Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-13
AMERICANS ARE DISSEMINATING.
A Writer Who Thinks We Use the
Street Car and Bicycle Too Much.


Street Car and Bicycle Too Much.
From the Springfield Republican.
Some one should bring together the s.a-
tfsucs OF the recent army recruiting He
should learn the number of rnii.tiamen ex-
amfned for admission to the United States
volunteer service. the number rejected and
the chief causes of rejection He should
try to determine whether the standards of
physical fitness were substantially the same
at the various recruiting stations through
out the country, and whether they were
applied with the same force and Impair
tiahty- And finally the subject should be
considered particularly in respect to the
locality of the volunteers, whether from a
large city or small. or from the country
NO TACT has been developed by the war
which has surprised people so much or
"hich begins to possess so great and dis
turning an Importance, as this failure of
!aise percentages of ihe mlitiamen to meet
the physical tests prescribed by the fed
eral military service The Medical Record
OF New York barely refers to the subject in
last weeks issue. 1t notes the fact that
the enilsting bureau at that point had to
examine 1900 applicants to obtain 1900
men fit for field duty: and IL accents the
result as probably fair representation of
the physical state of the average metro
pohtan, whose city life has subjected him
10 enervating influences which narrow the
chest, weaken the knees and impair the
eyesfght 1T is quite evident" concludes
the Record, rather abruptly, that the city
man is losing his physical grip"
Inns may be SO, but important data are
missing. 1t WAS reported at the time that
the percentage of reflections in some of the
agricultural districts-in the Dakotas. for
ekampie-was very large. This might be
so and yet prove nothing in favor Of the
city; since the militia in the Dakotas and
sIIniiar states may be, and probably is,
MADE up largely of young men ffem the
villages and cities employed in stores fac
tories and Offices, where METROPOLITAN con-
ditions of life prevail to a modified ex-
tent III this be SO then modern concen-
trauon in population begins to present no
less a problem than the degeneration of
the race. Wholly apart from the cigarette.
whose pernicious influence is thought to
be traceabe in the large percentage or re-
1ections among militia volunteers are other
possible generative influences to be con-
siGered. more directly connected with mu-
nicipal Capitalization. What for example,
is the physical effect of the street railway
and the bicycle? The street railway tempts
people to ride when they ought to walk.
Factory hands, clerks business men and
others ride more generally to their work
than ever before. spend the whole day In
stuffy indoor quarters and ride home.
Others use the bicycle where they would
otherwise walk, and the swift bicycle not
cniy keeps them to a less extent in the
open air, but exercises only a part of the
muscular system which is strengthened and
improved by walking.
Here are two possible causes of a GER
tain fatty degeneration which breeds weak
ness in vital organs and troubles Of the
heart, the kidneys and the liver. Quite
possibly. Evolutionists tell US that the
highly civilized man is the more perfect
in physique because he uses his legs more
than the lower order of the human race
The ape has small leg since he travels
largely on all fours. The Hottentot stands
on unsightly spindles because he is indo-
lent and eXerts himself little in getting
living. Generally speaking. the great mass
OF the barbarous and semi-barbarous races,
who are now confined largely to the tropi-
cal belt, are physically deformed and de-
fective for similar reason. What will be
the effect then, upon the more highly de-
veioped races Of this growing disuse of the
lower muscular system through the spread
OF cheap transportation facilities and BIZ
cycle riding? Possibly-we shall come out
on a level with that race of savages whose
life in canoes had left them with only
slight spindles for legs, but with enor-
mousy developed trunks and arms-top-
heavy beings of a storklike appearance.
Obviously among such a people 1t will be
hard indeed to recruit an army for forced
marches and camp and field endurance.
We trust that the doctors will make
closer inquiry into the facts of the recent
army examinations ana their bearing upon
the present life and habits of the people.