New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-01-21

l. 80, s .x,e,ded and hurl the balls 10 distance.
rhev Aim, An iron bar, held by tie middle; they
sncnort heavy club in every possible position at
Tho sbonlder. behind tie back, one with the left
hand another with the right at night angles, or two
topetler one in each hand. They swing tie cluu
no zontay aud overhead or vertically and behind,
or round aud round the body.
Preparatory to leaping the proper muscles must he
taught their necessary contractors, and th Is cone
to the words Of comnsnd-'' Simultaneous Eexion OF
The legs" Simultaneous heXiOn Of the thighs aIi'
legs whereat they hop on the rieht or tie iei' ies
singly, and then On both together. They are l'ae
tlced in advancing on the position Of kneehng on oh'
leg alternately, obviously very useful mode oil POO
erosion for skrn.si in stealthly changing posi-
ton behind low wall or hedge.
They are taught to walk systematically on The
heels alone aud On tiptoe, ard to fling cannon Da'
with the f ct by means Of wrap aiaehe" 10 il' "'
pracce alone can tabiuaie 10 10 the proper ih'l'ia
ton of 81 G body in ascending aud defcehdiDs' oo''
these modes Of marching IRE carefully i"ngh', a'
tention being fixed to throwing the weight oi 'n'
body on the point Of the feet in tie iofcf' aiu VI
Il o heels in the latter.
Their wrestling takes every shape and mode oi
contest. With extended arms, tie myers '"'',
oeked. the left leg advanced, they push az ""s cav,
char. or bodinr each other by the hanGs OF D! 'hc
yri.ts they pull against each other; or ehch man
holding bis left WRIT with bis night hand, the 'hno
r,rneorh seizes with his left hand the wris Oh Dye
au,aooui,t snd then at the word "wree'ie, lie Pul'
or pushes uniformly by jerks TO the rsht' 10 uo
Jeff. forward, to the rear, upward ana oo""""'''
striving TO dspace his antagonist
Furnished with appropriate bandIea' WIN soor'
cord attached, they pull against each other, chch
striving 10 drag lis antagonist with one hahd, tneh
with bob har ds and then three wiose together in
ike manner, The central man pulling or resisng The
outer two. or both OF these pulling against hun IN
opposite directions.
Then two wres;le in sitting posture. They tit,
closing tie egs feet TO feet and sole to role, with the
aoe,aid handle aud cord between their feet. aud at
the word of command pull away, striving to rai'e
each other As room as one il raised the contest ends,
and tie victor holds tie handle in his LETT hand Tie
Instructor then makes all thOss wreste together sac
cessiyely who have won tie handle. until only two
remain, and then ascertans strength Of there
two by dynamometor, and makes note Of 1t.
The last Of the elementary exercises arc those Of
traction, Or drawing against each other, holding on
by rope, either in pars or several together pulling
against fixed point, which may be dynamomet.r,
Indicating the force Of the combined pull resulting or
the men are divided into two squads aud pull hgans'
each other
AZ most of these exercises admi, Of 2 rhythm OF
csdepced sound emitted by the men then selves, thi'
vocal accompaniment is strongly recommended. II
certainly gives additional abingdon to the scene
Indeed tie cultivation Of Ito voice il considered emf
nen;ly essential in the OF gymnasIics. Sing
ing exerts a saluiary influence on the cheft, and
moreover it il incon,esinbe that il will be tie rrn'
of powerfully acting on the morale OF tie French fo
der, by teaching him songs Of patriotic and martha
import. TIE singipg-le,,o at which Was present
was particularly interesting TIE system Ii one re-
Gently invented wherein tie ordinary notes are rep
resented by anthmetiesl nun.bers-thus Occupying
about one.ihird Of the usual space. Pointing by
means OF two canes 10 each representative number
all that IL required by the instructor. The pupils
about 300 men and oiloer, intonod lie notes will
admirable precision. When the instructor opened
out tie canes they made crcscendo-s weliing TO The
loudest-snd when be cosed them gradually 1t was a
beautiful diminuendo, in hnkod sweetness long
drawn ont" There was ten sung concerted piece
In two tai cxtcmQorized by the bghly-giited Com
nandant, " 40 figured it on the blackboard. II Wa
at once mos, accurately sung-ffst and second 90 nd
nirably concerted that the whole seemed as It WEI,
AN organ Of human stops-ato tenor, and bars mos
harmoniousy blending.
Such are the elementary gymnastics Of the coune
The exercises of applied gymnastics must be directed
with extreme prudence. Care must be taken by the
instructor that the emulation Of the pupils should
degenerate into spirit Of rivalry, insgating them
to dangerous efforts.
During cold weather they must abstain from exc
cutting leaps that require violent oaors ut all time'
those who are not perfectly Disposed should not be
required 10 leap at a Carelessness and inatiention
TO the rules can alone cause those accidents nppre-
henGed in these eXerciscs.
Tie dimensions Of tic obstacles TO 10 leaped over
must be gradually lincreated; but no downward LEAP
must ever exceed sixteen Set--fvc meters. Such i
the regulations but really to leap down rixteen feet
seems 10 small matter, considering that TIE hight q
AN ordinary Ioon-some ten or twelve feet-would
make the nerves Jingle if we had to leap down that
hight; however, the French soldiers perform sucl
leaps with ca e, and therefore conclude that
all Anglo-Saxons here or elsewhere can go and DO
Likewise"
Tie words Of command ARE: I. Attention. .. For
ward-leap--one, two three. At tie second word
the closes tie points Of the feet; at the word
ore be sools on bis lower extrener, slightly raif-
Jag the heels and stretching his arms to the rear the
fists cenched; he then rises again. tho ari1s hanging
naturally down. At tie word two, he repeats tho
81. A -.
meEt stretches the hams vigorously, throwing Bis