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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1911)
The Omaha Sunday z Bee Magazine Page C Wright, ltl 1. by Amertean-Examtnsr, Orsat Britain Rights ItMsrvsO. ILPI3T OW, ft? ii i - i i n h ja rlo i i ii a. P i M I X i v v n r ' U First of a Series of Practical Lessons Especially Prepared for American Women by Miss F. Christian Miller, the English Expert. in Health, A' "Fancy yourself lifting a heavy weight and you'll feel a though heary hand were pressing on the' abdominal muscles." "Stretch and ' yawn and notice how the muscles of the abdomen tighten." ISS F. CHRISTIAN MILLER one of the staff of the Conn Institute in London. She was first a pupil, then a teacher, ' and was finally placed on the staff of advisers of that well-known school for smart women who de sire to Improve their health and appearance, and for the training; of young girls to become beautiful women. 8b has been sect by the Conn Institute to this country to teach PoIma and grace, while teaching health. Already she has become the fad In New York, as tbo Conn Institute Is in London. Smart women desiring to Improve them selves have gone to her for Instruc tion. Morning lectures at the Wal dorf and ber drawing-room talks In homes have become features of the fashionable season In New York. Miss Millar, who Is a Fellow of the Conn Institute and entitled to the letters of her degree, has been en gaged to write a series of articles for this newspaper. By F.Christian Miller, F.C.I. ANOBLH Englishman, who had grown from a weakling boy into a sturdy man. who lived to be -eighty, believed that the human race could be made strong and beautiful through right care and exercUe of the body, lie believed that the future of the race depend ent upon the women, because they are its bearers. His slogan throughout the British Empire was "Give us strong, beautiful women." He founded an Institute to teach women how to make themselves strong and beautiful. It waa hU bequest to the world. When Sir Frederick McCoy passed from this world Mrs. Joseph Conn took up his work. The Conn Institute has .become a household word in Lon don. 1 have . come to this country to spread the principles of that insti tute. American women I find at tractive. Indeed charming, but the r T- Note the body that is held in place by the figure and carriage of many show serious errors, it is my purpose in these articles to point out those faults. We are seeking perfection on both sides of the witter, and to point out faults Is to bring about perfection. Many Americarr figures I have seen have three serious faults. The abdomen s balloooy. The hips are too large. And the body Is so laced that the flenh, which has to go somewhere, is pushed up toward the chin, giving the hunched" look, which is bo disfiguring. Now, bh to tho first point, the balloony abdomen. No woman an ever bo beautiful, nor elegant, who has that paunchy look. If she looks a though a pillow were strapped about her circumference, she is, no matter whut her other attractive ness, a sorry sight. And bo with what some one of you clever Amer icans have aptly termed the sign of the spreading hips. No woman, no matter how babyfaced, looks young If she as disproportionately large hips, Both of these unsightly appearances must be banished. The third point the pushed-up, hunched look. Is most unbecoming. That, too, must go. Handsome women I see on your streets look us stiff as a soldier on parade. Their shoulders are too high. And they move as though walking were not the tine, free excrclue it is, but an effort that must be, somehow, gotten through. What is the causo'of all this? Corsets. And I plead for their banishment I should like to see tbem banished from the young girl's wardrobe. If a woman over thirty has worn corset since she 'was a young girl, she must keep on wearing them. But If the young girl be trained la time, beginning. natural corset 1 and the one dwarfed by artificial stays." 1 ' pMiimml J Pill m mil ml mi W iwi ilimk h.. r. 1 iuSlL I across WkVi M if A' abdomen i fi '.''if ir., are firm, ' MflVlS ,arge V'" - -Y I !'''V muscles, toSf? fjr y ?" whose IP" hold I -"K:. " r"T$ '.