The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-31
BOYS CANNOT
PLAY BASE BALL
Wild Delights Upon Home
Runs in 9th Innings.
DR.. LEWIS FOR SPORTS
the Action of the Board OF
Education of Stokes County For
bidding Playing of Baseball
at the Public Schools.

DIR. II. II Lewis. of Raleigh. Secre-
tary Of the North Carolina Board or
Health. in an article in the Bulletin
discusses from the standpoint Of q
physician. duties of the Importance OF
physical exercise. He says:
In a recent paper We saw a state
ment that the board OF ucatio OF a
certain county had forbidden the play
ing Of baseball at any OF the public
schools of their county. We were
greatly surprised to learn that in this
day and generation such a ruling could
be made. We sincerely believe 1t 10
have been an unWise action. ana IN
the interest Of the pubic ealth-th
proper development of the youth or
our State-We are moved TO enter a
protest.
In accepting on behalf of the trus-
tees of the university, at the com
mencement of 1905. the beautiful VIII
liam Preston Bynum. Jr., gymnasium,
presented TO that institution by Judge
w. p. Bynum, of Charlotte, as a me-
mortal to his gifted grandson, who
died while a student there. we used
the following words:
mo gift could have been more OPP
perfume. A suitable gymnasium was
sorely needed in u athletic
life. 1t is true that there are some
who do not appreciate the I'M
p%ortance of this phase Of col
lege training. Not i~nfrequently
one hears some one say tina Boys are
sent to college to study. not TO play
ball. Those holding this view must
be cold-blooded people. In them
the fires of life must be burning low,
or they are born defective. Like the
man who hath no music in his soul
to whom the divine strains OF a MO-
Zart or the enhancing song of a
Jenny Lind are u as empty sounds,
they are incapable of feeling the wild
delight that follows upon a home-run
in the ninth with a short score and
bases rull. or the delirious joy of the
which brings victory. L
am sorry for them. And in my hum
BILE judgment they are all wrong, too,
from the practical point of view. AS
a father, as a physician. and especially
as one who has for years paid more
than usual attention to the problems
of health, / do not hesitate to express
the opinion that boys should go to
college to study and to play ball. II
they are to REAP the full benefits OF
the course.
The effect of proper physical rain
ing, according to one of n highest
authorities on hygiene, is to increase
the capacity of the lungs and the
breathing power, to strengthen the
heart and h circulation, to invigor-
ate the brain and the nerve-centers, to
improve digestion and nutrition, to
make the muscles more powerful,
more responsive to the will and their
capacity for endurance greater, n
to lessen the amount of adipose tissue.
The brain through which swiftly
courses the energizing current of rich,
pure, healthy blood can do more and
better work than another fed by a
sluggish stream clogged with the
waste materials that only exercise can
fully throw off. And the benefit OF
this training are not physical only,
but moral as well. 1t is the school
in which self-disciDline is most eff
fectively taught, in which courage,
self reliance. force of will, prompt
ability to give and take without anger
or malice are all fOstered. 1t makes
for temperance likewise. We have
the word of the great Apostle to the
Gentiles for it. when he says: Every
man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things"
We have seen no reason to change
our mind since: on the contrary. we
are, if anything, more firmly con
vinced of the correctness of our po-
Sition.
Active exercise is a sine Qua non to
the healthy growth and development
of children. Every one admits that.
and, instead of throwing obstacles in
their way, they should be encouraged
in every proper amer. Many peo-
pie think that work of n kind or
another would best answer the pur-
pose. While we are thoroughly in
accord with the idea that children
should be trained to. work. we are
equally as strongly convinced that a
generous amount OF time should be
given to play. In the exercise as
ISOLATED with the playing of games
there is the element of recreation
which is of much more Importance
T than ~ poi0ht think II ic uoll
known hat appetizing foo is more
easily digested than such as does not
appeal to the palate: and SO it is with
eXerciSe-that of the game has q
flavor that chopping cotton and hoe
ing tobacco does not possess, and is
proportionately more beneficial. And
of all games for boys there is not one
equal to baseball. As most of our
readers are aware, it IS a game re-
curing the active exercise of all the
muscles of the body in batting, throw
ing and running; that it is a game re-
curing much skill. accuracy of eye,
promptneSS of decision. ~QuickneSS Of
action. and that it is full of interest
and diversion to the players. Even
the spectators are helped. for their
pulses are quickened by the excite
ment and their lungs inflated by the
yells OF applause or criticism. We
challenge any one to claim that a lot
of boys fresh from a game of ball at
recess With the qulckened circulation
of blood filled with oxygen extending
to their brains as we'll as to all parts
of the body, would not be able to do
better mental work than if they came
in from sitting or standing around or
even from hiding the switch" OF
humble the peg
But there is another aspect to this
question. AS Mr.. Sleary said TO Mr.
Gradgrind: The people muth be
amuthed, thir," and children are en-
titled to their share. A life that has
no fun in it is a dreary affair. The
life of the average country boy living
at a distance from the nearest neigh
Dor. must necessarily be a bare and
sunless one to a greater or less ex-
tent. But at school they get together.
and the opportunity for innocent
amusement and recreation afforded by
association is supplied them there,
and, with exceptions. there only. In
an article on school hygiene. in the
Bulletin for October. 1902. we wrote:
ITO the growing child active exer-
else in the open air IS all important
The draught should be put on and
the vital fires stirred and made to
burn brightly. Children ought to run
and shout. thereby developing both
heart and lungs. Out door games
should be encouraged. Mere exer-
oica u-orG ic o0nG hut IN Obtain the