try ing to become perfect women, they fail to remain perfect ladies and make themselves a species of imperfect men. They can even re vert to the wasy waist and the hock-bottle shoulders vf their grandmothers if they want to, although it will be harder to degenerate in their generation than it is in this one. But they probably won't want tg, although that, of course, is far and away the great, de termining factor involved in the change that is now going forward in the, adorable figure of the e4ernal feminine. Woman has enjoyed so protracted a period of emancipation from her helplessness, physically as well as mefntally, that she is able and seems willing to defy even potent Fashion for the sake of her strength, health and blessed freedom. , So, for all the protesting outcries against Doctor Sargent's dictum regarding woman's transformation into a-faint semblance of the , sterner sex, there isn't the smallest need to feel concerned over it. " , woman's figure is being lost, neveif to - be regained, it's a satisfying comfort that it - isn't your figure; it's the one that started in genet ations away back, among your great-great-grandmothers. f"T 118 'eCor, now 0Bly on Pt vho, amid the ,, ,; hoarse .plaudits of p1iyslcal culturists and JL physicians arid the raucous shrieks of the ' phllosdphcrs and the artists, has ever con- descended to waste his verses in the transformation of women Into men. He was an ardent old connoisseur of classic Rome, Ovid byname: He Is famous for having had a mlfcbty fine taste in women, k Taking a day ofT from his attentions to an attractive- young lady of his era, named Lesbla, Mr. Ovid - gave to the world his expianatioa of the miraculous manner in which people could change, their ox, by the simple P'oeese' of . taking shank's mare VMHtativeMB4- 4far4Mmeatring Mrpnit.'-who: even In Qvid'i time, was an old resldenter. The minute the serpent clapped eyea on. you. your Own family ' wouldn't know you. . If you were the duke of Abroszl, ) oi would be transformed Into Miss Annie Peck; and If jou .were Miss Annie, you'd straightway grow a 1 THE OREGON SUNDAY I d T 1 , "V :. .r.. jfiW V 0 1111 T vai 3111 ' lV.frllSL "S:, W -III , ill xxx n x i it v - I sin Zrr-cZ. III! i-S; 7 M..a.aniA an A a VtarvlAna vrrit lllra e-Vi 4nb-Aa waxed mustache and a barytone voice like the duke's. Ovid wasn't altogether specific about the location of his mountain and Its serpent; but Doctor Sargent's declaration makes It look aa though the gay old Roman was mora of a prophet than a poet The mountain of athletic exercise and the serpent of writhing gymnastics, as tbey are being tackled today by practically all the girls who can afford the time and money, have already changed the lines of their bodies and brought their physique to a remarkably close -resemblance to that of man. It must be remembered that Doctor Sargent Is the thundering Jupiter of physical development. He has invented modern systems of exercise, modern strength tests, modern stunts In physical hygiene and, to a considerable extent, modern man. And that Isn't so much of an exaggeration as It ' looks; for he has been foremost, as director of Harvard's athletics, in determining the lines of development along which all modern man's exercises have been carried. Being a very scientific sort of physical culturlst, "Doctor 8argent started In, as soon as he knew how? collecting measurements of all the human specimens he could secure. Twenty years ago he had 20,000 measurements of American -girls, most of them wives and mowers long since, some of them grandmothers by this time. You can see those 20,000 American beauties of the last century, unadorned and Just as harassed nature made them, in the single composite figure to which Doctor Sargent reduced the whole lot. Note, please, how trivial are the shoulders, how small the waist, how wide the hips, how little the feet how lean and pinched the necK. tfet she was the Ideal of feminine fashion in that day of the pitiless corset and the lackadaisical lady. Doctor Sargent, comparing his Infallible anthropo metrlcal charts the other day, was impressed with the startling change that has come over the body, If not the spirit of love's young dream, as it is realized la the modern woman. "Why," he exclaimed, for publication, "woman has been thoroughly made over Blnee the time that com posite statue was designed to conform to the average measurements of 20,000 women. It Is approximating 'more that of man. Her grandmother's sloping shoulders, no