Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-02-05
OUR ATHLETIC SOLDIER BOYS
Have More Physical Training Than
those of Other Lands.

than he was before the Spanish war
It is not the war which is to be thank
ed for 1t. Athletic training has done
the work.
1t Is said by Army and Navy Life
that this country gives far more at
tention to the physical culture Of its
soldiers than does either Great Brit
ian. France or Germany. While they
require q daily setting up exercise
similar to our own these gun calls.
themes and other prescribed forms oi
muscle stretching are supplemented
In this country by athletic sports.
These are not compulsory. They de
not need to be. They have been en-
tered into so heartily that every post
of any size has its organization which
backs its crack team, its football elev-
en- or It's baseball team. This is just
what the war department wants them
to do. as 1t has organized bureau
for the encouragement Of athletics.
Nearly every garrison has Its COM
mittee. consisting OF at least one COM
missioned officer In addition to non
commissioned officers and privates. to
arrange programmes for field days or
sanize teams and pick out the star
men of the command to represent II
In the various events.
The soldiers themselves have sc
willingly fallen In with the idea thai
they have contributed to paying FOL
the outfits needed. and some OF the
garrisons support gymnasiums, which
are equipped with the latest designs
of chest weights. rowing machines and
horses, as we'll as bars, trapeze, rings
and a supply of foils and boxing
gloves.
II the post Is too small to allow an
independent athletic field 1t 10 laid out
on the drill ground, with a diamond
a running track and supports fol
basketball. When the pigskin season
opens the field becomes football
oval.
The average soldier would not be
much of an American IL he were not
fond Of baseball, while he makes q
first class man on the football team
because the daily routine keeps him
hard, yet wiry and supple, and gives
him plenty Of wind. Within the last
two years college elevens have sought
matches with military teams because
they get such fine practice" to quote
the trainer. but the practice has more
than once ended in the soldiers scor-
ing every point.
But the garrison bets It's money on
others besides its nine and eleven. II
has its high Jumper, Its long distance
runner and sprinter, Its strong men,
who can put the shot and throw the
hammer, while its team In the relay
race Is carefully selected for fieetness
and endurance. The athletic COM
mittee often has It's hands full to Sc
lect entries for field day-not from
lack of material. but because there
are so many good men from whom to
choose.
When II comes to a bout with
gloves some Of those who doff the uni
form to don the tights are experts,
While the war department is not sup
posed to encourage prizefights. many
a iively bout is fought here and there
In the garrisons, just as the men OF
the navy have habit of settling
differences in the same way. There
Is no objection to glove fights in the
army, however and they are frequent
ly on the list Of indoor events, which
serve to relieve the monotony OF win
ter duty.
Any one who studies the sporting
records and compares what the men
In uniform can do with the work OF
the so-called professionals and crack
amateurs among the civilians may be
astonished at the large number Of SOL
diers who have made high averages
In this or that event.
The first post field day was held but
few years ago. Within the last year
several commanders organized their
FIRST baseball nine. This is especially
true In the east, where the enthusiasm
for athletics has not become so In
tense as In the west, although each
wear finds more and more interest In
It; but in the western military depart
nents competition In field and track
athletics Is keen, especially between
rarrisons. The colonel or major will
ingly consents to act as one OF the
Judges, the captain puts aside his dig
nifty to act as starter In the races.
For the time rank is forgotten in the
interest in this man or that team.
One Of the most spectacular exer-
cises sometimes included in the
west Is the storming OF an imaginary
fortress, whose apparently impregna-
BILE walls must be scaled without
any artificial aid whatever. The ram
art Of the fort Is a fence OF smooth
boards. thirteen feet high. 1t would
1e impossible for a single athlete to
cap over or to ascend 1t by pressing
against its. surface with hands and
feet: but a squad Of men can sur
mount il in less than half a minute.
The attack Is made In a column
four abreast, the front rank men far
enough in advance to have time to
race their backs against the wall be-
fore the next file reaches 1t. Each OF
the second four jumps with one foot
upon the clasped hands of a soldier
in the first file, who forms a human
spring, pushing the other man up un-
til he can catch the top Of the wall
with his fingers. pull himself up. and
drop down on the other side.
Up comes the next file and the
movement Is repeated until the lifters
alone remain. Two Of the four go up
with the aid Of their comrades, and
bracing themselves on the top, lean
over to catch the hands Of the pair
below. who reached them by a running
Jump and are pulled up by main
strength.
Perhaps the most remarkable feat
In this whole series Of movements Is
that of carrying dead and wounded