Dodge City times., 1884-06-19
EXERCISE.

eighty-siX foreign nations had recOg-
nized the secret of success when they
called their armies eTercitus, bodies of
drilled or exercised men. Exercise
Overcomes all diff. culties. and if the
power of its influence has limits, they
have never been ascertained. 1t en-
sures every victory; practice, I. e., en-
eroise and experience. would enable a
hundred veterans to beat a thousand
recruits, even if the recruits We're bet
ter armed. A brigade of ordinary rifle
men would have no chance against a
regiment of picked archers, such as
Were employed in war in the Middle
Ages.
During the Middle Ages it was the
custom of princes, and even of wealthy
burghers. to keep runners who followed
their carriages afoot while the horses
were going at full gallop. Fast runners
were in great request, and if parents
wanted to qualify their children for Il
position of that sort, they began to train
them from the earliest childhood.
From the city of Pucbla, in Mexico,
a sandy country-road leads across the
hills to the valley of Amozoc. Early
in the morning that road is crowded!
with Indian hucksters, who carry heavy
baskets on their backs. They often
come from distance of ten or twelve
miles, but make the whole trip at a
sharp trot, and without a single stop.
Their children trot at their sides, carry
ing small bundles or bags, and thus
learn their trade so gradually that they
hardly feel the hardships of it.
1t is certainly lucer that nowadays a
small, short-leggged dog can easily out
run the tallest man. 1t has not been
always so. An ostrich proves that two
legs can 90 as fast rs four. Want of
exercise probably accounts for the
whole difference. Next to football the
boys is the play called "Hare and
Hounds. In watching their races
noticed that for one BOY who is too
short-legged to win, at least twelve are
too shoH-ninicd. Their lungs give out
"a long while before their legs do. But
that sort of short-windedncs can be
readily cured BY various kinds of cNer-
else, especially by mountain excur ions
Lifting weights is another cXcellen5
lung exercise. There is story of a
Grecian Samson, the athlete Milo of
Crotona, who day after day carried a
calf around the arena, and gained in
strength as the calf gained in weight,
till he could finally carry 4 steer. We
may doubt if the steer was quite full
grown; but there is no doubt that Dr.
Winship, of Boston. Mass, practised
with dumb-bells and bagfuls of pig iron
till he was able to lift Though only for
a moment) the weight of the heaviest
steer on the Texas prairie. 1t was
equally certain that before he began to
exercise he was the punicst student of
the Medical College. And if weakly
man of modern times could uplift such
a weight, why should not champion
of the Grecian arena have been able to
carry it for distance of half mile?
For it can not be denied that people
have become more puny sin e they
began to trust to gunpowder and steam
instead of to exerci,e.-
In countries where they still rely on
the strength of their limbs, rs in
Turkey, Hungary and Afghanistan.
there are plenty of men earning their
bread by comnicn labor who could as
tonish the so-callcd athletes of a
French circus. A Turkish porter will
shoulder box which the driver of a
New York exprcSs-waSon would EeSi-
tate to unload without assistance. Dur
ing the last Afghan war the native
warriors carried cannon to a battery on
the top of hill from where the En-
gish soldiers were unable to carry
them down again.
The foot-soldlcrs of the Turkish Jani-
zarics had to drill in full armor, run,
: wreStle, and even swim, without re-
moving their iron equipments. Such
value did their drill-master set upon
the influence of early training that they
would never accept recruit of more
than twelve years of age. These cadets
were exercised for years, like the sons
of the old Spartans, before they were
assigned to actual duty, and the result
was that the Janizaries repeatedly
beat the armies of all Western Europe
combined
The ancient Greeks managed to tra'n
not only their troops, but he whole
Nation, by offering liberal prizes for
proficiency in all kinds of bodily ex-
crcise, such as running, leaping, lift,
ing, spear-throwing and wrestling. At
a distance Of sixty yards their spear
men could hit target with unfailing
certainty. Their runners competed
with horses and grayhounds. 1t is on
record that the champion leaper of the
Spartan Helotes once cleared fifty-two
feet, and a native of Crotona in South
ern Italy even fifty five feet.
But the most wonderful results of
lifelong training are seen in the
achievements of the Oriental acrobats,
who come from countries where over
population obliges such people to work
miracles in order to excel their numer-
Gus competitors. During the last Vien-
ma exhibition troop of Japanese Jug
glers attracted far more attention than
the display of their native art works
and manufactures. They had amazing
ly clever rope dancers and tumblers,
mere boys some of them. But their
best performers were all gray-headed
old men. 1t had taken them a lifetime
of practice to master the difficulties of
their special tricks. One of them be-
gan his performance by putting the
palm of his left hand upon box, and
after stretching out his legs horizon
tally in one direction, and his head
and right arm in the other, he
raised himself in a way that his whole
: Eslght was supported on the edge Of
leet Akad, Without ever toaah!ag
sIW a.