Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-05-11

the attention of those who wish 10 III,
derstand the civilizing forces at work
In the world. If the plans which the
government of China has In view are
worked out successfully-and the in
vestigatlons of the commission are pre-
liminary to putting them into execution
"a new method of dealing with the
East will have to be adopted by the
Western governments. The Dowager
Empress announced few months ago
that a constitution would be granted
/ to China In ten years, and that some of
the leading men of the empire were TO
go abroad to study the governmental
systems of other countries with a view
/ TO adopting them in a form modified
to meet the needs of China. The com.
missioners were to study not only the
political institutions, but the systems of
education and the business methods of
the world as well. Soon after the ar
rival of the commissioners in this coun-
try 1t was observed that they were par
| ticularly Interested in the American
! public school system, as 1t Is intended
to open many thousand new schools in
China for the instruction Of the people,
so that they may be qualified to govern
themselves when representative institu-
| tions are established. China already
has an army of a hundred thousand
men trained in modern European army
tactics. 1t Is said that this army will
be increased to a million within a few
years, and that large quantities Of mod
ern fortification guns have been order
ed for use In the defense Of the empire.
Men familiar with the races of the East
regard the Chinese as superior to the
japanese, In that they are more trust
worthy, more patient and moro stable.
The Chinese are conservative, and have
been slow In accepting Western ideas
but they have at last concluded to
march with the procession instead of
standing at one side while the rest of
the world smiles amlably at their pc
culiarities or jeers at their weakness.
or the late Sir Edward Thornton, the
British diplomat who lived to be al
most ninety years Of age, it is said that
his life was spent In taking no exercise.
He would take II cab to cross the street
and he never would walk upstairs If an
elevator was accessible. Yet he was the
traditional picture" Of health and suf-
fered little from small or large ailments.
| Nor Is the cnSa of Sir Eduo r1 'pbo,,+o,,
an Isolated one There are many in
stances of men carefully avoiding exer-
else Of physical kind and still attain
Ing great age. On the other hand, it Is
well established that noted athletes do
not as a rule, enjoy long Me. The two
circumstances, taken together, appear to
cast some doubt upon the modern
theory that muscular activity Is essen
tial to longevity or at least to good
health. They rather support the doc
trine, held by certain German biolo-
gists, that all physical exercise after
man has attained middle age is at the
expense Of vital force. There Is, at
least, something to be said on both sides
of the question 80 far as middle aged
people are concerned. Those who main
tain the desirability of exercise will, of
course, assert that Sir Edward Thorn
ton attained his great age in spite of
his abstentlon from exercise rather
than because Of 1t, and that he might
have lived many years longer IL he had
lived an active physical life This,
however, Is mere hypothesis which may
fairly be met by pointing out that many
people who devote themselves most Wig
orously to exercise die before they
reach middle age. If the rule holds
good In one case 1t ought to bold good
in the other and on the face of 1t the
noneXercise people would seem to have
the better Of 1t. Sir Edward Thorntons
case at least affords proof that a man
may live almost to the century mark
without taking physical exercise. 1t
may be admitted, Of course, that this
Is a matter in which one mans meat
may be another mans poison. Individ.
ual idiosyncrasy Is strong factor In
the proDlem. actlVe physical exercise
may not be necessary nor even advis-
able for some men, while it is essential
to the health Of others. In such affairs
every man must find out what Is bene-
| fetal for himself without reference to
the requirements of any other man.
There Is no hard-and-fast rule for ply
sical exercise any more than there is
such a rule for diet. There Is, on the
contrary, every reason to conclude that
though some men will benefit by Wig
orous physical activity other men will
be better off with none Mt all-at least
after the elimination of their bodily
development. When | could ride |
never walked; when could sit never
stood; | slept as long us | could"-