longer In fashion, have disappeared. Woman's shoulders n6w are broad, athletic shoulders, well knit with muscle, like her back. Her neck Is thicker and more muscular; her limbs are more smoothly developed; her very hands and feet are larger. Her hips are nothing like so large as they were, and her waist has assumed more generous proportions, with a decrease In size of the whole pelvic region as a consequence of the waist's enlarge ment. It Is said that her chest is flatter. I would not make that statement positively; but it is true that Oll people will call this' a scandal; 1 call it a romance." Those words were jutt$re4Jby.Jlr8 she deserted her husband for a young English army officer. y: " " That was thirteen years ago. Today Mrs. Mace Greenleaf for that is her 1 no JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 1, lSll i 79- 2?jse &rp&r&F her chest may 'appear to be flatter. It Is certainly larger and better developed, as a chest, than the one In the composite statue of twenty years ago. . 1 "No doubt the use of the modern corset, compress ing the hips, has something to do with the apparent change in woman's figure; but the vitally Influencing thing, has been .her indulgence in outdoor exercise, together with her devotion to general athletics. It has actually made a new woman of her, even to her bands and feet, which are bigger and stronger and more useful. , . "Women In the savage state were so like men that U was hard to tell the sexes apart. As civilisation progressed, the peculiarly feminine characteristics have been overdeveloped. But the pendulum has begun to swing the other way. Women are again com ing to look and be mope like men." First thing Doctor Sargent knew, there were a lot of women and artists who were jumping on him with the energy that belonged originally to the savage races 01 manxina, ana nas oeen equaiea only tn modern times on the football field. Dr. Mary Hoffman-Jones, who is an earnest advocate of physjcal .culture, wouldn't admit that woman Incoming to have the physical characteristics of marf.. -Harrison Fisher, the artist, who boasts that he has studied 10,000 of the most beautiful women of this (feneration, declare that their .peculiarly feminine details as. to figure are as name now can repeat the Same sentence for Bhe recently eloped with a young lawyer, the son of a California judge. ' Mrs. Lucy Banning Bradbury Greenleaf has had a checkered career. Four times she has startled western society by eloping. Yet each man Love. love, love ! That has heon th nna desire of this heautiful woman since she made her debut in 1893. She was only 18 years old then. "What love can do, that Mares love attempt" f- r.:i - ill' ,M h II . BMMIirtMiiillwiWilMrtiii,iii,iiii i II ' - 11 V:-A-:ty? ''r , pronounced today at they were their grandmas. He al.o take, hie eolemn oath that their hands and feet aren't bigger, their waists are as email their" hips as big, their cheats as high, and their natures as adorable, as they were when he was a boy maybe more so. But John W. Alexander, who Is president "of the National Academy of Design, promptly Indorsed Doctor Sargent's views, and went him, one better by noting the fact that woman's brain Is developing along masculine lines aa unmistakably as her body, An,d he Intimated that he was proud and happy 9 be, alive while it waf going on, and he -wouldn't swf back to ine Dig nips ana nine Drains xor a Kfd ueai. Then along came Henry Hutt, who,' dropping a.few rhapsodies on the shape of MUs Reba Dale, his latest model, said she has a short waist, long, lithe limbs and small hips, when you see her .with her corsets oft. "That is the new feminine figure." Artist Hutt ex plained,, enthusiastioaliyt "A graceful, refined adapta tion of the figure of a well-set-up man. 'with shoulders and hips which, when she is well corseted ano gowned, are about an inch less in circumference than the bust." i N EARING GREEK IDEAL Dr. Anna "Wells Bloomer," a prominent woman physician in New York, contributed her opinion that the American woman is rapidly approaching the true Greek Ideal of perfection; and it takes a pretty husky candidate to do it. Venus, who was an armful for any man, was about 6 feet 10 Inches, and Juno-was built along similarly expansive architectural lines. This is the way Doctor Bloomer measures grand old Juno; Neck, 1$ Inches; shoulders, 45 Inches'; bust, 40 inches; hips, 45 Inches; wrist, 8 Inches; ankle. 