Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-23

Written for The Evsnins Star. fCopyrshted. 1891.
LONE METHOD OF REDUCTION OF adj
" pose tissue that is individually effective,
but little likely ever to be popular in this ease
and leisure loving age, is working it off," Not
working it of" in any Agurative sense by Ian
guild endurance Of Turkish baths, or general
abstemiousness, or heslthful exercise, or me-
dicinal treatment, but by heroic measures to
the fullest extent Of all that phrase implies.
Jockeys, pugilists and athletes, who simply
must get themselves down to certain weights
for participation in the "events'' by which they
earn their bread, are those who carry this sys-
tenn to its fullest extent, but in more or less
modified forms-all, however, TOO severe for
any but the most resolute souls--it 10 the chief
reliance Of all good trainers They claim that
only by real hard work, in conjunction with vio-
lent sweating and sometimes strong purgative
medicine, can fat be taken of rapidly and at
the same time strength increased and breath
ing improved.
| Mr.. Goldie, formerly master Of athletics at
| Princeton College, has had q great deal to do
| In the reduction of the wealthier class Of
Gotham's at men to normal weights, and,his
| treatment was Just about what an intelligent
trainer wouldlhave laid out to fit an athlete to
| eight for mans life" He systematically
| put a patient through q round Of exercises--de-
voting only five or ten minutes to each. but ag-
/ gregating two or three hours every day-by
which every muscle in the body was impellsd
| to exercise, at FIRST gently, afterward with
force. Lying upon bis back and then upon his
face, standing, sitting, bending, &c, the
number Of muscles that he never before knew
he had or expected to have any use for. But
the great reliance was upon running and next
| to that boxing.
HIS METHOD.
The last ten or fifteen minutes at least Of
each period Of each exercise had to be spent in
sparring with the instructor, which was by no
means play. OF course there were dietary re-
strictions in force at the same time, but they
were simple, little more, in fact, than prohibit
ton OF fat-forming foods and excess Of vege-
! table matter, with allowance Of abundance Of
muscle-making, plain and easily digestible ali
ment. mainly beef, to replace by sound tissue
the waste Of fabby fat that was steadily going
on. The energy compelled by this system was
not without its reward, and some Of his cures
were really remarkable. The eminent lawyer,
8, L. N. Barlow, for instance, when be placed
himself under the wiry little Scotchman's care,
had, by hearty feeding and studious avoidance
| OF exercise, got himself into such q condition
| that 1t made him puff and wheeze to walk
| riage; but in few months he became able to
run-actually to rum distance Of five miles
without stopping to take breath. At the same
time he regained eoodiy shape and better
health than he had known since his boyhood.
Yet more violent and rigid is the exercise
system put in practice by the famous trainer
and athlete, William Muldoon. The course he
put John L. Sullivan through when fitting him
for his fight with Kilrain was enough to appal
any lover of physical comfort. Practically it
was going on all the time the pugilist was
not asleep. Running over the Ulster county
hllls-which are steep-pounding the ''sand
bag" sparring, hand ball, foot ball, jumping
| and walking; doing many hard things because
they were hard exercise, and not Q few harder
ones thinly disguised as play wearing heavy fan
nels to induce profuse Precipitation while thus
toiling, and all the while eating only what was
| good for him. Sullivan certainly earned the
fine physical condition in which he found HIM
self when Muldoon pronounced him ''in con-
dition." And it is we'll worthy of note that the
prize fighter Q self indulgence in stimuiants and
other excuses had put him in such pliRht-with
fat loaded about his stomach and heart, his
nervous system shaken, his digestion sadly i'm
paired and his muscular tissue deteriorated
and fabby with fat-that in the estimation OF
experienced trainers and physicians his recu-
perotion was simply impossible. Muldoon's
system is great thing for any one who has the
nerve TO 60 through it.
oID-rrME TREATMENT.
The modern trainers methods of HRhtinr
excess Of weight, both of fat and inert muscle,
are infinitely more intelligently conceived than
were those formerly in vogue. The old-time
treatment was very efficient in removing I'M
desirable material but comparatively inef-
fective in replacing it with that which was
required. 'Toppy" Mcguire, by means Of Q
in sheets saturated with certain chemicals
could make Q man lose pounds almost as
rapidly as butcher could have taken them
of with cleaver. But the mans strength
WAS almost certain to 60 away with the
pounds, and in the process Of getting it back
large proportion of the pounds returned
with it. And it was not every ono who could
endure with impunity such violent treat
ment. Beyond doubt II Sullivan at the time
he went under Muldoon's care had been given
few Of 'Toppy's" pills and sweats he would
have broken down hopelessly.
Only among professional jockeys is there any
marked survival of the old-time methods for
rapid reduction Of weight. To. them the re-
tention Of strength is relatively An unimportant
matter. So long a. they are strong enough to
bestride the horse excitement will temporarily
lend them sufficient nervous power in theshands
and arms to control the intelligent animals
they ride, and that is all required. But it is
essential that they shall scale down to certain
weights at whatever cost of privation and suf-
fering. The man muslin the estimation OF
the judges-fit the horse, no matter how he
does it, and the proportion 10 20 nice that II il
expressed in ounces.
ON THE PIosKN.
There are very few jockeys in the country
who, like William Donohue and George TAYLOR.
can ride at 10l or 100 pounds that do not need
to train and seem incapable Of accommodating
fat And even they, as they grow older, will no
doubt meet with the same difficulty that caused
SO much pain and trouble to the celebrated
James Mclaughlin and finally drove him from
the pigskin. The bones grow larger and heavier.
Eventually the time comes when bone and fat
! together are too much for the Jockey. But
long time before that point il reached his life,
during racing seasons at least, 10 q constant
| fight to hold himself % close a. possible to the
actual weight Of his bones, enough skin TO
cover them and the few necessary internal
works to keep them going. Mclaughlin used
to train himself much as Muldoon trained Sui.
Ivan. by hard work and Precipitation. In .
| reminiscent description Of the process, being
asked how he did it, he replied:
M'LAuaRLIN's TRAINING WORK.
"Oh, by the hardest kind Of work-plenty Of
running and very little to eat and drink. Il
was my custom to rise very early In the morn
ing, put on the heaviest suit Of underclothins
and top clothing, including sweaters and great
coats, that possessed and run from Ave to
seven miles at brisk gait. On my return to
the quarters, reeking with perspiratiou, my
valet had bath ready for me. wss rubbed
dry and weighed. II scaled what I should,
| all well and good, bnt II not had 10 put on
| drv Al 9th ma do al ovor asain In