The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
or Steati aid
CReauty
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One of Mr. Morgan's Girls Practis
ing the Leap That Strengthens
and Stimulates the Heart.
Why Disease Is
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Strangling or Starving the Germs
By H. R. Snyder, M. D.
A
N eminent physician recently
stated that he could cover the
entire surface of the earth five
feet deep with diphtheria or typhoid
germs in less than a year's time if he
could find enough food for them in cul
tural media.
Germs propagate In geometrical ratio
and the most common disease germs
double in number about every fifteen
minutes. Their increase is checked only
by strangulation in disinfectant media
or by removing the matter on which they
fad.
T&e specluC germ or mold that causes
the common boil is a good example of
this propogatlon. It can be said roughly
that ten million bacteria are required
to start a boil. These ten million,
packed closely together, could be held
on the point of an ordinary sewing nee
dle. If they are able to work through a
mlcroscopio break in the skin, as for
instance at the root of a hair, and the
disease-resisting elements of the blood
are too weak to strangle them, the boll
starts.
In fifteen minutes the ten million
'germs become twenty million, in fifteen
minutes more the twenty million become
forty million, then eighty million, and
so on till in the course of a week the
figures necessary to express the number
propagated would require several miles
Group of the Morgan Girl
By Mrs. Marion Morgan
EIILE the American woman has
become keenly Intelligent and
well Informed upon the subject
of physical culture, there Is on her part
a satisfied Ignorance as to the wonders
that can be wrought by the leap.
A people who reached the farthest
heights of attainment in health and
beauty, who were distinguished at once
for their great strength and for the
eiqulfllteness of their features, coloring
and subtle grace, the Greeks, two
thousand years ago knew the value of
the leap, and practiced It
In the friezes of ancient Greece you
will see lithe, long-limbed maidens
springing into the air, disdaining the
ground, limbs spread like wings, bodies
poised with the apparent weightlessness
of a bird. While you may not have
noticed these postures, you are familiar
with the result, that the term Greek
maiden is a synonym for grace. No
greater beauty of line has erer been
achieved than that exemplified by the
Greek maiden in the dance.
The perfection of that dance and the
perfection of the figures that lent them
selves so well to the noble lines of the
Greek drapery figures and drapery being
parallel, would not have been possible
without the leap.
American women walk from two to
five miles a day. They dance too much.
They ride enough and row somewhat
They play golf and tennis. But if you
ask them it they practice the leap, or
to give the meaning niore common
clothing, If they "Jump," they will look
puzzled, then indignant Of course, they
don't lump, at least not since they
Jumped rope during their long-sleeved
apron and pigtail stage. And they
straighten their shoulders and compose
their features in such rigid lines that
you are by these tokens Informed that
Cured Only by
of paper. And yet not even this theo
retical number packed together would
occupy a space greater than the size of
a plum.
in making a culture of the blood of a
diphtheria patient, the growth of the
numbers and volume of the germ colony
in a test tube will increase Indefinitely
as long as the conditions of molsutre,
air and food are right The instant
these are changed the growth ceases.
The germs of human disease thrive
best at body temperature in partially
sealed test tubes containing sickly hu
man blood or extractions from animal
blood and tissue. Exposure to intense
heat, fresh air, sunlight or immersion
in any one of a score of mineral solu
tions checks the growth and kills the
disease germs most common in human
beings.
A whole, clean skin exposed to the
sunlight whenever possible is a first es
sential to avoiding disease. A second
step is keeping the system up to Its
maximum tone in disease-reslstence by
proper diet and exercise. A third, is the
faithful disinfecting of all wounds and
cuts, preferably by cleansing with perox
ide and painting with iodine.
If these directions are followed, dis
ease germs will find only starvation
grounds and will not thrive. If they
succeed in entering the system through
the mouth or broken skin they will be
promptly strangled and thrown out by
the disease-resisting corpuscles of the
blood.
Practicing Their Health and Beauty Leap on
the Beach.
you have offended, or at all events have
been misunderstood.
Nevertheless to American women I
say, with all the earnestness in me,
"Get off the ground." Physically and
psychologically you live too near the
ground. The American woman when
she has passed the twenty-fifth mile
Stone and often before, is too heavy in
gait, in body, in deportment Mentally
and physically she needs higher gearing.
This higher gearing the leap accom
plishes. Leaping will quicken the heart
beat, bring back the blood to the sur
face and so equalize the circulation.
The leap, like dancing, the languages,
were better learned while young. The
younger the better. But It la sever Im
possible. If the middle-aged woman will
learn to leap she will find her step grow
ing lighter, her eyes brighter, her com
plexion clearer, her spirits gayer. The
leap will place farther back among the
shadows of dreaded things the spectre of
growing old.
. That It is regarded as unusual and
difficult is shown by the applause that
greets the leap when It occurs in a
dance. It Is like a singer's high note,
like a piano forte player's grand flourish.
When I began training my six pupils,
who have since been and are now tour
ing the country, to show audiences what
can be done for a woman's body and
character through physical culture, I saw
the same look of misgiving across their
faces that always comes to those unac
customed to the word leap and the idea
it represents. My suggestion was re
ceived with more warmth when I spoke
of springing into the air. That is com
prehensible. That does not contain any
slightest hint of departure from feminine
characteristics. The ordinary idea Is
that to leap is boyish, while to spring
Into the air is girlish and girlishly
natural.
To make quite clear to my girl
charges that there was nothing "unlady
like" in such a demonstration, I asked
them If they had ever been so happy
that they wanted to jump with joy.