- and keep h ! " - it fine V I w- and - - Y '' ., , . fj ..'; ;V' jv' ay, when the Is fourteen, there wUl be absolutely no need of her ever wearing them. For nature has given every worn f J corset It she takes care of that she never needs any other. Round about the abdomen, lying diagonally across it are firm, large muscles whose work is to hold In the abdomen and keep It fine and straight But few women know about this corset, and some ignore it What. Is the result of this? The abdom inal muscles are not trained to do their work. The muscles that' are not used weaken. Fat' forms in the weakest parts. Therefore,' the un pleasantly protruding abdomen and the ever-widening hips. Now, how to prevent this? I was once the victim of such accumula tion of flesh. I weighed two hun dred and twenty-four pounds. In six months of training down, by ex ercise alone, I reduced my weight' to one hundred and fifty-tour, where it has remained for three years. It is as low as I wish It to be, because I believe that a woman should have curving hips. In other words, a man's ground plan is the pyramid An American Girl's War on the Foreign Grand Opera Trust A 01 I y American girl, a prima donna native training, ha declared tear on foreign domination oj Utra i America, tihe has tuti Henry W. Savage, producer of Pucclni'i open, "iho Uirl of Ifte QoU-n Wett," tor forty-one thousand dollar for alleged breath of contract, but fte aert$ friendship - for the famou manager and tag that the euit i really a battle againtt the Milan dictator of music matter in this country. ilia Slio writer' proclamation of war follow'. By Edna Blanche Showalter HAVC instituted a lawsuit against Henry W. Ravage, not only to recover damages for the loss I have sustained la being dismissed fter two performances of "The Girl of the Oolden West" but to thoroughly air the abuses ttiatexl8t because In this land of the so-called fiee. America tamely submit in all niattors of music to the domination of other countries. We are free and yet we allow alien rousto publishers, acting under contract with a clique of managers and composers In Milan to control the operas of this country. We are free yet we permit alien managers and conductors to say to American singers: lio tj the rear of the stage. King In the second rate cities. Take the skim milk of achievement and leave the cream to us. We are free and yet we penult a despotism on the operatic stage as great as that which raused patriots to dump a cargo of tea Into Boston Harbor and bring about a seven years' war.. We vaunt our freedom, and yet we never for a moment really assert it. My story told now and later, more fully, In court, will prove all I have said. All my music training has been In this country. I neither Tit abroad tor Instruction nor did I sing In Milan to ask the endorsement of tho over-sea rltics upn my vole and my methods. Therein ! vrote my doom, or so the Milan music clique thought they had decieed. But I, aa American liirl. mean to give them a taste of American spirit, aud I preuirt that the taste will be bltti-r. Kt-Wiiiald DrKoven baa lately shown how the in flu.' n re of this Milan opera trust has stlffled tu liiwarud tho American comjwser. Charles Henry MclUer. the critic, liaa told but Intel how the Milan Influence reaches far, even to the extent of dictating to the managers and directors of grand opera productions all over Europe what singers shall bo enguged for certain operas and the favored artists must bo those who are in favor at Milan. My experience as a prima donna In Mr. Sav age's English production of Fucclul's opera, "The (Mil of the Golden West." Is both Interesting and Important to the American musical world. I think that all American singers, and all who aspire to careers In grand opera, should know exactly what chance an American has la a Meld virtually controlled by a clique of Milan mana gera and producers. Last Kpriug I Blgned a contract to sing ninety performances of the role of Minnie lu this opera, having been assured by Mr. Savage and hia gen eral manager, Mr. Madison Corey, that aa possi bly the only American prima donna among their principals. I would naturally be featured to the fullest extent, and that every condition would be made pleasant for me, so that I could give a great performance of the part of the American girl. I expressed to bo mo of Mr. Savage's office managers eorae apprehension as to w hat chance an American prima donna would bave with a foreign conductor who would be pretty sure to have the traditional contempt for everything American except money. 