Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-12-24
PERIL IN ATHLETICS
PHYSICAL EXERCISE SHOULD BE
 TAKEN IN MODERATION.
Muscle Building Is Not Necessary to Good Health. and Severe Training WenI.ens the Heart and Nerves and Lowers Vitality.


 Lowers Vitality.
 Once beyond thn bounds of nodera- ton physical exercise and physical ! training uot only weak Il the heart fer a lifetime, predisppse to pneumonia, cause pulmonary tuberculosis and make i extra possible dozen other ills. but they unfit man from being the ideal husband and father.
 pr Robert l.. GOHshlin of Brooklyn, says the New York Times. has been i ing tine careers of athletes for yeaIs He examined the contestants in atna- 1 teur boxing matches, and the abnormal development of lhe best of them struck him. MagHiliccutly developed as to their muscles, they were far from be Ing men of normal health and strength Beyond certain point the muscular training was at the expense of their vitality It took away from the heart and lungs. There was scarcely an or gan of the system not affected and made less efficient It seemed worth while to explore further into the cause
 "In regard 10 the benefit to be de rived from athletics" says the doctor sone has only 10 remember the physiol, ogy of exercise to become convinced of the fact that exercise, per Sc, may be very beneficial. The point to bear in mind is to advise the person to stop before fatigue becomes evident. We can do this readily when the athlete is interested in games for the mere exer- else, but such advice cannot be offered when his aim is to excel in an athletic contest. Here is where athletics do great harm, and it would be safe rule to advise against all forms of athletics In the nature of a contest.
 "Atiletics may be said to be bene- fcial until the heart begins to be mark edly hypertrophied. This is the dan ger signal.
 Hypertroph!ed is the medical mans way of saying enlarged-that is. the walls or muscles of the heart increase in size. Though this is the danger signal" there is no real danger here, only warning. The danger comes when, in consequence of additional ex. ertion, the heart dilates, it's interior grows larger, displacing the delicate machinery, causing the valves to leak. Then come "murmurs,' and though man may live for years with weakened valves he may die any day and any moment
 Does physical exercise, then, build up the general health and make better man out of man: There seems to be a question, with some scientific men saying today very em- phatically, Not unless that physical exercise is very moderate indeed"
 Health. one of the big English au. thorities (Sir Michael Foster) puts it, does not exist. It is like happiness. Each has q goal or limit which, while seemingly attainable, eludes perfect possession. The body consists of a number of mechansms which have the closest and most exact relations, and as they approximate to harmony there is health. but when diSordered there is Ill health.
 Not necessarily does a man by phys  come a better man, nor does he even get better health. Here is the striking evidence of it in scientific statements of the day
 To obtan good health, muscle build iug is not necessity. One cannot judge of q persons health by tue size and hardness of the muscles We En true. To obtain health one must not be in perfectly trained condition oW- ing to the effects of severe training on the nervous system. There is no eyI deuce to prove that athletics and mus cle building improve the constitution One should always keep i'll mind the fact that built up or hypertrophied muscle has tendency to degenerate The heart, being d muscular organ, shares in this tendency.
 But the athlete is man who goes through the severest physical Strain and training If he boxes, runs, is gymnast, a football player, wrestler, an expert at baseball or tennis, any sport requiring violent exercise and
  the rest of his body is sacrificed for the overdevclopment of these special muscles and the rest Of it must some how suffer.
 All the body should develop together as it were Body and mind should be built up evenly. If oyeratAletics does nothing else it produces a wearing and tearing nervous strain.
 When it comes to the actual athlete, the man who specializes on some form of physical force and muscle power, these conditions are greatly agGrayat ed. Severe athletic training and mus ole building, if is now an acknowledged fact of science, are at the expense Of the nervous and slandular systems.
 "An experienced athlete.' says one authority gave as his opinion that q man sacrifices Il certain part Of his life every time he enters contest of any kind. Ike also said that man when fit as expressed by athletes, is in an