New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-30
Our Athletic Cousins.

| Under the above heading the London
Echo has the following:
| The base oal contest at Lords the Otl-r
| day, between the Boston and PhiIaGelpL!l
clubs, Afforded clear proof that if the Ainc.-
! lcaD youth are not 50 generally addicted %
aihietc sports as their kinsinen upon td-=
| side o. the water, the cause is not 10 h.
sought in any physical degeneration. tn.
athletic qualities displayed were quite u
! TO the English standard, and, indeed. in the
matter of FIELDING seem to have excited
| the envy Of our best cricketers. We hear
| nothing but the most enthusiastic praise o.
! the dexterity displayed in catching the ball.
! and OF the accuracy OF the eye and strength
| OF arm shown III throwing it up. We
scarcely think it likely that base ball viii
ever take its place in this country as a rival
| to cricket--amOng men at least. Among
| boys ir-or something very like its a.
! ready, under the name of FOUNDERS
| played to q considerable extent. But cricket
! in the eyes of Englishmen is, we believe
| valued to a great extent on account OF the
| very reasons which have prevented il from
| really taking root in America. The Amer
cans are as nation so busy, so bent upon
getting on, that the greatest merit a game
can possess IN their eyes is that iJ can be
played in three hours. But with US game
that lasts all day. or even two days Is Oh
thar account all the more popular.
The American national game however,
seems to have many merits of its own. But
the world il general will care less about
the rival merits of cricket and base bal
than about the now ascertained fact that
in base balP' the Americans have got a
national game" Hitherto it has been as.
sumed oy all observers. native and foreign.
that in respect to devotion to athletic exer.
cises and out-of-door sports, the American
youth were essentially different from our
own. aud approached more nearly 60 the
youth OF the European continent. We have
scarcely ever opened book dealing with
American life which has not adverted more
or less forcibly TO this contrast But i
would seem that tendency to athleticism
innate in the English race is al length
breaking cut IN the Americans. Some
signs Of this have been making them
selves manifest within, the last few
years i'll the new born taste Tor
rowing which has sprung up in America
Speaking broadly, it may be said that
hitherto the people of the United States
have differed from every other people OF
British origin in being wanting in that
passion for outdoor exercise and open-aLr
sports which may be said to be the most
distinctly marked characteristic of the
people OF this country. Australia and New
Zealand are as much given TO the cuitva-
ton OF the muscle as we are ourselves.
Neither at home nor Ill our Australian
colonies has it, as far as We are aware been
ever necessary Oh the part of the medical
profession to insist upon the nation taking
more exercise. But from the United States
the complaint OF doctors has been constant
that exercise and fresh air are not taken
to the extent they ought TO be. Indeed.
some observers have almost gone the length
of persuaGing Us thai the American women
do not take anv exercise at ali except as
much as eea De obtained by swinging back
ward and forward in a rocking chair.
Ii ia an exceedingly curious thing that
we, who possess probably as unpleasant
| a climate as any habitable country, should
be most fond of exposing ourselves TO il.
But the fact ls unouestlonable. whatever
may be the explanation. Il Is the charac-
teristic in us which strikes most torcibly al
foreign observers OF our insular customs.
u. Tame, in his Notes on Eng land, refers
10 it over and over again, and ascribes Ne
insignificant number. both OF cur vices and
| virtues, to this single cause. Besides
speaking no language but their own. and
never reading, Mr.. DIsraeI has pointed out
another characteristic of the English arts
tocracy-and an English aris,ocrat is. after
ALL merely an Engllshman who can afford
TO lead the life he pleases-"they live IN
the open air." Now. a passion for open air
in this country implies passion tor visor-
Gus exercise; since during the greater part
of the year doing nothing in tue open air.
that delightful pastime OF more southern
countries, would DE anything but delightful
here.
Oar athletic tastes we have exported with
our language and our institutions to every
country which We have colOnizeG except
America. The students in American schools
and colleges have hitherto been always de
scribed as resembling lar more closely
the students in a French Lycee
than the schoolboys at Eton or
Harrow, or the undergraduates OF our
English universities. Most OF our readers
mus5.have learned, either from reading or
from actual observation, how immense Is
the difference between a French and al
English schoolb0y. The English boy is
educated, one may almost say, IN the mo-
ments that can be spared from outdoor ex.
ercise. Indeed, so great is the amount OF
time devoted to play that scarcely week
elapses without d letter appearing IN the
papers from some indignant pateriamlllas,
who complains that his son at school ls
being taught nothing but cricket and foot
ball, and who not untrequently concludes,
his letter by asking, with Sydney Smith.
the question which has been somewhat
hackneyed by frequent quotation, but
which will bear REPETITION, Where is the
use in having the body OF Hercules when
we have good laws over our heads, and
when a pistol, porter. or coach eaa
be hired for shilling The French
schoolboy, on the other hand, If he &C.
quires the body of Hercules-which he
very rarely does-must acquire it in
the gymnasium. Outdoor exercise OF
all sorts, except walking and drilling. may
be said to be unknown. Such games as are
played would be thought in this country to
be more tit for girls than boys, and it has
been the very general complaint that by
far too large share of the French boys
time is given to study and an undue strain
put upon his undeveloped intellectusl
powers. In these particulars We have
always been given to understand the Amer
lean schoolboy approximated much more
closely to the Gallo than the British model;
But there seems to be now in the United
States some signs of a reversion toward the
athletic tastes of the mother country. And
this, provided it is not allowed TO go too
far, is unquestionably subject for congrat-
ulation.-Ne,U York Times.
The Idol Manufacture.