1 was told not to worry that this was to be a production In Eng lish, and that at the first sign of discrimination against me the Italian conductor would be ahlpped back to Italy forthwith that, as a mat ter of fact, they fully expected st the Savage offices that this very thing would happen, and that they were ready for thern. As the rehearsals went on, I was compelled to sit for long hours and listen to the mlbtakea of others, and to the near riots In which the re hearsals sometimes degenerated. But when I asked for my share of the rehearsals, I was re peatedly assured that I did not need themthat I waa perfect In the role that the others needed end must have the rehearsals. I was then sent to small halls In different parts of the city to rtbearso without sceuery and "props," .while the other principals were under Mr. I'ulacco's ertoual ulin-tiou at the Manhat tan Opera llouso. A dally schedule of the hours aud plana of the rruearkals would be made out in Mr. Savage's othce; and according to these schedules, I should bave had my share in the latter weeks of the rehearsals at the Manhattan. As a matter of fact, when I would report for my rehearsala I would have to sit for the rest of the day and usually evening and listen to the re hearsala of the foreign prima donnas. My debut was arranged for a matinee at Bridgeport. I was given a conductor with whom I had never rehearsed The newspapers in Bridgeport had been given tleketa for the night performance and supposed thatmy debut would be made at night . . However, my debut In the role at the matinee was a success. A small audience showed real and unmistakable enthusiasm and approval. I was personally congratulated by Mr. Savage after tho performance. "You got every word, every syllable over." he said. "I could hear you perfectly." Mr. Polacco between the acts came back to congratulate me. I was finally on the following Thursday night given another performance this time at Syra cuse. Mr. Polacco conducted, but I was given a cast of principals with whom I had never re hearsed. Again I succeeded. I gave a better performance of the part than at my dobut of course, and sang the music of Minnie as I had planned to do, making it real music, aa I believe I'ucclnl Intended it' to be. rather than mere sound and screaming, as it is so often rendered. I sgaln won my audience unmistakably. Several times during the performance Mr. Polacco sent me messages of congratulation, by Mr. Pughlia, the general stage manager. Yet on going to my dreesiug room, flushed with t. genuine ope ratio triumph. I was given a message by two shame faced and embarrassed business managers for the Savage Company, telling me that frcm that moment my engagement (which had been for ninety performances), terminated. When I asked why, I was stammerlngly told that they believed that it was said that 1 was a lyric soprano. Of course, everybody concerned in ray engagement knew that I was a lyric so prano. But It would not be permitted that an Ameri can artiBt, wholly independent of this clique, should really make an instant success in an Italian production. And I predict that Mr. Savage has discovered this domination and will, with American spirit, oon resist it. IJke me. I believe he will soon cry America for the Americans, even the Ameri can operatic stage. h - - 6 ) x Miss F. Christian Miller, F. C. I.' or wedge, while a woman's is a suc cession of soft curves. One of the exercises that rapidly lessens most figures that are of too generous size about' the middle is that of pushing. Fancy yourself lifting a piano, if that were possi ble. Or Imagine yourself pulling a tight cork from a bottle. What would you do? Lean forward and pull with all your might, would you not? Suppose you are doing either. Use your strength and what hap pens? You will feel the muscles of the abdomen tighten, as though, strong hands were pressing down upon it At the same time that you are trying to lift the imaginary piano or pulling the cork from the bottle of your fancy, you will Und your self drawing deep breaths from the very pit of your abdomen. That too, contracts the balloony abdomen. In a word, it tightens the laces and hardens the whalebones, of nature's corset. Rolling has the same effect, but do not roll until you have had your physician's consent For It your heart is weak rolling might be most dangerous. Walking is of dubious value in rnducing the paunchy outline. It' is of value in the sense that fast walk ing causes you to breathe more deeply, and so take more oxygen into tho body. Tho more oxygen there is taken into the body the more quickly the fat vanishes. Much walking produces an appe tite that makes one desire and consume more food. Stretching and kicking are each most valuable for bringing the mid dle of the figure back to its original girlish outlines. You know how, when you are tired, you yawn aud stretch, and how delightful is the sensation. Stretch and yawn and notice how the muscles of the ab domen tighten. Again' nature's cor set Is being drawn up and tight ened. Kicking in any way you like has the same effect. While you are sitting