The Omaha Sunday
V
A 1 M
A Type of Open Air Dem
onstration on the Beaches
Much Objected to.
Why the
Scanty
Attire and
Free Con
duct of
Modern
Bathers Is
Being
1X7
Condemned Throughout
the Country, and How
the Critics Are
Answered
T
fHE attlr and conduct of bathers
at the beaches this year hare
again given rise to an ever-ln-
creasing wave of comment and criticism
On the one hand. It Is protested that
never before have the limits of decency
been so completely ignored, while, on
the other hand. tne departure from con
ventional ideas in bathing costumes Is
nailed as a necessary reform in order
to facilitate swimming and promote
physical exercise.
The tact that women's bathing attire
this season is scantier and designed to
reveal more of the figure than ever be
fore is evident to every one who has
visited the shore resorts. Photographs
of actual scenes taken at random on
beaches in the vicinity of New York
are shown on this page.
It cannot be denied, either, that the
craze for the modern dance, which de
veloped originally in the ballroom, then
spread to the roof garden and gradually
became an attraction at the restaurant,
has now revealed itself on the beaches.
There are those who see In these de
velopments convincing evidence of our
civilization's decay.
The degradation of society through
luxury, indulgence and the pursuit of
earthly pleasures, it Is pointed out,
was the forerunner of the fall of
Greece and Rome, and there is no rea
son to hope that, exhibiting the same
symptoms, we may escape the same
fate.
On the other hand. It has been widely
contended that while in a few cases the
proprieties have undoubtedly been ig
nored, prudish people have been raising
a tempest in a teapot. Abbreviated bath
ing attire is essential if the valuable
sport of swimming and bathing is to be
properly enjoyed, and leap-frog and
dancing on the beach are extremely use-
Why Love
By William Lee Howard, M. D.
CHARLES LAMB, In one of bis poems
describing the feelings of lovers,
says: "That they do not rightly
wot, whether It be pain or not" Cowley
signs: "A mighty pain to love It Is,"
while Dry den states:
"Pains of lovs be sweeter far
Than all other pleasures are."
But the cold-blooded psychologist sees
in the pains of love only one of the many
symptoms of man's snd woman's chang
ing natures necessary to keep the world
populated and progressing.
At first thought it would not appear
that there was any connection between
the pains of the body and the pain of the
soul-lyre. But the causes are related;
the effects the same.
Pain In the body can destroy the souL
Pain In the soul can destroy the body.
Both sorts of pain mean that you should
search for the trouble and apply the
remedy. But too frequently soul and
body pain are so overpowering as to de
stroy self judgment
As examples: One who suffers from
constant and racking pain which cannot
r
The Old-fashioned Bathing Costume,
Which Is as Offensive in the Eyes of
Some as the Scanty Modern Attire Is
to Others.
ful excises, which ought not to be re
stricted. Because physical exercise of this char
acter has been impossible on : the
beaches in the past, owing to the hin
dering attire which women have been
timid enough to tolerate, is no reason
why It should be neglected now, it Is
pointed out, when more sensible attire
has been adopted.
Nevertheless, many Influential people
have become so Incensed at the 1915
brand of beach conduct that a censor
ship of bathing attire is being strongly
urged.
Perhaps the most outspoken critic of
the new order of things at the beaches
is the Rev. Father John L. Belford, of
the Church of the Nativity, Brooklyn,
N. Y who believes that these things are
certain signs of our moral decay.
in a scathing tirade Father Belford
recently declared:
"These two months are the worst in
the year. The intense heat makes them
physically bad and the general relaxa
tion makes them morally bad.
' "It is unfortunate that bo
many people believe that ,
badness la the chief con
stituent of a good time. Rest
and change are good for
everyone, but when they
entail dissipation and vice
they become real evils, it
Is an old saying that 'Satan
always doth some mischief
find for Idle bauds to do.'
"The busy man is not tor- '
tured with temptation. But
as soon as he drops his
Is a REAL PAIN
be relieved and whose causa cannot h
stopped commits suicide. Another suf
fering from the pains of unrequited love
and from which there csn be no relief
also commits suicide. It is a scientific
fact that the pain of the soul can cause
a heart literally to break. The reason is
that real love Is a powerful emotion.
