The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-22
AMERICANS ARE DEGENERATISG.
A Writer Who Thinks We Use the
Street Car and Bicycle Too Much.
Snriuofield Republican

Springfield Republican.
Someone. should bring together the sta
tiStfcS of the recent army recruiting. He
should learn tae number of mil. tiamen ex-
amined 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 APP
piled with the same force and impartiality-
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 fact has been
developed by the war which has surprised
people so much, or which begins TO possess
so great and disturbing an Importance, as
TINS failure of large percentages of the
milltiamen to meet the physical tests pre-
scriDed by the federal military service. The
Medical Record of New York barely refers
to the subject in last weeks ISSUE 1t notes
the fact that the enisting bureau at that
point had to examine IL 900 applicants to OBJ
tain l2OoO men fit for field duty; and 1t ac-
cepts the result as probably fair repre-
sentation of the physical state of the aver
age metropolitan, whose city life has sub
Jected him TO enervating influences which
narrow the chest weaken the knees and inn
pair the eyesight 1T is quite evident" con-
cludes the Record, rather abruptly that
the city man is losing his physical grip
Ihis 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
eXample-waS very large. This might be so
and yet prove nothing in favor of the city:
SINCE the militia in the Dakotas and similar
states may be-. and probably is made up
largely of young men from the villages and
cities, employed in stores, factories and
o1nces. where metropolitan conditions of life
prevail to modified extent. If this be so
tnen moo arn concentration in population be-
gins to present no less a problem than the
degeneration of the race. Wholly apart
from the cigarette, whose pernicious infiu-
ence is thought to be traceable in the large
percentage of reflections among militia vol
nuenceS to DE considered, more directly con-
nected with municipal Capitalization. What
Tor 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 bust
ness men and others ride more generally to-
whole day in stuffy indoor quarters and ride
home: Others use the bicycle where they
would otherwise walk. and the swift bicycle
not only keeps them TO less extent in the
open air, but exercises only a part of the
muscular system which is strengthened and
Here are two possible causes of a certain
fatty degeneration which breeds weakness
es In vital organs and troubles of the heart.
the kidneys and the liver. Quite possibly.
Evolutionists tell us that the highly civil
lied man is the more perfect in physique
because he uses his legs more than the low
er orders of the human race. The ape has
a small leg, since he travels largely on all
fours. The Hottentot stands on unsightly
spindes because he is indolent and exerts
himself little in getting a living, Generally
speaking the great mass of the harbarous
races. which are now confined largely to the
tropical belt. are physically deformed and
defective for similar reason. What will be
the effect then upon the more highly de-
veloped 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
level with that race. of savages whose life
in canoes had left them with only slight
spindles for legs. but with enormously de-
veloped trunks and arms-top-heavy beings
of a stork-like appearance Obviously
to recruit an army for forced marches and
camp and field endurance We trust that the
doctors will make a closer inquiry into the
facts of the recent army examinations and
their bearing upon the present life and hab-
its of the people.