on a couch or lying In bed. or resting in a rocking chair, or standing, kick with little spite ful motions, or with a long, swing ing movement, or with wagglBh little side motions but kick. And while you are sitting sit up right Never lounge. The moment you lop in your chair tne abdomen is thrust forward. The muscles sag. Nature's corset strings are loosened, and you have started on the way to what you Americans forcibly, if not elegantly, describf as a "sloppy figure." Lest you may not quite accep. what I, a stranger, tell you, may I quote to you what W. Arbuthnot Lane, the famous British surgeon, says of nature's corset? "The most effectual means of keeping the viscera in the right place and properly packed Is to ex ercise a sufficient pressure, exerted appropriately on the lower abdo men. The English corset is disas trous, for it exaggerates the down ward displacement of the viscera." War's Latest Terror Bomb-Dropping Aeroplanes T Mi. Shwaltr as the Skcp brd Boy in "The Children at kiiU." rillS problem of dropping bombs accurately' from aero planes in motion has been solved at last The value of the airship In war was greatly limited by the fact that it was quite impos sible to drop explosives from a great height with any certainty that they would hit the target aimed at. The speed of the aeroplane, Its altitude, the acceleration of the missile due to gravity, the wind drift, tho atmospheric conditions were all important factors to be considered and the need of some scientific method, based upon the laws of mechanics Involved and al lowing for the other influences affecting the flight of the prcjec tlle has long been felt. Such a method has been evolved by an' American. Lieutenant Itlley E. Scott a grad uate of West Point Lieutenant Scott lias Invented a device con sisting of a nnmber of rings, so mounted that the inner riug Is al ways horizontal, like a ship's compass. At the centre of this inner ring a telescope Is so mounted that it 1h al ways aima at right angles to Hi rfeig. The projectile are carried in this ring, se that hey are always In a fixed position with relation to the ground. It Is well known that a pro jectile, when falling from the mov ing air craft describes a para bola, determined by the height and speed of the aeroplane. The operator looks through the telescope, which Is so arranged that, when it has the target In full view, the projectile will 'fall at that point. The whole secret then lies In setting tho telescope right and this Is done very alniply by the aid or some diagrams and tables which lieutenant Scott has worked out for . all heights and speeds of aero planes. By a very simple mathematical calculation the operator ascertains both the speed at which he la trav eling and the helyht from the ground; when consulting bis Utiles he sets his telescope, and as that eights the object to be bit by the bomb he drops his projectile, and it cannot fall to fait precisely as It la aimed. By using this device the man la the aeroplane need no longer shoot by guess, but can aim as surely as a , gunner on terra . Anna with range-finder. That thia device Is Invaluable as an adjunct to the aeroplane in war needs no lengthy explanation. It becomes essential to the war aero plane and Increases its efficiency as an Implement of war manifold. The aeroplane will be used, not merely to spy on the enemy, but to drop a bomb In the camp or on the deck of a warship, for it can be UBed with absolute accuracy. The peculiar aerial bombs which will be used with Lieutenant Scott's device are carried in canvas slings and the guides used are rather sug gestive of arrow heads. V ' ! v x u.tram Showing How the night of the Bomb Is Calculated with the Aid of a Telescope. Lieutenant Scott's device has been thoroughly tested by the tnlted States Government and will undoubtedly be adopted by the mil itary authorities. The Inventor is now abroad trying to interest Euro pean governments. In time of peace, as well aa in time of war. this device may be round useful. Aeroplanes have al ready been used for carrying mail and when aerial transportation of small parcels becomes more gen eral some method of delivery with out stopping the machine would save considerable time and labor. With the aid of the new device it will be quite practicable to provide receiving stations for such pack ages Into which the aerial express man or mail carrier may shoot his packages in transit without tear ct njurlng their contents or of strik ing any one. Thee receiving stations would naturally be mounted on springs or some other elastic device having the give necessary to eliminate ghock.