Emotions produce shock. Most natures
rebound to ordinary shocks. But some
times, as In a physical shock, the effect
is deadly.
1 the caae f Powerful soul shocks
the pains are too severe, controlling, to
live under. It la no reflection upon the
unfortunate girl who destroys her Ufa
to say she lacked moral courage; that
she should have held up under the great
pain of Injured love. We cannot place
ourselves In her awful state. To those
who never have really suffered, Ulk and
advice are easy to utter.
All pain means there is distress some
where In body or soul. Pain is an alarm
clock; a messenger call from the affected
part asking for help. Pala is also doctor
and nurse.
When you break your arm, if there was
no pain upon moving it you would soon
Injurs the fractured ends, set np in-
LI
"Mi...
Playing Leap-frog ;
the Beach. A
Healthful Sport
Made Possible by
the New Abbrevi
ated Bathing Cos
tumes, but Which Is
Angrily Condemned
in Many Quarters as
Being Too Immodest.
...' S 1 . .
.fi t i
l f l ,: -
v
V
.J
-it
and a Broken Heart CAN KILL
flamatlon and prevent healing. The pain
tells you first to keep the arm still, then
to send for the doctor to put the ends to
gether and keep them there, so they can
not rub against each other.
The pain of appendicitis acts In a sim
ilar manner to prevent further inflama
tlon and possible death; for fearful pains
occur if you try to move about. Tbey
send yon to bed and call for the surgeon.
The whole body in any abdominal infla
matlon is able to aid in a cure on ac
count of the severe pain compelling quiet
The pain causes temporary paralysis of
the abdominal muscles, puts your body
la a natural splint, this being necessary
to avoid spread of inflamatlon.
Without pain as a warning, emergency
doctor and nurse, not one of us would get
out of childhood alive.
Pain always means that some sort of
relief Is needed to a disturbed organ or
function, feeling or desire.
Lore is that part of existence which
makes It worth while. It is the stimu
lating function of all living things. With
out some kind of love supporting and
feeding the hungry soul the pain is dis
tressing and destroying. It mar be slight
at first, but soon Increases unless satis-
Copyright 1815. by the Star Company.
Bee Magazine Page
b
eaci
Civi
fled to an Intolerable decree.
It may be mother love or the natural
love for mate. In either case It it is un
satisfied It causes pain. Do not forget
that mental distress, longings, lonesome
ness, the hunger for sympathy are only
degrees of soul pain.
Pain may come from another kind of
love or, better said, a longing, a hunger
to attain some object In life. Such soul
paina come from a dissatisfied ambition
to make a name in literature or art, to
be a carrier of God's messages, to give
to the world some valuable invention or
discovery.
When a man or woman Is possessed of
these lmpuUes and desires to the exclu
sion of all other really important matters
in life, and fails to release or obtain
them, most obsessing mental and soul
pains are certain to follow.
This pain calls for relief. Relief only
can come through attainment This be
ing considered impossible, the suffering
individual commits suicide or else sinks
into a state of mental and moral lethargy.
Many of the sad tales related In the dally
papers have at their bottoms these de
plorable conditions.
Orsat Britain Rights Reserved.
Mfll
I . ' Tangoing on the Cx v .J-
Beach, a Com- .S 7 V
: '--- won Sight This- ' .A
--. Season. V' f
Pr
iztion
-cApfrog Has Become a Popular Sport At Most Bathing Beaches This Year Owing
to the Freer Costumes Worn by Women.
business and runs away for a vacation
tie finds danger on every side. The books
he buys to read on the way, the compan
ions he meets on the train, the amuse
ments provided at his destination, the
conversation and the atmospbers are
simply charged with moral poison.
"When we leave home, let us bear in
mind that we do not leave Ood. "In him
we lire and move and have our being."
The Ten Commandments are not bounded
by city limits.
