Saving Strength 



13 19 



Fig. 14 



should be made to fit the women who work at them; women should not 



be obliged to fit their height to tables. It may be argued in favor of the 



low table for general use, that some women are 



short and so could not work at a high table, 



whereas a tall woman can accommodate herself 



to a low table by stooping. Of course, the best 



worktable is that which suits the worker's height; 



but if two women of marked difference in height 



must use the same table, then it is much better 



for the shorter woman in her work to reach some- 

 what upward — as we have seen little children 



do — than for the taller woman to stoop to any 



considerable degree. For the shorter woman a 



stool or step may be placed in front of the 



worktable, the ironing 

 board, or the bench used 

 for the washtub. For her 



to make the big, sturdy leg-muscles do a little extra 

 work in taking a step upward to her work is far 

 better than for the taller woman to jeopardize her 

 health, her powers of daily endurance, and the 

 natural beauty of her figure by straining and 

 bowing her back over too low a table. 



Wise economy. — " A penny saved is twopence 

 earned " in physical as well as in commercial life. 

 Many pennies of nervous energy may be saved in 

 a day's work by using only 

 the muscles necessary in the 



accomplishment of any task. For instance, in 



lifting, many persons use the back and arm muscles 



when only the latter are needed. Fig. 17 (a) 



shows the physically extravagant way of taking 



hold of a chair to lift it; Fig. 17 (c), the economical, 



easy, becoming way. In carrying a weight the body 



should be easily balanced, instead of being tipped 



backward from the hips, that the lower back muscles 



may not overwork as in Fig. 17 (a). 



The body's servants. — You remember the wise old 



saying, " Make your head save your heels "? Let 



us give you another: " Make your arms and legs 



save your back." Every woman facing a big day's work should re- 

 member that she has four sturdy servants to do her bidding. She should 



Fig. 15 



Fig. 16 



