The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-26

power to resist fatigue and exposure to
such extent that the examining sur
geons would reject him. This Is the
one condition which might be mput
to wheeling. fatal TO the recruits
chances.
Reports from the various state en-
campments in neighboring states have
Indicated that a number OF
OF national guard companies have been
rejected because of physical disquali-
fications. In some cases dispatches re-
port that the surgeons attributed this
disability to the wheel. or, to be strict
ly accurate, that the men rejected were
wheelmr. variocele was a principal
ailment mentioned.
In order to investigate the subject. a
reporter for the Chronicle called upon
a number of local physicians. The re-
suit was that the wheel was acquitted
of many Of the charges lodged against
IT.
1T seems to me- said DR.. John Lit
tie Morris. that the wheel should
rather aid the man in passing the ex-
animation. 1t acts as a strengthened
of muscles not in ordinary use. teaches
the rider better use of his lungs. unless
he crouches low over his handle bars,
and. in my opinion. build him up. In
stead of causing such results as would
ul~uudlllN Hlf loI IIlllildiN uuts tIt
bicycle should produce the opposite. OF
course. If the man is a 'fiend' and rides
himself to death he will have enlarge
ment Of the heart. So far as varicocele
Is concerned. ] can see no way in which
IL could be produced by wheeling.
This ailment NAV be a bar to mill
tary duty, but as "A matter of fact il
the surgeons intend to be so strict as
that the will reject half the men ex-
aninaH II 10 one nf the common ALL
ments and disappears or it's own mo-
ton in a majority of cases. In some
cases. of course. il is very severe. The
ones most affected. moreover. are
weakly men. The strong and robust,
such men as would pass on other
grounds. are rarely sufferers to any
extent. and even then are not ham,
pered I'm their work to any considerable
extent"
1T is true that v~aricocele is a bar to
employment on the police force was
the of DIR. stephen q. West.
But IL always seemed to me that the
bar could be pressed too much. For
instance. over half the men i'm the
world under a. years of age are affiict-
ed with the disease. Some of the books
even go so far as to say hat II is nor
NAL in some men. l have examined
men n treated them on this account.
because they wanted to go on the po-
lice force. While in the county hospi-
tai / have examined hundreds who's
cases | have watched since. They are
all able to perform the hardest kin of
labor and have never had any trouble.
| wager hat half the policemen in uni
form to-day have this trouble
Il find there are, say half a dozen
degrees of this ailment. Only two of
these are grave enough to annoy the
patient. The other tpyes never dis
turb him and never cause him the
slightest apparent loss Of power. If a
man is rejected for this ailmen IL
seems to me there should be wide dis
erection on the part of the surgeon. IL
he is held rigidly TO the rule to reject
all who have il. il will take a long tim
to get soldiers enough to fill up the
oluntee army. So far as wheeling is
concerned. ] am at a loss to undersNn nd
why IL should be productive OF such
results any more than baseball or any
other exercise of a violent and athletic
nature
1T is ike everything else" re-
marked nothe surgeon, who has had
much experience i'm matters of the kind.
"If a man uses his wheel to ride and
does not let IL ride him he will not ac-
uuire any disqualifications for military
or any other XII of duty; If he PUSHES
INTO the sport To the exclusion of all
else lie ttIldlHlN ulS a iiNhs III hs
belief the only way a wheel could aid
i'm disqualifying a man would be in the
aggravation of an already existing all
ment. If the subject were suffering
from a disease which would of itself
lead to his rejection and takes to wheel
ing too much. it is probable he will ag-
gravate his trouble. But that it origi-
mated with the wheel is extremely diff
cult to determine.
so far as the specific ailment mem
toned is concerned il is so common
that bicycles in connection with IL may
be dismissed. Men suffered in as great
a proportion. something like As per
cent being afflicted. before the wheel
took any hold on the people. In fact.
the disease was known many moons
before the wheel was invented. / nave
no doubt hat the man who owns a
wheel and was rejected on the ground
alleged had the trouble before he pro-
cured the wheel. Many a man who
thinks he is all right may be minus a
row of molars. He would have to chew
bareback and YOU not get the nance
at the governments Expense The ply
steal requirements are not in.erfered
with by any properly regulated sport
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