"Propriety and decbrum are guardians
of virtue, and nothing should Induce us
to set them aside.
"Style may demand certain concessions
but It may never demand the sacrifice of
modesty or decency.
"Prudery Is contemptible, but we may
never disregard St. Paul's injunction,
"Let your modesty be known to all menl
The Lord is night" Read the Epistle to
the Epheslans, especially the fifth chap
ter, where the apostle tells us that Im
modesty should not be so much as named
among vs, nor obscenity nor foolish talk
nor scurrility.
"Let people say what they
will about dancing, the fact re
mains thst it Is always dan
gerous and often positively
sinful. Promiscuous dancing
Is Inexcusable. Dancing with
strangers Is worse.
"A visit to the beaches Is
quite enough to eonvlncs the
most broad-minded thst there
prevails a degree of Immorality
that Is sbsolutely Inexcusable.
"No one will dispute the fact
that a certain degree of un
dress Is essential for bathing,
but when that degree Is used
soend the day or a large
r
r
cav
part of It on the ssnds, where the sexes
mingle with a degree of freedom that
would not be tolerated on the street or
even In a ballroom. It la time to cry out
In protest
"The spectsele of hslf-naked women
and men lying about the beaches, and,
often In each other arms, should not bs
tolerated In sny civilized community.
"Canon Llddon has a passage which we
may well read and ponder:
" 'When Greek thought was keenest, and
Greek art most triumphantly creative,
and Greek political Ufa so organised as
to favor In a degree elsewhere unknown
among men, the play of anan's highest
natural energies. Greek society was pen
etrated through and throogn by an In
visible enemy, more fatal In Its ravage
to thought, to art to freedom, than the
sword of any Persian or Macedonian foe.
And already In the age of the early
Caesara Rome carried in her bosom the
secret of her Impending decline and fall
in the coming centuries.
"'St Paul detected and exposed it In
terms which are more explicit than those
employed by Tacitus snd Juvenal. The
life-blood of a race may be drained away
less nobly than on the battlefield. Every
capacity for high and generous exertion,
or for the cheerful endurance of sufferlna
at the bidding of duty, all the stock of
moral force on which a country can rely
In Its hour of trial, may be sapped, de
stroyed, snnlhilated by a domestic traitor
" 'So it fared with Imperial Rome. The'
fate of the great empire was not really
decided on the Rhine or on the Danube.
Before the barbarians bad as yet begun
to muster their savage hordes along the
frontiers of ancient civilisation, their
work had well-nigh been completed, their
victory had been won, in the cities, the
palaces, nay, in the very temples of the
empire.
"'And upon what resources could the
old Pagan aociety fall back In Its alarm
at and struggle with this formidable foe!
It could not depend upon the State. The
Emperor was the State by impersona
tion; and not unfrequently It happened
that the Emperor was the public friend
and patron of the State's worst enemy.
Nor could any reliance by placed upon
philosophy.
" 'Doubtless philosophy means well In
some of its phases. In some of Its repre
sentatives. But philosophy la much too
feeble a thing to enter the lists success
fully with snlmal passion: and, aa a mat
ter of fact philosophy has more than
once been compelled or cajoled Into plac
ing her lntelluctual weapons st the dis
posal of the sensualist
"This enemy Is our enemy. It Is not
imaginary, it Is real. It is at our doors.
It stalks abroad without disguise. Its
agents are legion. Its power grows
apace. Never was it so bold, so strong,
so Impudent as it is here and now. Nor
are these manners confined to the vulgar
East Slders.
"Under the flag of the Knights of Colum
bus some of our own young men and wo
men spend Sundays and holidays in bun
galows and tents at Coney Island and
Uockaway In this less than half dress,
dancing and amusing themselves on the
sands.
"Let others do what they will, we who
have the light to know evil and the power
to overcome it should do all we
TT can to limit It
VOS "Evil Is not to be trifled with.
mere is oniy one way to nanaia
It. That is to avoid the places
where it prevails and the persons
who practice it."
Another Photograph
Snapped at a Public
Beach Showing
Bathers Enjoying a
Modern Dance.
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