The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-12-27

prise what business j. IL Of the
trust that his KNOW
ge o. his profession Is considerably
sreaser than IL Is OF the subject
- mana. otherwise his PATIENTS are in more
eangsT than they would be in the toughest
AMs 81 football that ever vas played. Ii
should attempt TO write . treatise on
sue1aclne after seeing an infant swallow
use OF salts or hearing gentle sisash
Aasnen murmur: Boston medicine hyas
es'us 1 presume that DR.. Chapman
you be the FIRST 20 call ne down. yet the
Eases are verv siniisr. Mr. Theodore
Roosevelt, in Havper's HeeEfy Of December
= writes an article emit 81 The yaIue
OF Athletic Training" Tae following are
Quotations from this ART cse-.he italics
oe1ng my owa--Ehieh I recommend 90 the
Doctors most careful pevusal Mr. Roose-
ve !, after making suHdry remarks "a 20
the necessity of making the umpire.
strictly observe the rules. or rather force
'he players TO do 50, goes on to say:
However,, while thus utterly opposed 10
certssn OF the tendencies that have crept
ihto our athletics. aud notably into the
game of football. We are equally emphatic
N our belief that these sports are good
things Tor the men taking part in them.
am Tor our peopse generally, ard that in
particular IL wanld he renf saisfortuns 10
tose the game Of football Much Of the feel
ing against this game and against ath-
letics, too, has been stirred up by the per-
sis.ent and very foolish attacks upou them
made oy various newspapers, the Freniag
lnss heing the chief and, on the whole
ths least rationa! offender. Such attacks rs
those IN the Post are in part due To iGHor-
dace ana In part to the fact that rome per-
SIMS, who are BIZ nature simid. shrink from
tAs eyercise Of manly aud robust qualities II
there a. any chance Of ifs beiag acco panied
on phystcai pdin. They are also due IN
part 10 That striving after sensation lism.
that spirit OF breezy, enterprising Jour-
nalism,' which Is 80 unwholesoufe a char
acter'stic OF portion of our press"
beg Dr-Chapman to paw particular at
tention to the portions In italics in this
and the following quotations from Mr..
Roosevelt's article:
I'm perfectly peaceful and commercial
civilization such as ours there is always a
danger OF laying too little stress upon the
more virile virtues-upon the virtues
which go 70 make up a race OF statesmen
ana soldiers, OF pioneers and explorers by
land and sea. OF bridge-bnilders and road
makers, Of commonwealth builders-in
short. upon those virtues for the lack of
which. whether in an individual or in
nation. no amount of refinement and
learning, of gentleness and culture. can
possibly atone. These are the very quail
ties which are fostered by vigorous. manly
ont-of-door sports, such as mountaineer-
ing. big game hunting. riding. shooting,
rowing. football. and kindred games
'Of course. If these sports are carried 10
an ercess they do harm, exactly as ex-
cessiye study or excessive devotion To
business does harm; ana equally, of
course. they are beneficial very largely
IN proportion TO the extent TO which they
are followed and shared IN By the classes
OF our population which most feel their
need To take the
sports which it is at present the fashion
most TO decry--footbali and rowing
among my friends / happen to number
several ex-captans o. football teams and
OF crews, and they are. as a whole, de-
cidediy above, not below, the ordinary
standard Of college graduates; they are
men who do their duty well. both to the
state and to their own famiiies-men who
are. in short. good Amerieas citizens.
The following reads as II it were written
purposeiy for DIR. Chapman:
He will do well 10 keep ia mind the
career of Washington, who was devoted
fox hunter, and whose fox hunting doubt
less helped To make him good general in
after-iife, but who never. for q moment
damage OF any serious business, whether
Of war, of politics. or Of his private affairs.
Granting that athletic sports do good, il
remains to be considered what athletic
sports are the best. The answer 10 this is
obvious. They are those sports uhich call
for the greatest exercise Of The fns moral
qua tiles, sue as Tce0iHtioa, courage. eadUT-
anes and capacity 20 hold ones oscsa and 10
stand up under punishment For this rea-
son oai-oi-door sports are better than
gymnastics aud calisthenics. To be really
beneficial the sport must be enjoyed by the
participation. Much more health will be
gained by the man who Is not always
thinking Of his health than by the poor
being who is forever wondering whether
he has helped his stomach or his lungs, or
deve oped this or that muscle. Laborious
work IN the gymnasium. directed towards
the fulfilling of certain tests of skill or
strength. isyery good in its way; but the
man who goes through IT does not beqia to
get the good Ne would In a seasons ptav
with an elepsa or q nine on the qridirol. 6eld
or the diamond. The mere fact THAI tie
moral qualities are not needed in the one
case. but are all the time caiiei into play IA
the other, is sufficient TO show the little
worth of the calisthenic system of gym
nastlc development when compared with
rough outdoor games. The other day there
VAS published a ils; of the twenty-five
strongest men in Harvard. as shown hy
tests used IN the gymnasium, together
with a casual mention of the fact that not
one of the crew or the football eleven was
included in these twenty-five. THIS fact,
If true. was sufficient to destroy much of
the value of such a table. There is little
point IN the mere development of strength.
The point lies in developing a man who
can DO something With his strength; who
not only has the skill 10 turn his mGscles
to advantage. but the heart and the head
TO direct that skill, and TO direct it well
and fearlessig. Gymnastics and calls
themes are very we'll in their way a. sub
sttutes when nothing better can be OBJ
tanned, but the true sports for a manly
race are sports like running, rowing piav.
iag football and baseball. boxing and
wrestling. shooting, riding and mountain
elm bling.
''ui ali these sports there IS no better sport
thaa football \ particularly siliy argu-
ment advanced against IL is that put tor
ward hy various people. including. 10 their
discredst. some medical men, 10 the effect
that IL Is not '6reck.' These estimahle
gentlemen apparently think that the Greek
athletes resembied the marble statues We
now see of them. even TO the extent Of not
winning their victories by blood and sweat,
as all mere human beings must win them.
Ii these gentlemen would study the Greek
games including the chariot races and the
prstsYasiss, and then with equal disiater-
sstedness study those OF our modern
American colleges, they eonld not help
coming 10 the conclusion that the latter
are imTneAsurahly ahead Of the former not
ONLY in the qualities of msnllness and far
play. but eSoecially III those Of courtesy
and generosity 20 the vanQulshed. As for
the chatter abaat esgT feetAsN games AciRy