The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-04-02
mAKNoA HORSE JOCKEY


Much Painful Tn0niny Before a BOY
Is Fitted 70 Ride.
Among Doc many who are Interested
in rac.ug probably bu. few pay apy
thought % me pains ANA mser.ns
undergone ly that unfortunate class
81 men, The Jockeys Some meu-ycry
icw-ara really born Jockeys. They are
OF Chat small build which is essential
Tor their work. they are blessed with a
constitution CHAT does not "ruu TO fat,"
ana at The Same time they have the
nerve aud resolution necessary FOR their
calling Many lads. however, who by
their build give promise Of making
good Jockeys are, as they turn TO man
hood, cursed with The tendency 10 lay
on flesh, but having once tasted the
eNcitcmcuts and also, 20 may be, shifted
at the profits Of a Jockeys life, viii not
give 70 up without a struggle, notwith-
standing the warming Of the scales. To
these the life Is one OF great misery,
almost torture, from training down, ia.
terspcrsed, no doubt. with periods OF
gayety which are almost 81 not quite
as dangerous to health as those during
which the poor fellow has to do pen
aDce in sweating Off the effects Of his
lnd.scroriOns Probably mo- criminal Co
whom hard labor Is mated out rs a
punishment mdergOcs such labor ON
such low diet as the jockey who IS
wasting himself so as TO scale with
another lucky fellow whose nature
runs less to fat. In the hottest weather
he piles on clothes and takes sharp
walks. He labors hard, and the more
ne swcaJs the more he feels he has
done his duty. Then comes the puzzle.
After the labor there is appetite; after
the sweating there is thirst-but the
food must be strictly limited, and the
drink must be for naught. The priya-
ton is horrible. Training for coudi-
Jion is bad enough, and has made many
a good fellow throw athleticism to the
dogs, but training for weight is a far
greater inhiction. There are so many
pounds TO be got off ana so many days
or weeks i'm which to do it. by phys!c,
by sweating, by hard labor and by
starvation it has got to be done, and
that in a certain time.
As an instance Of continuous self
denial there are few positions wAich
Will compare with that Of a jockey
when he is working himself down TO
scale. A man in ordinary condition
hardly varies in weight from day to
day, whatever he may eat or drink, and
many men leading fairly irregular lives
keep their weight almost without
change for months, and even years. II
| Is not So however, when training has
| brought down the weight far below the
natural level Under such circum.
stances every cell in the body seems tc
be hungry and athjrst, and moisture ii
sucked up as by biotung paper. Jock
eys and trainers are wont to tel
strange tales Of the weight laid on Il
the result of small indiScretiOns, an,
it is grayely stated that pint of stou
! imbibed by a thirsty "waster" is com
puted to put on three or four pounds
OF course, such things cannot be, ant
the laws Of nature are not altered ever
for Jockeys; nevertheless, it is Ger
tain that, when trained down to a Ger
tain pitch, any excess Of fluid over
minimum which has been attained
not eXcreted, but goes entirely to tn
tissues, and thus to the increase o
weight 1t is unnecessary to point OIL
how injurious to health it must be t
play such FRANKS with the constitution
over and over again. Health depend
largely upon the maintenance Of a du
and orderly relation between the as
simi,ative and the eXcretory function,
relations which are entirely perverte
in the life Of the jockey. At one perO
he derives his nutriment from food Xix
the rest of mankind; and at others, an
for long spells he subsists largely upu
his own tissues. Many break dow
under the strain, either in consequence
OF the fluids drunk being insufficient {
enable the eXcretory organs to perfO1
theI functions properly or from III
starvation telling on the nervous syi
tenn before it affects their flesh, viii
others throw up the effort rather tina
continue the miserable system Of staI
vation which is involved in keeping Il
scales on the right sde.-Atlanta Jou
Qal