The Cecil Whig., 1881-06-18

/ two. instead of disappearing, grows more
marked than ever. Or one has already
/ abundant development of the muscles
| legs, and instead of dcvoting his exercis-
! ing hour to bringing up the latter, goes
on increasing his upper works until his
tadpole-like build makes him well-nigh
a deformity, and gives his poor legs 4
heavier burden than ever The trouble
is not with the gymnasium. Our coun-
try is not without goodly number of
these institutions, often well appointed
and always with ample appliances for get
| ting or keeping strong, if one only knows
| how. But the lack is of instructors who
can at once see where the pupils devel-
! opment has been neglected, can tell what
work will bring the weak parts. and can
SO impress the need of bringing them up
! that he will in due time effect most graft
/ flying results. Where III the whole United
States is there one such teacher? And,
| if he exists, where is he thus doing what
|
and inefficient bodies, enabling men to
do their lfc's work with vigor and inter
est. and scattering broadcast ideas which
| can not only not fail to do good, but
which every man claiming to be intelli-
| gent ought to be familiar WITH Let
such man open gymnasium in New
York city, for instance, centrally located
and vol fitted for his purpose: let him
make the rate so low that all respectable
men can afford to attend: and let him
once show them that he can quickly and
surely point out their physical deticien-
cies, and will plainly tell them OF them,
| and then will at once set about remOv-
ing them, and show by results that he is
as good as his woodland how long will
he take to win success in many ways most
welcome, pecuniarily among the rest?
But how about the youn" mans row
ing, and ali the preparation therefor? Dn
not these fill the bill? Well. what has
he done? towet, if faithful oar, per
haps five OF more miles u day for two
| hundred days year, maybe for several
years: pulled an equivalent Oh a fifty or
sixty pound rowing weight daily through
ont the cold weather: run three or four
miles three or four times each week in
the cooler months, and has douc some
walking at intervals. And what have
| these done for him? Enlarged his chest !?
| The foot work has, but the rowing not
Que iota 1t has thickered his back mus
cles 50 that close under the arms he girts
more, perhaps. than before. but the whole
| front of the shoulders, the breast mus
cles, and the front upper chest, instead
of filling out, have very likely, as in the
case of not few we'll known professional
| oarsmen, absolutely fallen in, until post
mortem examination would very likely
show, as it did with an English student
fond of hard rowing, that the ribs actual
ly pressed in on the lungs SO hard as to
indent them. The work was good 50 far
as it went, and in bringing strong legs
and loins, back and abdomen, contributed
much toward giving him strength enough
to hold himself erect. But. unless CORE
Spondingly difficult and continuous work
was done for the front chest and arms.
then he is disproportioned, thin in the
upper arm, with shoulders habitually
warped forward, very often enough to
permanently crease his coat near where
the sleeves meet the body iii front. When,
in later years. different associations bust
ness cares. and LONG. hard head work,
accompanied as the latter usually is by
only partial imitation Of the lungs. get
him out of the way of using these large
back muscles. their very size, and the
long spell of warping forward with so
much rowing gave the shoulders, tend
more to weigh him forward than if he
had never SO developed them, and in
stead of benefiting his throat and lungs,
actually incline to cramp them. Here,
then. he who has voluntarily given much
time and thought and labor to the sever
est test Of his strength and stay which
has yet become at all popular among cul-
tivated Americans, comes out of it all to
begin his real race III life no better fitted
often not nearly SO well fitted for it as
some of his comrades who did not spare
half so much time to athletics, but hit
upon sort which, instead of leaving the
chest as it was, or cramping it, expanded
it, enlargng the lung room, and giving
the heart stomach. and other vital or
gans all the freest play.
But while the suffering many Of the
muscles go undeveloped, and the ever
working Of others, or the neglect of all,
either in the man or his father. are large
ly responsible for the great number of
inerect and ill-proportioned men in our
land, too often the mothers also contrib
ute to weak muscles and an indifferent
carriage i'll the man. The Sandwich
Island proverb has it:
''If strong he the frame of the mother,
Her sons will make laws for the-people.'
But is it not true that robust vigorous
women are not plenty among us, either
in town or country? If the city man
thinks city habits responsible for this.
and looks about in the country, during
his Summer .iaunts, for the rosy health
and bloom of the ideal country girl, how
frequently does he find them? Too often
the farmers daughter is but weak imi-
tation of her city cousin paler even than
she, less erect, less nimble of foot, while
her mother is up before daylight. has too
much work and too little pay, and looks
and tired and wrlnkled. Until better
understanding of the need of hearty and
harmonious physic development obtains
among our women. and until suitable
and adequate work is done, especially in
YOUTH to effect such development. their
sons are always going to set ont in life
they might easily he strong, and had
much better be, and to be often crippled
and restrained from doing nearly as much
or rs effective work as they otherwise
might. In land where energy and es-
pecially nervous energy. is in such de-
mand. and opens SO many fields of profit
once at mans work. and do as many
hours of it daily and assume responsible
tiles as irvine as n maturel man ourht