The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-29

plies endurance, marching ability. ctr
The surgeon inspects the teeth OF the
Would-be-recruit, as If he were a horsa
ana turns him down If they are had
Good teeth are required for the ,rnner
turning OF food; defective ones mean
dyspepsia. III 1t be true that an army
travels on its stomach" the individ,,aI
fighting man Is handicapped by tror.hIe.
with his digestive apparatus. Mavhe
the volunteer Is too short or too far
Plumpness is well enough, but the war
department wants no fat men becausa
tney lack strength, endurance and az
tlvity. Besides. fat Is a symptom of
Pnyslcal degeneracy, and is apt to
mean weakness of the heart.
The volunteer, "fit" In other resnects
is likely to be amazed at finding himself
rejected because his feet are excessive
~ nat yet the requirements are car
.reu 10 such an extreme as this. II
Seems that a very fat-footed soldier
u .s' NOT make satisfactory Infantry
M ,ilan, because he cannot march we'll.
foa.a OF course, are extremely flat
1891, put Data are lacking to show
now their marching powers comnara
VIII those OF whites During the civil
war they did some pretty good march
Ins' certainly. Necessarily- the recr,,i,
must nave proper. feet, and even his
t LES must answer to certain specif1ca-
eions. An lngrowing nail. or even
corn, Will count seriously against hin,
Bow-legged and knock kneed men mn. are
op1ectionable, partly because thew de-
not look well. The military art has its
aesthetic side. iie' us
!. Our!ng the present war much attain.
tlon VIII be paid to the catherine "a
staIisucs OF all sorts relating to the
e eotie rs ms was done to some ex-
tent during the Civil conflict. and sone
OF the most interesting facts noted had
70 40 with the varying stature of re-
crults from different parts of the co,1o-
ny, Inc biggest men came from Ken,
lucky, averaging a trif1e over feel
~ inches. Close behind was Kansas
WIN minnesota, Missouri, California
ana Nevada following in the order
given The men from all these state,
averaged about S feet inches. Maine.
dihnols and Michigan fell two tentfs OF
an inch below that mark, and next
came Ohio and Pennsylvania. Massa-
cnusetts and Connecticut were at this
loot OF the list, the volunteers from
6k inches. iee'
The ideal height for a soldier ia
1eet lOA inches. AT that stature the
most perfect physical DEVELOPMENT
seems to be attained. The popular no.
tion mat man stops growing at
ABOUT twenty or twenty-one years of
ase Is mistake; the truth is, that he
Keeps on growing until he Is thirtv or
even more, and his chest increases its
capacity up to the same period. AZ
ABOUT nifty the man begins to loea
height, and this loss may amount to
one and a half inches in the next TWEEN.
~ years This shrinkage Is due chief
~ 70 contraction Of the cartilaginous
h .aoIb oetween the vertebrate of the
BACKBONE, but the bones themselves
get smaller actually The fact is AL
ready familiar that any human being
IS taller in the morning than in the
evening, the body of the recumbent
person frightening out during sleep,
1outh counts for much in a soldier.
foung men are most active and ON
thusiastic, full of vim and ready to
ehoure hardships. All things consid-
ered, however, the fighting man is ar
MS pest at thirty years of age: at fortv
ne is more conservative, less capable
Oh eXertlon, and not so much disposed
TO take risks During the Civil war
the average American volunteer had a
chest g1rth of about thirty-five inches.
with an expansion of 2S inches. The
men from Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Indiana and West Virginia had
a chest expansion of over three inches.
Inc chest expansion OF the average
Spanish soldier is only 26 inches. or
course, the dark-haired and dark-eyed
OPehAieAid Us ollu OlAST LdllIlS are nOtd-
bly, inferior in size tos the northern
people of Europe, being of a wholly
different race and origin.
The individual soldier nowadays is
regarded as a machine. Not much
intelligence is required of him; he is
simply to act in obedience to direction,
like a piece of highly complicated
mechanism. Fuel, in the shape of food,
is furnished for his consumption, and
In return he is expected to produce
certain amount of energy for march
ing, fighting, etc.
He requires to keep him going, ac-
cording to scientific estimate, daily
allowance equivalent to eighteen ounces
Of bread, twenty ounces of meat and
sixteen ounces of vegetables; in addi-
ton, he has coffee as a stimulant. He
needs thirty ounces of oxygen and sew
enty-one ounces of water per diem,
but those necessaries are not supplied
by the commissary.