The San Francisco call., 1904-06-26

Copyrighted 1903 by Central News and Press
Exchange)
~HAT we English attach too much
importance TO sport goes without
sayinC-or. rather. it has been
said so often as 10 have become
a commonplace. one of these days
some reforming English novelist will
write a book. showing the evil effects Of
overindulgence in sport; the neglected
business. the ruined home, the slow but
sure sapping Of the brain-what there
may have been Of il in the beginning;
leading to semi-imbecility and yearly
increasing obesity. A young couple
once heard Of went for their honeymoon
10 Scotland. The poor girl did not know
he was a golfer (he had wooed and won
her during a period Of idleness, enforced
by'a sprained shoulder), or maybe she
would have avoided Scotland The idea
they started with was that Of tour
The second day the man went out for
a stroll by himself At dinner time he
observed. with far away look in his
eyes, that il seemed a pretty spot they
had struck. and suggested their staying
there another day The next morning
after breakfast he borrowed a club
from the hotel porter and remarked he
would take a walk while she finished
doing her hair. He said II amused him,
swinging a golf club while she walked.
He returned in time for lunch and
seemed moody all the afternoon; he
said the air suited him, and urged that
they should linger Yet another day. She
was young and inexperienced and
thought maybe il was his liver. She had
heard much about liver from her
father. The next morning he borrowed
more clubs and went out, this time,
before breakfast. returning 10 a late
and not over sociable dinner. That was
the end Of their honeymoon, so far as
she was concerned. He meant well,
but the, thing had gone too far. The
vice had entered into his blood, and the
smell OF the links drove out all other
considerations.
We are most of US familiar, take it,
with the story OF the golfng person who
could not help from swearing when
balls went wrong. Golf and the min
istry don't seem 10 go together" his
friend told him; take my advice be-
fore it's too late and give il up, Tamus.'
A few months later Tamus met his
friend again. "Ye were right, jamie
cried the person. cheerfully, they
dinna run well in harness; golf and
the meenistry. hae followed your ad-
vice, I hae given it oop.' Then what
are ye doing with the sack of clubs?"
inquired Jimmy. What am I doing
with 1hem?" repeated the puzzled Ia
them" A light broke upon him.
Great Heavens, mani he continued.
'ye didna' think twas the golf I'd
glen up" The Englishman does not
understand play; he makes a lifelong
labor OF his sport, and TO it sacrifices
mind and body. The health resorts Of
Europe-to paraphrase a famous say
ing that nobody appears to have said
draw half their profits from the play
ing fields Of Eton and elsewhere. In
Swiss and German kurhausen, enor-
nously fat men bear down upon you
and explain TO you that once they
were the champion sprinter, the high
jump representative for their univer-
sity-men who now hold on to the ban
lsters and groan as they haul them
selves upstairs. Consumptive men. be-
tween paroxysms Of coughing, tell YOU
Of the goals they scored when they were
halfbacks or forwards Of extraordinary
ability. Ex-lightweight amateur pu-
gilists, with the figure now Of an Amer
ican desk, butt you into a corner of
the billiard room and, surprised that
they cannot get as near TO you as they
could wish, whisper to you the secret
OF avoiding the undercut by the swift
ness Of the backward leap.
Broken-down tennis players. one
legged skaters. dropsicaI gentlemen
riders are to be met with hobbIing on
crutches along every highway Of the
Engadine Forest and valley echo, to
their wheezy breathing. They are pitt
able objects. Never having learned TO
read anything but the sporting papers.
books are Of no use to them. They never
wasted much Of their youth on thought
and apparently have lost the knack of
II. They don't care for art, and nature
only suggests to them the things they
can no longer do. The snow-cIad
mountain reminds them that once they