New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-06-05

In a recent magazine article Or. Felix l.. Oswald
make, vigorous plea tor the better physical rduca-
tom of children and youth. The subject Is on"
wht.hourht 10 attract wide public interest AMI bee
taL,nu no by teachers. preachers and other agents
l,r influencing the popular mind. There Is danger.
with the hot-housc processes for forcing h'htal
growth IN our schools. and the great demands upon
tl,. brain and the small demands upon the body
made b, the business life Of men who are not farm
rr OF me, hanics that shall become an clicmatc
nation. The aim Of most OF our educational lnsttu-
tons Is To cram the pupils minds with memorH'd
fact, and forms, allowing their bodies to take care
of themselves. In the boys schools there Is
a chance for athletic exercises, such as ball
playing and rowing. but only few stu
don't. crgare in these sports The Lad who
make, his mark in the school and is the pride OF the
professors isusualy the one who gives his whole
time 10 study and recitation In some of the schools
for girls q mild form of gymnastics called calls
themes is practscd but it for little in the way
If thorough physical training The ordinary move
n,nt, Of the day give the schoolboy or schoolgirl
rnty of exercise for III" legs but almost none for
fL. arms In running about the house and to school
and back H., LATEST child performs the feat OF sup
porting AMI prop.lling the body with one foot re-
naming on the ground AT least eight thousand tunes
Bat what have the arms done IN the meanwhile I
Carried a chair across tn room perhaps, held
, hook and conveyed food To the mouth
T., ,,ualilc til, difference between the arms and
the lrg.. Dr. Oswald thinks. should be- the primary
object of physical culturr. llr advises the itt'us
NM I'm every cIty hou~, of special loom for arm "N-
81. i~.- 81. has hUrug. swinging ami hlllhS' ana
give, SONG practical Suggestions ~ 10 Tie apparatus
needed.
Arnold bolster and % cushion target lac says. VIII
H., for IN, propnl.I,rrA,r,i,s-. There should hc
r,i. If SWINGING riuc, suspended about four feet
allow, th. floor. over q stratum IF old quilts and
.,r,. Is. Ur.llih-iit~ rau bc made ont oi weighted
hu,t,t. ar bag, with strap handles. lie would
add , Lnnit,. ropr fastened Ia the ceiling by means
o. a scr..,, hook. and hanging down III Sing" or
d,i,,, clau. which children soon learn To climb by
fi. hand-oyrr-hanl proc, =. thus STRENGTHENING Ia
l...,,. .a..l II .xnr muscles, - whose development
m, uu,drumana owe their peculiar arm-oo"rr
rh,, hr woull encourage the Youngsters To turn
g. hall into a rae cour-' IN cold weather. ana 10
cot up r.inuii. uatchrs out-of-d"nrs when The sd
sol permits. In it, general iuys"ratng effect on
the Organic system. lac say running NGrPa>S's every
other Kind ot exercise.
An iu-loor gymnasium for older people can Ice
e,,,d up pr. Oswald tells rs for so. AMI he thinks
" IN br n useful rs private library. The following
T.; bi, description of the essential features of
.ich a promoter Of health and long life: l.
, sprinr.hoard and lrapng-gaugc; >. An IN
cliurd ladder: ,. \ horizontal bar; t. Swinging
rings. = 4 vauinc-horSc trough hewcdl; o.
L..t-cypandcr elastic band with handles and, ..
, poir Of Indian clubs. Buckets filled with shot or
pig-iron will do for hralth-lift. With this simple
anparatus an infinite variety of hcalth-giying eXcr-
ci-., may be- performed without much risk on the
horizontal bar alone jain and Salmann cnumcratc
not les, than 100 different movements most of which
have proved very ful in correcting special NAL
formations For general hygicuic purposes. DIR.
Oswald adds a much smaller number will be snili-
cirnt. csprciallv where the ucighborhood affords
an onn rtunlty for occasi nal outdoor sports; for
an indoor gymnasium is. after all, only pnpara-
tory, school or at best substitute the palrstra of
Nntur.-thc woods the seashore. and the ellis ot a
rorky mountain-rangc. But in large cities he says,
even the poorest ought to procure few gymnastic
impl,merlts: no dyspcptic should be without
spring-boart and some sort of health-liit.
The need for n thorough reform in popular
methods of education is hardly oycrstated by DIR.
Oswald He finds that in Massachusetts, ONO and
North Carolina. which are taken as representative
States of their respective sections. only three
schools in n thousand pay any attention To physical
trimming The most essential thing Of all Is neg
I.,tcd and left TO chancc-showing children and
vopnQ people how 10 build up strong bodies and
teaching them the primary laws of health. There
il no end Of schemes and systems for training the
mind and saving the soul. but small attention is
paid 20 the fact that without sound body to work
in neither mind nor sOul is of much account.
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