10 Inches; weight, 176 pounds; height. feet: shoe. No. T. woman 5 feet 8 Inches high, weighing about 140 pounds, with 39-Inch hips and a No. J foot. The reason we are coming nearer to those Greek goddesses; who were the acme of perfection, is that we have discarded the concave waist and are taking exercise somewhat along the lines 01 tne ureek women of classic times." The excitement precipitated by Doctor Sargent's statements traveled overto England, where they have been keeping anthropometrtcal measurements, too. John Gray, the secretary -of he anthropometrtcal committee of the British Association, unhesitatingly conceded the facts quoted by the American authority,' but added that it was purely a matter of exercise and fashions. The masculinity f woman's figure today is no menace or hope as one may regard it for the figure of her children. -. Iature," remarked Mr. Gray, "works on a broader scale than & single feneration. The child of the black- That has been her motto, and explains why she has been a woman whose life' ha9 been made up of marital thrills. F OUR tlfnes has Mrs- Mace Oreenleaf. of Los Angeles, run away with' the man' whom she - thought at the time she would love forever. Aa her mode of living chanared with pausing time, so this woman -demanded that her center of affections should correspond to her varying whims. This neroine of many elopements was witphlngly beautiful and immensely wealthy. Therefore she never had "any trouble In getting the man she wanted. 'As a young and charming girl' Lucy Banning was fond of the whirl of society. Being the daughter of Gen eral Phlneaa Banning, and accomplished as well, her name was to be found at the head of every real social event In her home city. She created a sensation after her debut Dinners, dances and theater parties galore were given in her honor. Lucy Banning was Indeed the belle of the season At first shecwas content, but soon her happiness gave way to discontent. She Was not content with being a favorite; she wanted to be a leaden Receiving at receptions and being the butterfly of the occasions did not satisfy LUcy Banning. This slip of a girl wanted to rule. ' . , 1 Marriage was the only remedy.-Bo Miss Banning' Colonel John l. uraaDury was tne man. He was a millionaire, the owner of the Mlnas del Taso, at Rosarlo, Mexico, and exceedingly popular. He. too, was invited to the moat exclusive affairs. Many other debutantes, as well as their older sister', had set their caps for the colonel and failed. 1?af1,ii. warn nnlrnAWn T.llV -Rnnflinff. RhS charmed the colonel and an elopement was the sequel. After-ier -niMrUge. Mr aradbury. changed id about being a aocial leader; Two of the oldest families and two of the greatest fortunes had been ' united by the marriage, and the bride had an enviable position. . - . : But her- tastes changed, Bhe tired of the eonven ,tlonal recreations of staid society. After she had 1 hm.ii imiiumiiiiwwim .mmKmmfmmmm I f , u 1 i J ' A I'M t- - -- I l ll II IP Mill l II I M l &J - If .; 1 Ii ItSflr y I , . ... J asit l m TT-r"' ' """T? T li077r .JjOWyTA , ff ,"1. '' VCSiW72 IiZr-tr sfij9sr- c5K:r ygJt, ygyq J 5? smith does not necessarily Inherit the father's brawny muscles; the daughter of a broad-shouldered, heavy banded, athletic woman will revert to the small waist and narrow, boltle shoulders of the young woman of the early Victorian period, if she be brought up in the early "Victorian fashion." But it U Just that fashion which physical directors, women of fashion and women of brains are hoping wtll -never return. These classes Seem to have a pretty powerful influence In determining . what the fashions are to be. And there appears to be a consensus of opin ion, with Doctor Sargent prominently in the lead, in expressing It, that the new woman, with her near man figure, is about the handsomest thln,g that has appeared on earth since time began.' The resemblance between the two sexes, at 'the period when man was conceded to be in his condition,, of highest physical beauty, is notable In statues of Ureek art, as when one compares an Apollo, who might almost have been taken for a' woman In the delicacy of his outlines, with a typical Greek 'Woman, whose large waist, with the hands and feet in due proportion, is as little distinguishable from a man. 