Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-09-30

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everything that he does, until at the
end OF the hour the body is In glow
the blood Is pulsating in every vein.
the perspiration is oozing from every
pore. every muscle is limbered up and
strengthened and every nerve tingles
There is regular gymnasium appara-
tus for those who like more violent
exercise.
Then bath is taken. followed by
cold plunge and violent rubbing
with massage. after which man is
In shape to go home to his dinner with
good appetite AS rule the rub
bling is done by women-old and tough
The Swedes do not seem to mind 1t.
although American modesty shrinks
from such an arrangement. One dis.
likes to lie down upon marble slab
in the presence of thirty or forty 9TH
er persons similarly situated and let
woman rub and massage him, even
If she is old enough to be his grand
mother and old enough to drive her
whole family to drink. Establish
ments are advertised in the news
papres where men attendants can be
obtained. hut in nearly all the gym.
nastic clubs and public bathhouses
the only attendants are women except
the instructor.
In October every year the Scandinl
vian Gymnastic Instructors Associa-
ton meets in Stockholm for several
weeks, at which lectures are held
upon all branches of the subject
These meetings are quite as import
ant as the annual conventions of the
medical or bar associations at home.
and are not only attended by gymnas
tic instructors, but by physicians gen
orally for every Swedish physician
must be well versed In medical gym
nastic. particularly in what is known
as kinesitherapy, or movement cure
which embraces active, passive and
resisting movements, as well as mas
sage. for the latter is the basis of
medical gymnastics.
The Swedes have accepted this
treatment as a specific for nearly all
diseases. deformities and weakness of
the body; for internal complaints. for
the lungs the heart and the digestive
headache, kidneys and liver com
plants, the fundamental idea being
strengthen the tissues, draw the blood
away from those parts of the body
which are congested and send 1t into
other parts where life is needed. 1t
removes superfiuous tissue. invigor-
ates the stomach, the lungs, the liver
the kidneys. and hardens the muscles.
1t also aids digestion. excites an appe
lite and cures insomnia. | am quot
ing from learned treatise on this
subject, and not from medical al
manac.
All this is guaranteed by the advo
Gates Of the system. and what is more
important, it reduces the flesh and re-
stores the complexion. That is the
reason you see so few fat men in this
country and explains why the women
have such fine color and such soft
skins. The Swedes are a large-bonad
race and might carry good deal OF
flesh, but not withstanding the vast
amount of beer they consume, they
are usually spare and the women
keep their youthful shape until old
age. Their complexions are brilliant.
their skin is soft and pure, all of
which is attributed to the causes I
have named.
It is a spectacle to witness in some
of the gymnastic institutions vener-
able and dignified gentlemen going
through comical motions and assum-
ing ridiculous postures with great
gravity and zeal. Imagine naked fat
man lying on his back upon the floor,
solemnly raising one leg until 1t is at
a right angle with his body twenty-five
times. then the other leg twenty-five
times. then one arm and the other
arm, then an arm and a leg together.
| then both arms and both legs, keep
ing time to the music of a band In the
cafe adjoining.
President Cleveland was induced
to try the Swedish movement cure to
! reduce his flesh while he was in the
White house. A Swedish professor
| used to go up every morning before
| the president was dressed to put him
| through the performance. There
| was a good deal of quiet fun among
the members of his cabinet about it
until it got into the newspapers. and
he was so indignant at the comments
that he stopped. Therefore we do not
know what might have happened II
he had kept it up. He might have
become as slender as DR.. Patten.
| Electricy has been adopted with
great indignity and corresponding
beneht for mechanical massage simi
lar to that used in the electrupathic
| institutions in the United States. Pad
ded hammers are arranged to pound
the stomach, the kidneys and the liv
er at the rate of 1000 beats a. minute
others run up ard down the backbone
and beat every inch OF the vertebra
there is an apparatus that will beat
a tattoo upon the liver until 1t Is Will
ing to behave Itself. and there are con
trivances to reach every portion ol
the body that could possibly be afflict
ed and pound 1t until the tissues tin
gle with vitality Wooden horses are
found in the gymnasiums that worl
by electricity SO as to give the ridel