Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-07-11
NOTE AND NOTIONS.

"ND Ac@ND
To get a conviction that magazine editors
are subject TO fits of mental alienation, or
that they sometimes put a very low esti-
mate or the intellect and taste OF their
! readers. glance at Miss Eurita Fleason's
Relaxation In the July Harper's. or at
Jolly in the July Cosmopolitan. No won
der that young people have the impression
that any one can make literature.
Captain Parker makes a very good plea
IN the July Harper's for an increase in the
output OF l~ieutenants. He wants so many
that West Point could not furnish them all,
and he suggests two new military acade-
mics. one in the South and one in the West.
They are needed, Captain Parker thinks,
to drill and officer our civilian army in case
Of war. In time Of peace the surplus should
be thrown into a voluntary or forced re-
serve.
President Harper does not consider IT be-
meath the dignity of a great institution to
curb the recklessness of young men and
women who have not yet arrived at years
of hygienic discretion. It is decreed that all
social functions within the jurisdiction OF
the University OF Chicago close at midnight.
1t is refreshing to see a great educational
institution face such responsibilities frankly
and conscientiously. There has been too
much neglect of them.
Any one who reads Caspar whitney's re-
view OF the Yale-Harvard-Corn eI race.
written the day before. and then compares
4 l. z-1.,- - l. -- a-z
to the conclusion that Mr.. Whitney knows
more than some people. He was the only
prophet who said thai Cornell would win.
Moreover, he outlined the main features OF
the race, and brought Harvard in last. Mr..
Whitney is without doubt the most compe-
tent authority in America on outdoor ath-
letics.
Now. when high schools rave valedicto-
| rians and salutatorians and baccalaureate
sermons and even k~indergartens have grad
uation exercises, when academies are COL
leges and colleges are universities, II sounds
like a canard to read that an Eastern acad-
envy refused a considerable endowment be-
cause the terms of the gift required It to as
sumo the name Of college. II only we might
find a few Western colleges content to sc-
cept the name. as they are 1T only to do
the work. Of academies.
Coach Courtney says he picks for his crew
men with brains. Mr.. Courtney has a
great head. 1t is curious how long It takes
managers of college athletics to learn that
bone and Drawn are not the winning fac
tors in college sports. II a game takes on
such a form that bone and Drawn count
more than brains It is no game for an in
telligent public. The best player In both
baseball and football whom the Kansas
university has had in recent years was a
man who stood very near the head of his
class. And he played winning ball. Mr..
Courtney is right.
President Jordan. OF Leland Stanford.
says that character is formed from within
by the efforts and strivings and aspirations
OF the individual; it cannot be imposed from
without" This is a dangerous half truth.
Is It not also true that character is formed
from without. by the admonition. and ex-
ample. and general environment of the in
dividual? And Of this environment the pa
rental hand. or its equivalent, is in certain
years a valuable constituent. One might as
truly declare that a physical constitution is
formed from within by the efforts OF the in
dividual. Partly true; but friendly warn
ings, supplemented by a gymnasium and a
good leader. are also desirable.
A small proportion OF the younger officers
Of our army are at present assigned as drill
masters to educational institutions. This
arrangement might be extended Indefinitely
with profit TO the schools. At the same
time there would be provided a much larger
body of better trained militia than at pres
ent. Some good people are afraid that this
military training is calculated TO arouse a
war spirit. But the physical Improvement
In our young men would more than offset
any such danger. The popular sports of
American colleges-footbaH, baseball. BIZ
cycling-do not give grace and carriage. A
year or two OF military drill would be much
superior to the slipshod physical culture re-
ceived in some colleges.
Absurd All Round.