'l But If we carry the comparison back much beyond the Greeks, and come to the eras where the race wa existing in something approaching Its original sim plicity of habit, we find that only the fullness of the' bust and some more delicate chiseling of the features mark the distinction between the sexes. - The oldest statues known to be in existence are, perhaps, those Of the Egyptian prince, Ra-Motep, and bis wife, Nefert 1 Seated side by side, theii; shoulders are equally broad and square, their hips equally narrow, their bodies equally muscular". Nefert is, nevertheless, the beauty of the pair, although no oip would be able to tell them apart if he saw their backs instead of their faces. But it has taken 6000 years for humanity to get as far away from that original masculine woman as we are now. Ajid womankind may have to exercise for 6000 years longer before- she can feel certain that she'a going to be born that way, without having to work the chest exerciser and the dumbbells to get it And 6000 years is a long .time toowalt found that she could bring the most aristocratic and exclusive families of Los Angeles to her beautiful suburban home at an hour's notice she wanted to de something else. - Poetry became her hobby. Then Captain W. Russell Ward' crossed her path. He and his wife and two children were the guests of the Bradburys. Ward was an Englishman, but hit wife, a Senorlta Bandanl, had made her debut With , Mrs. Bradbury. This was her first visit sinoe her marriage. The captain spent his telsure moments writing poetry. Here was what Mrs. Bradbury had been yearning for. The two spent hours reading poetry to one another. She surprised her friends by telling them thaH Ward was Interesting. No one else agreed with her. Indeed, every one asked what his wife had seen la him. He was middle aged, poor and commonplace. Mrs, Bradbury s explained that Ward was "The Sphinx." "Who is there that does not want to read the riddle of the SphinxT' Then the elopement, which ended in a tragedy, ' took, place. Mrs. Ward and her children started fo Europe. The captain and Mrs. Bradbury disappeared the next day. , The pair were arrested in a cafe In San Francisco. . There was a trial and Mrs. Bradbury was released. But the man who fascinated her wasAned $2000, Mrs. Bradbury tired of the man at once. , Bhe knew he was without a cent and was in a Strang country without friends. But her whims had changed, -so Ward was sent to Jail. . The colonel forgave his wife, and the couple lived In retirement for the next four years at Sinoloa Hills, Mexico. ...... As for Ward. Well, he committed suicide. He Jumped from a train at Wheatland, Iowa, after he had ; been released He stayed In Jail until his wife reached Liverpool, when she heard of his escapade and cabled N him the necessary money, with orders to Join her. "It was all her fault," was the characteristically ' feminine excuse for the man's act. .The spirit of unrest again seised Mrs. Bradbury after four years' exile. She was tired of hearing It said that she could never launch Into society again, and she and her husband returned to Los Angeles. Bhe proved . again that what she .wanted she was bound to have, and Mrs. Bradbury became a social queen once again. , ., . Bradbury again began to bore his pretty wife, and ' she divorced hlnv "He was always impossible," was her reason given In the witness stand at the trial. 1 Another chapter opened in this young woman'! life-story. Mrs. Bradbury continued to study poetry while In exile, and Shakespeare was her favorite. The billboards announced that "Romeo- and Juliet" was to be played at Burbank's Theater. Mrs. Brad bury organised a box party for the opening night Mace Greenleaf had the lead. His poetio rendition ' of the lines and his lmpasslonate tones as he pleaded ' with Juliet stirred the romantio spirit in Mrs. Brad . ..bury'S; breast ' ..-...-iii.. : .. fit I could only have a man make love to ma like that 1 would be happy' Mra Bradbury said to her i companions. C'-'V.-; . - . . Bhe was In the same box the. next evening, and friends noticed she leaned far put of her box during ' the balcony scene. 1 Dalcony scene. ,.. -.w-.- . ' . 1 lr .,, , After, the .Wednesday matinee Mrs. Bradbury was introduced to her hero. Before the end of the week she was a bride once more. -.-:, . , - That eloDement occurred -four yean aa-o. The couple llvedHMirenely together jntil now. Another man peculiarly f interested her,, and she deserted her Little (is known of the man, except that he la voting lawyer and. the son of a federal Judge. :It. Is whispered" that Mrs. Greenleaf heard 'his, appeal to a Jury at a trial and decided that he must be hers. .' ." -'. if':; "What wlir Lucy do next 7" Is again, being asked. - C -: - u 1 1 JLjn, V J