The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-07-30
Modern Exsminations.-Their Necessity
A Simple and satisfactory Plan
for Conducting Them.
BOYS GAMES.

A Simple and satisfactory Plan
| for Conducting Them.
| BOYS GAMES.
We have high New England authority
for the statement, that whoever would
win distinction in scdcntary pursuits
needs extraordinary toughncss of body
as well as extraordinary mental gifts.
There have, indeed, been men of feeble
bodily powers, yet whose towering intel
lccts have raised them far above their
fellows. But who shall tell on what
heights they may have walked, had
bodily vigor been equal TO the demands
of their mental force? We need strong
bodies for our boys because we need
them in our men. We do right to en-
courage athletic sports to certain ex-
tent among our boys. We need to be
careful not to frown upon outdoor ex-
cursions, walking expeditions, hunting
trips, and the like, unless they grow to
an overwhelming bugbear. What if a
father does keep his son out of school
two or three days to 60 hunting with
| him? How do we know how much
more algebra and Latin it enables him
to absorb? 1t is not to be expected that
the school-boys will get "all the salmon,
halibut, Goldfish, trout. herring, found
ers, crabs, CLAIMS. for the years supply"
here in our New York or New England
schools. But it does no harm for them
to initiate their Alaska brothers a little
in this respect.
When Hercules wrestled with Ant9us
he found that the giant gained new
strength every time he touched his
mother, earth. We, too, can gain new
| strength by contact with mOther-earth-
| by fishing in her streams; roaming over
her hills; floating on her lakes; breath
ing her fresh, invigorating air. Let
boys, or teacher, or perhaps both to-
gether, do this, and they return to the
| school-room with new vigor. Greek
roots, the pOnS aSinorun,s, algebric SYM
| bols, the beauties of literature, the in
tricacies of the Latin grammar. cease
for the time to be 81 WEAKNESS to the
| flesh" These are not set games, to be
sure, but the same principle runs through
both classes of amusements. Vigorous
| physical exercise, out of doors, whether
q set game or athletics in less regular
and fixed form, is highly profitable to
sohvviboys Co give Thorn a now energy
for the present and good physique for
the future These are subjects appro-
pirate for the teachers attention, be-
cause it makes great difference to him
whether his boys have good health or
not; and besides this he needs
the same invigorating influence himself
There is no sacrifice of valuable time
in taking the boys on long walks over
/ N nd fhpnruh hn nj "a
is not necessary to point moral or
adorn tale by every object along the
road. 10 be eternally moralizing makes
one bore; and that kills influence
among boys
But the playground develops and dis
| plays character. We can there find
much that we fail TO discover in the
school-room. Your reserved boy never
appears to good advantage before the
instructor. Your shrewd boy conceals
what he really is from policy. Your
average boy is very apt to be one thing
in the classroom and quite another
species of being outside of it. The hour
of recreation tears off the mask. 1t is,
then, worth while to watch the proceed
ings of the playground, as far as it can
be done without imposing feeling of
restraint. Let the boys play games
The spirit boy takes to his game is sure
to be some test of the spirit he takes to
| his work.
Books cannot teach everything. A
great deal of that which makes the
world move has never found its way in
to books. The spelling-book and arith-
| metic is not all there is in life, even to
|
make our boys gentlemen. Daring and
endurance are good, manly qualities.
Are the boys going to learn them by
sitting at desk or marching to reel.
tation? To be sure. certain kind of
endurance may be learned by sitting at
some desks; but it approaches too near
martyrdom. Algcbras do not teach self
| restraint. The Latin grammar does not
contain within its declensions and SYM
tax much to inspire ideas of honor or
fairness. These are things which the
boys have got to learn by contact with
each other, very largely. All through
life there is q "givc and take" which
men are expected to meet. We despise
the man who shrinks from it. This, too,
is something which can he learned from
| games better than from books.
Out of our school days two things
stick firmly in our memory; one is,
whether we liked the teacher or not; the
other is, the achievements of the play
ground. Many schooi-boy cannot
scan the easiest line of Virgil without
stumbling. or forever confounds the
dative with the accusative. or looks up
on geometry as n great overwhelming
mystery. Yet you may see these same
boys holding respectable place in the
regard of their fellows. and even wield-
ing Il sort of influence that surprises you
| if you are mere book teacher. The
secret of it may, perhaps, be found in
their ability to out-jump or out-run the
rest when it comes to business of that
sort. Boys are not slow to perceive
that there are various kinds of excel
lence in the world; and it is well for
them to perceive this. The school
masters standard is one, but it is only
one. Suppose that the boy is not par
ticularly bright in what we call the
solid parts-the staple of educators
the games enable him still to keep up
his self-respect; and certainly he must
be narrow teacher who would insist
upon its being kept up in one way only,
or not at all. 1t would be better if he
could do well in his books too. no
doubt; but let us be thankful if he can
| do we'll in his sports. He may be bet
Il A. $500 s.. D.nf Do.on,, Tn1J9.-