Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1890-11-27
OF ATHLETES
EXTRAORDINARY MUSCULAR
*DEvELoPMENT OF JAPANESE.

The Whole Country Run by HUI
man Muscle and Man the Beast
Of Burden-Thc Use OF Mas
sage.
The physical development of the Jap
aness is, perhaps, as remarkable as that
of any people in the world Within the
past few years Americans have been sur
prissd at the wonderful fsats displayed
by the almond-eyed athletes from Japan
who have starred America, under various
managers, and two of the great attrac-
tions of Barnum's circus this year are
Japanese rope walkers and turner's. A
year or so ago London went wild over
the wrestlers at the japanese village at
Hyde Park, and every visitor to Japan
comes away admiring the magnificent
calves and sturdy frames of the laborers
he meets with there, according to a
writer in the Ledger. Probably no better
leg development is shown among any
people in the world than that of til
Japanese jiaarikiSlta men. The .jialrikiSha
is mammoth two-wheeled baby carriage
with pair Of shafts fastened to it. 1t
has cover, and the passenger leans back
at his ease, while the .jin7ikiS1d man
pulls him at the rate of five to eight
miles an hour through the city OF across
the country. These men are paid 10 cents
an hour, or so cents day, and they can
make long distances at speed equal to
that of the average horse. They run all
day without firing, and instances have
been known of their making seventy
miles in twelve hours.
There are eighty thousand of them in
Toxic alone, and there are, perhaps, half
= million in Japan. During the summer,
they wear little else than the breechclout
when running along the country roads,
and the hot sun of Japan turns their ,Jer-
sey cream skins to rich mahogany, and
brings out the perspiration in drops Of
diamond sweat upon their backs Their
arms are also well developed, and they
are, as a rule, profession of athletes.
The few clothes worn by the Japanese in
the summer gives the traveller a fine
opportunity to ooserve their magnificent
frames. The travelling in the mountain
districts is done in kagos, or box-like
chairs, swung upon long pole which is
carried on the shoulders of two men. one
OF whom marches in front of you and the
other behind These kdgo- bearers have
the arms Of Apollos, and their legs are
as dramatically cut as those of Michael
Angeles statue Of David
Equally well-developed limbs may
be found among the ordinary labor
ers of Japan; and have never seen such
beautiful physiques as those of the boat
men at the Japanese ports. Every
muscle OF their frames seems to be per-
fectly developed and their endurance
surpasses belief
1t Is no wonder, however, that the
Japanese have good physical develop
ment, for the whole country is run bv
human muscle. Manis the beast of bur
den. He plows the ground, carries the
freight, and does the thousand and one
things which are here relegated to horses
or to steam. There are but few horses or
cattle in the empire, and even in Toxic,
city OF million people, the drays are,
In almost all cases, pushed and hauled by
men. All this work is done on diet of
rice and tea, and the results seem to sur
pass those of beefsteak and wheat. The
Japanese bring into use greater num-
Der OF muscles than we do in their work
and their exercise. The athlete and the
laborer use their toes and their feet as
we do our hands; and the cooper holds
his tub with his toes while he hoops it.
The carpenter uses his toes in the manip-
ulation of some of his tools, and the
gymnast can walk up slanting wire OF
slide down it holding on by his toes. In
the ordinary method of sitting the Jap
anese call set of muscles into play which
we seldom use. The favorite loafng po-
sltion is squatting on your heels so that
the whole weight of your body rests upon
your feet and SO that no portion of your
anatomy except your feet touches tho
ground. The Japanese will sit in this
way on his heels for hours at time and
and enjoy himself as he chats or smokes.
II you will try the experiment you will
find yourself tired out in two minutes,
and an experience of half an hour in this
position will give you aching joints for
days.
One of the secrets of the fine physiaucs
OF the people of Japan lies in the uni
versal use of the massage treatment. The
blind men are the masseurs of Japan.
They are known as the shampooers, and
the trade of shampooing is given entirely
over to them. They are organized lntoa
great trade guild, have their offices, their
fixed prices and their rules of labor, and
they ply their trade in every city and
village of the country. Every night YOU
will hear the shrill whistle which forms
their street cry outside your door, and if
you are of the taste of the ordinary
Japanese you will call one of them in
and give your tired body into his hands.
From long training, they understand the
location Of every muscle and every nerve,
and with deft fingers they will 60 over
your body asst lies semi-naked on the
floor and press each atom until you feel
as though you were being mashed to
pulp, but endure the sensation
knowing that you will awake a new
man, with every force revivifed and ev-
cry muscle renewed Every Japanese
goes through this process every day, and
in the cases of the poorer people, the
shampooing is often done by daughter
or wife. Some of the most touching
pictures to the Japanese in their litera,
ture are those which paint the tilial piety
of the young girl who, instead of running
oft to t1irt with the vounor mon ctavc ~