Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-10-22
THE PHYSICAL CULTURE FAD.


raf @HYsICAL culture Is becoming so
RANOI widely popular that 1t has risen to
44NE- the dignity Of fad.
G41 IHa An unprecedentedly large pro.
feYS4A portion Of the men Of this country
5k4V01RHAR are taking regular exercise Of some
N2SH%A kind, and many women have
AARE6N caught the contagion. Square
NJ iE shoulders, big arms and broad
backs have become quite the fashion. Compare
lively few women have become progressed suf'
fciently in this direction to part company with The
tightly laced waist, but many Of them are taking
exercise to develop their chests and the more intel
Hgent have become convinced that health and real
beauty are to be gained in this way. The posses
sion Of q big "tank" and small legs is no longer
deemed essential to manly pulchutude; and there
seems ground for hoping that the women will yet
rid themselves Of some Of their more ridiculous
ideas regarding the peculiarites which men most
admire in physical woman. re
There ia but one very Objectionable feature OF this
fad: this is, that being fad, it may soon "play
out" II from fad it passes into q permanent
national habit, we shall have proved that we are
very sensible people, and will have conferred great
benefit upon as we'll as developed an inexhaustible
source OF pleasure for ourselves. The advantages
Of regular exercise are many and various, and have
been so often enumerated by physical culture "prO-
iessOrs" and advocates that everybody thinks he
knows them all. In fact, however, only those who
have suffered from tho lack Of it, and have recOv-
cred health, energy, intellectual vgOr and capAci.
ty for pleasure, by taking 1t, really knows how
invaluable regular exercise is. The late census
shows that the length of human life in the United
States has increased slightly since the last preced-
ing census was taken It will doubtless be further
increased in the present decade il the habit Of tax
ing plenty OF exercise continues to grow in pOpu-
larity.
There are too dangers which the devOtees Of
physical culture need to guard against There is a
tendency toward creating kind Of culture which
advocates fasting, among other things Excesses in
the direction of ascetiCism can no more be justified
than intemperance OF any other kind. Those who
are taking constant exercise should be as careful to
eat wholesome food as we'll IS those who have bad
stOmachs; for, while the latter can't digest any
other kind, the former need the best material they
can get to quickly meet the large drafts made by
constant activity. But hard workers are, under
healthy conditions, hearty eaters; and they may do
themselves injury by disUegarding the cravings OF
nature.
There are many, also, who adopt formal exercises
in preference to those which nature dictates. They
work with pulleys, manipulate dumb-bells and
clubs or lift weights, in preference to boxing and
playing games. Now, formal exercises are e great
deal better than none, and In some cases may be
superior to active competition, which may cause
undue excitement and over exertOn. But gener-
ally the eXertiOn which is accompanied by pleasure
bic sensations s most beneficial and as it does not
grow stale 80 quickly, the chances are more num-
erOus that it viii not sOon be abandoned.
It is pity that more men and wOmen-and espe-
cially more WOmen--are not to be found frequently
on lawn tennis and golf courts or in gymnasiums.
Besides improving the general health, these diver
siOns break the mOnOtOny Of constant attention to
business and make ones regular employment more
attractive. It lie to be hoped that the fad will
ACQUIRE many thousand more devOtees, and that
activities Of this kind will become as popular as
were the military exercises which formerly did 80
much to conserve mems health, although intended
to make easier and more certain the destruction Of
human lives.