The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-12-27

IHlI ull Iltt1tGtlIss Ctpi WV VI llIG
experience When | was n boy, could
outrrm and outleap any youngster of my
age in the district My father was a
strong man before me and was the only
man in that district who could put a
barrel of flour up ON his shoulder. |
come from district which has produced
more athletes than amy other district in
the country. John l.. Sullivan came
tro.a that district, and George Dixon
and jake kihiain We're born near there.
George Winship, the celebrated rong
man. also came from the same district.
When was lG years old, was good
boxer and wrestler, and when was 2l
years old could easily put up 1873 pound
bell | became IL professional pedestrian
50 as to get money to go to college.
This was only sport for me, but paid
well, rs at that time it was Il very re-
muneratiye profession | went ont Of
the business because my sister eXacted
from me dying pledge that l would
abandon athletics as a profession. Dur
ing the time | was engaged i'll profess
sonal pedestlianism I was never beaten
in & contest, and although thousands of
dollars changed hands on contests in
which took part l never put dollar
in my pocket won i'll q wager, l never
drank drop of intoxicating liquor and
perhaps did more to elevate tho tone of
athletics in those days than any other
man Twas born and brought up in the
district and was we'll known as u mem
Der Of a respectable family, and conSe-
queutlv respectable ladies who had new
er been in the habit of attending attn
letic performances attended contests III
which l took part. I met some of the
hest pedestrians of that day, among
them Haydock Robinson and Curley,
and beat Them il 100 mile walks, the
time being &bout 10 hours.
Training for athletes was different
then from chat of today. 1t was very
crude. Athletes preparing for contests
went through course like this: They
were first given black draft, q
powerful purgltive, and were then diet
ed on almost raw meats and black tea
without MIL, on sugar and put through
q terrible sweating process. | used To
grow weak and feverish from it. The
trainer refused me water when the fur
N my tongue could have been scraped
otf with knife, but | sneaked off and
drank Il quart. ! was one Of the first to
point ont the defects of this old method
Of training and advise i'll its stead
healthy, nutritious, palatable foods, Il
proper degree Of exercise governed by
circumstances and adapted to indlyld-
ual cases, plenty Of sleep and proper
bathing, all under the direction OF Il
skillful and experienced trainer. also
suggested that the exercise taken should
be adapted to the particular kind of con
test to be entered, whether prize fight
ing, walking, rowing or sprinting. In
short, pointed out that the training
shonld be based on common sense.
1T used to be considered that a
small, round, bullet shaped head was
best in all athletics. But take 20 men,
general conformation and other things
being equal, and of the 90 the man with
large, we'll shaped head will win In
any kind of contest The reason for this
is that the head is the center OF the
nervous organization, and strength is
combination of nerves and muscles and
does not depend on muscle alone. Great
care should be taken against training !
eztravagantly Many athletes strain |
themselves. It's all well enough to
train for loneliness, but some men
draw on their vital forces in order to
look well outside. l have known many !
Instances Of men noted Tor great muscu- |
Lr powers and remarkable development !
gong to pieces all at once, falling into |
a rapid consumptive decline, all because
Of ovcrtraining. Their vital forces had
been drawn opon too much in building
up the muscular system. was one OF
Tie iirSt TO recognize these facts ant: the
necessity for proper training, and my
Success in athletics is probably due i'll
some measure to this. DR.. Sargent q
lie Hemingway gymnasium was the