Thomas County cat., 1890-07-17
TO MAKE THEM STRONG.
Csildren Should be Trained to Develop
their Latent Powers.

OvcI III A1AOVnAyA 10 q AttlC uAttu Will
, gigantic chest and marvelously strong
muscles. lie is the founder of new
system of physical education. Thirty
two years ago, when he was wearing his
first knickerbockers, he was so puny
that his parents thought it was hardly
worth while to encourage him to go on
living. Today, although he is small he
is as strong as bulldog and delights in
amusing his friends and astonishing
strangers by lying flat on his back ard
lifting up 240 pound men at arms
length. He thinks the custom of put
ting young Americans through course
of calisthenic and gymnastic exercises
is all wrong.
'The present system is wrong from
beginning to end" he said to areporter.
"Pick up six months old infant, he
added. ''hold him in an unstrained up
right position, and you will find that
his spine is perfectly straight. Assoon
as the child begins to walk the spine be-
gins to curve. Why? The weight of
the abdomen causes the lower part of
his back-the hollow of his back SO
called-to sink forward and sag down.
There is error number one. Subsequent
physical training takes no notice of it.
DEFECTS OF CALIsTHENICs.
"You wiz find, too, that an infant in
arms has power, while sitting bolt
upright, of putting his foot. or at least
a part of it, in his mouth. This is be-
cause his hip joint is perfectly free and
flexible. lie loses this hexibility almost
from the moment he begins to walk.
The ordinary system of athletic Or
calisthenic training takes no notice of
this loss.
"Now, claim that above all else a
child should be taught how to stand and
how to breathe. Next he should be
insli ucted as to the proper way of using
every muscle and joint. Teach him
those things and he will be graceful,
healthy, strong man. Neglect them
and while he may become temporarily
strong his power is neither lasting nor
conducive to long life and vigor.
.NOthing is more important than to
teach children the general principles of
right development. 1t is mere make
shift to bring forward calisthenics.
Only small minority Of the children
in classes for physical training give any
vigor or meaning to the few insignifi
cant movements of the arms. Most of
the boys and almost all of the girls
make merely superficial movements,
with no sense of the meaning and no
feeling of exhilaration. If anything
has been said to the children about
breathing no effect is visible. If any
thing has been said about the carriage
of the body the instruction has been
confined to an injunction to keep back
the shoulders
"In nervous effort to obey the latter
injunction children are often found
with followed backs and shoulder blades
driven in against the spine. When the
shoulders are violently and persistently
thrown back the shoulder blades almost
meet. They press on the spine and jam
the upper part of it forward. This
effect is simply unavoidable.
"If child is sent to school at the age
Of or the teacher should watch him
at his desk to make sure that he main
tains an erect position. twill be found
that if the head is kept properly held
erect the chin is bound 20 draw up the
breast bone. BY holding the body erect
and straight the child will find it easy
to breathe in the costal way-that is,
with the upper part of the chest. This
I claim is the proper way to breathe
Of course it IS not easy to learn all this
at once, but a careful teacher by taking
pains could soon bring her class into
such condition that they would find
it easier to stand, walk and sit right
than wrong. I q
1T is not necessary to spend any
special half hour day in teaching
these things. The instructor who is
with children all the time is the one to
keep them standing or sitting properly.
Folding the arms the present atti-
tude of respectful attention, is one that
cramps the ches. and the breathing ap-
paratus. It shonl1 never be practiced.
Let the teacher instruct her children to
keep the upper point of the forehead
and the most prominent part of the
chest always uplifted, as if trying to
push up through the ceiling. A word
now and again will soon inculcate the
right sort of carriage. Let ;tll bending
forward be done from the hip joint
not from the waist. The back bone
need not and should not be bent in