Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-14

In many respects the training of the body ia
Ike that of the mind; before you accomplish
GOD results you must make the student or
yupil himself take an interest in the process
. Is not enough that you develop the muscles
u man and make him strong and vigorous
athlete; this alone does not satisfy him. You
must get him to watch the gradual unfolding of
bis physical powers and to familiarize himself
with those physiological laws that govern his
body and which cannot be violated with i'm
Punlty. This of itself is gain. 1t is the best
moral discipline l know of. for any man who
takes pride in his physique will hardly go
very FAR wrong morally.
There Is a wide and very notable difference
in the systems pursued by the various colleges
IN regard to athletics. and herein lies very
largely the secret of the superiority of one col
lege over another. OF course, the first tIesid-
eratum, in considering college athletics is
abundant room for gymnasium PURPOSES Here
the out-of-town colleges have a decided adyap-
tage. Their students have merely to leave
their rooms and they are in the campus where
they can exercise, or the gymnasium is con-
Venlehuy situated vi all the colleges in this
country Columbia is the one most in need of
improvement in this respect Situated in the
very heart OF the city, her students have yery
little chance of outdoor exercise She has no
gymnasium. no professor of athletics and prac-
tically no physical training CONSIDERING the
disadvantages she labors under in that respect
she has done remarkably well in rowing and
track athletics. 1t Is in team play, such as foot
ball. &c. that her deficiencies are so apDarent
What she needs are facilities for her students tn
take exercise and a modern gymnasium. where
sne can train her young men to hold their own
In the competition with other colleges
While some of the gymnasiums of the lead
ing American colleges are excellent in many
ways, they suffer from two serious drawbacks.
the space allotted for exercise Is too small and
the apparatus Is, In many cases, antiquated and
not up to the requirements of modern athletics
IL Is not necessary to spend fortune on GYM
naslum paraphernalia. Any one of the COL
leges could be thoroughly equipped with the
BEST modern apparatus, including dumb bells
clubs, trapeZes, horizontal bars inclined lad
ders, springboard, flying rings, rowing ma
chimes, vaulting poles, tug of war. pulling
machines, for an outlay of from fifteen hmm,
dred to eighteen hundred dollars yes nroh-
ably from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred
dollars. But, while this is worth considerir,r
the other drawback is even more important
None have enough room for exercise. All the
gymnasIums are too small for the purpose
Ihey cannot accommodate anything fike the
number OF students who would patronize them
were they built on more generous scale. As
matter OF fact, the character of the building
Itself Is OF secondary conseq uence An old
barn, provided II be roomy enough would do
Just as well as more pretentious structure.
But the problem OF larger buildings is one that
involves much heavier expense than that of
improved apparatus, and in some of the col
leges the obstacles in the way of getting addi-
tional ground might be almost insurmount-
able.