Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-05-07
THE 7. NJ. {. A.
Importance of Development of
Athletics and Gymnastics
i'm This Institution.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM ANdtNTs

The Y. NJ. C. A. when installed in
its new building will make a special
feature of physical culture for young
men. In the early history of the as
ISOLATION its entire effort bore direct
" upon religious work alone. Out
Of fifty years experience with young
men the world over the absolute me-
cessity of having regard for the So
cial and physical well being of young
men pressed gradually upon the asso-
citation. Today the Y. M. C. A. is the
greatest social club and at the same
time the largest and most scientific
athletic and gymnastic society in the
world. In all of its workings it has
regard for the fact that mar has a
~three-fold nature-physical, social and
religious.
In the popular school system of to-
day it is almost forgotten that man
is a three-fold being, and the brain
is made the recipient of all attention.
the intellectual powers refined and re-
refined down to a diamond point, at
the expense Of all other faculties and
powers of the individual. How in
contrast with the first attempt at pop
ular education, when the whole at
tempt was made to bear upon the
physical mani Reference Is made TO
the "Lycurgan Discipline by which
the infant was taken from its mothers
arms and placed in the public bar.
racks. to survive if might be the rigid
ordeals through which for years it
must pass; to be absolutely owned by
the government till far past maturity,
and not permitted. to marry or know
the comforts of home till forty years
of age. But the "Lycurgan Disci-
pline' gave to Sparta a line of war
riors that were not defeated by ike
numbers for more than FIVE hundred
years. Out Of this evolved the Gre
clan gymnasium, and the Olympian
games, which were the sure founda-
ton of that education from when
arose that subtle philosophy, poetry
and military skill that have won the
admiration of centuries. A strong, re-
fined, intellect cannot find its best es,
preston in a frail uncultiyasad body.
The physical organization is made to
support the mental and he who would
not exc out a miserable existence or
fill an early grave must make for
himself a body able to keep pace with
the mind and resist the influences Of
disease.
Far more is demanded of this gen
GRAFTON than of former ones. VIZ live
in the age of the locomotive and zee
phone. Our lives are more intense.
We worry as no generation ever dill,
and so our physiques must be i'm.
proved to meet the demand, or We
shall become a nation of physical
bankrupts. Under the severe training
of the Spartans the frail persisted,
and only the stronger were left to per
petuate their race. With the great
strides that sanitary, medical and sur
gical science have taken, children are
brought up who would formerly not
have lived; and too, the lives of inva-
lids are prolonged. The children Of
these are often of an inferior grade
physically. OF our immediate selves,
it may be said that most Of us are
city born and bred, without the nat,
ural physique that our parents re.
ceived as country children, having
had bestowed upon them a laAge ac-
count in the bank Of health by immed-
late ancestors who lived and worked
mostly out of doors. Hance, we need
to supply a%rtificia.ly that which OF.
ancestors possess naturally, that we
may be able to meet the demands Of
modern life for a better body. 10 this
end it becomes imperative through
this department of its work the Y. M.
&c. A. has found a ready avenue to
the hearts of young n en-. The Las
yogas association will have due re.
gard for this, and provide one Of the
best gymnasiums in The west.