Every one's right hand went up. Every
young face was a smile. I asked them it
they bad ever watched a kitten at play
and seen It spring Into the air from very
joy of life. Again there were tokens of
recognition of a truth. "Imagine that you
have beard some great, good news." I
continued. "What would you be inclined
to do? What did you do when you were
children and heard that the circus was
coming to town or that you were going
to a picnic T"
They laughed in recognition.
Then I unrolled a huge copy of a
Greek frieze, whereon Greek maidens
were exulting at news of a victory for
their country. All were Jumping up and
down, were springing into the air, were
leaping. After that it was easy to teach
my girls, who afterward became the
Morgan Dancers, to leap.
-Exult in something that delights you,"
I said. If the girls do not feel pleased,
if it were a dismal morning, all adrlzzie,
or If some cloud had obscured the sun
shine of girlish spirits, I had only to
say, "Then remember something that did
please you, and express your pleasure at
that."
What these girls have done other girls
ran do. Women, too. There is no bet
ter place than the beach to perform those
eats of leaping. 1 advice every bather
Coorrlcht. lilt, by tha Star ComoaDV. Griaat Britain Rlrhta RaaarvaA
What American Women Most Need
Learn Is to "Get Off the Ground"
Both in Mood and Fact) Says
Mrs. Marion Morgan, the
Los Angeles Instructor
Trained the
Morgan
Dancers
to jump before going In or after coming
out of the water. The sand Is a far
better place for the exercises than the
water, because the air offers practically
no resistance, while the water offers a
great deal.
Trp to leap upright and you will be
surprised at the resistance of inadequacy
of the unaccustomed muscles. But per
sist. Prepare the mind by saying to your
self, "Rejoice!" Then, one arm extended
straight upward, the other at your side,
spring as high Into the air as you can.
If you tumble over, face forward or back
ward in the sand, no harm Is done. But
leap several times, untllVou are warned
by fatigue that you have Jumped enough.
When you have practiced tnree or four
leaps a day for a fortnight the body will
begin to be obedient It will form a
vertical line. This will give you poise
and lengthen and strengthen the longi
tudinal muscles.
A running jump Is of great value In
the development of strength of the un
used muscles about the waist-line. Run
a half dozen steps, then, flinging your
arms high above your bead, Jump Into
the air. This is an excellent heart stim
ulus. Taken thus in the open, it excels
any Spring or other season tonic.
The high run, with one arm extended
in front, the other at the back, then al
ternating, is a most valuable exercise
for the digestive tract.
The leaping should be done singly at
first. Afterward groups may form and
the Jumping be done In unison, under a
leader's commands. The running group
enjoys the added zest of competition,
which Is always an incentive to do one's
best.
The seashore is a good spot also for
the exercise known in the gymnasium as
working at the bars, but Is In most in
stances stretching. My girls found at
Atlantic City, among the rough girders
of the pier, strong timbers from which
they swung their weight back and forth
by their bands, rhythmically as the pen
dulum o fa clock. The sideward swing
exercises develop long, supple waist mus
cles, a slender btp line, a straight back
and full chest
That Is another exercise in which wo
men of this country are singularly Inept,
and which Is one reason why they do
not grow taller. American women would
acquire a much statelier height if, from
their childhood, their longitudinal mus
cles were stretched by swinging from'
cross bars, branches of trees or lintels
of doors.
It Is a very good symptom of national
growth that dancing is Indulged In at
the beach at the seashore. There Is no
better time for dancing than the day,
while the sun Is sblning: no better place
than the beach, where the bodies are
unimpeded by too much clothing. It is
a natural expression of a natural Joy
In life, and under right spirited chaper
onage should be encouraged. If bathers
would Indulge In leaping, running, swing
ing and dancing on the beach, Instead
of passively looking on or taking quiet
sun baths they would derive far more
benefit The bathers who chill quickly
should exercise In these sports for fifteen
minutes preceding the ocean bath.
Leaping, running, swinging, dancing,
especially out of doors, are a return to
the spirit of old Greece. Lty so much as
Americans encourage this spirit, espe-
in Physical Culture, Who
V I S:. '..' '.;v- " iff If J
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Mis Gertrude Hoff
man, the Famous
Dancer, Practicing
the Running
Leaps That
Add Height
and Give
Grace.
daily in their young, but not limiting it
exercise to them, they will develop a
more beautiful race, a race of gymnasts,
of strong men and women who are both
strong and graceful. Moreover, they will
rear a race that Is without the brand of
neurasthenia, that Is of moral and bodily
courage, and that will not perish from
the earth until the earth Itself is lost
amid a wreck of worlds.
The person on a long vacation at the
seashore would develop the flabby, un
used muscles, characteristic of inactive
city life, into strong rounded muscles
poBsessInf the tone of supple elasticity
and contractlblllty.
The more time I devote to the upbuild
ing of tine, strong bodies .and corres
ponding character, the more 1 believe in
governing exercises by the spirit of play.
No one can give his best efforts to his
or her work In the world unless a healthy
balance be maintained between work and
play. "Happiness In the high
est sense" is the motto I have
Instilled In my girls.
ir I were speaking a fare
well word to American wom
en I would
repeat and
e m p h a size
the wore"
"leap." U
A m e r 1 c an
girls would
practise leap
tng they
would grow
taller and be far more graceful.
Next to leaping the most valuable ex
ercise la rolling. Everybody should roll
about on the ground for at least an houi
a day. Preferably on the grass, but It
will still give good results if practised
on the floor of one's room.
Look at the horses, cats, dogs and other
animals. See how they enjoy rolling.
That proves how valuable Is the desire
for this exercise.
While leaping gives grace, strength,
elasticity and balance, rolling la Indis
pensable for stimulating the circulation,
working the vital organs functions, and
maintaining general health.
to
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The Running Jump That Give
Elasticity to the Muscles.
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