Arizona republican., 1908-10-24

lTA DON DTtuOHllndltu lO d
 great extent, for the simple reason that
 there were few city boys. Even after the cities began to grow the country boy was supposed to have great ad- vantage. But now all this is changed.
 and as a result of the new conditions
 we must look to the cities for our great
 men of the future. MT. Stowe makes
 some rather surprising statements in his article to account for this change. Of course the matter of future useful
 ness depends very largely on the early
 physical environment and development
 and there is a good deal of shock for
 the supposedly healthful country in his statement that the air in the poorest tenement is seldom worse than the air
 in an ordinary farmhouse during the
 winter. The most refuse filtered street
 of the slums is more sanitary than the
 open drain back of the ordinary farm
 house" and he might have added, the
 pigpen.
 That the problem of helping the neg
 lected city boy of giving him the chance
 at an opportunity is by no means in-
 soluble, even if difficult, is shown by
 the improvement which makes the
 lOTtbOlilb SldltUlcHl lOSSlDlt. bult
 says the Appleton article. in account
 ing in another way for the coming su-
 periority of the city boy. the problem .of the neglected country boy is much
 more difficult. All these things Cor
 ganization and work for his good) take
 money. There is little money in the
 ordinary farm or village community.
 However, the first step toward help
 ing him is to realize that he needs
 help. Therefore, the sooner we remove the halo which tradition has given him and see him in the cold light of reality, the better for him. Every country in every state should have a country school athletic league as has Ulster county, New York. The country boys still form almost half of our boy popu- lation. Their very numbers demand. for the good of the nation. that they be not neglected. The barefoot boy with cheek of tan who has no training oth- CT than his home duties and the dis trict school, is no match in the sharp competition of modern life for the paler city boy with playgrouds, gymrasiums recreation centers, and organized ath- letic sports"
 In a large sense the reason for this change in the source of good American due to the alleged decad- ence of the country boy may be found in the old saw which says that all wcrk and no play makes Jack a dull boy It does even more than that, and in the long hours of difficult labor which fall to the lot of the average country boy Is found handicap to his proper phy- sical and mental development. The average cit,- boy on the other hand works during far shorter hours and the means now provided for his physical in the shape of play grounds and gymnasiums are far in advance O. those to which the country boy has access. Two decades ago this | was not true. Then there were less than fifty gynasiums in New York | most of them either private or expen- sive and therefore prohibited to poor l city boys. Today in this city there are | twenty five hundred gynasiums, most | of them public and free. Within the l last decade too have come the play | grounds, medical inspection, food in- | spection and the like, all of which have | tended to make the opportunity of the l city boy better than that of his coun- | try brother.
 There would seem to be a good deal | Df misconception about country and | fifty boys at present. Probably nine | persons out of ten would laugh at the | that country boys are on the | average physically inferior to city boys. | Yet it is made as a result of most care 'ul investigation. Popular fancy is wrong, for the city boy of today is not | -he pale-faced hollow chested, stunted | kid" that he has SO long been pictured | In such competitions between city and | schools as have been recorded | he city boy has almost invariably | been victorious. Apparently he can ! )utlast his country rival, both physi- ally and mentally
 Of course this decadence of the coun- try boy may seem to many to be a ret unproven theory. For obvious req sons 1t is not fully demonstrated for he reason that improved conditions of physical development in the city are of very recent origin, but there is plenty ,f evidence to point toward the super ority of the city boy. A computation made last winter showed that a ma ority of the persons listed in Who's Who in America" were of city birth. This so sar as the good of the whole country is concerned is not fair com oarison for it is neither on the great nor the near great that the future of he country depends, but on that in iefinable character known as the aver lge citizen. Comparative figures are lot wanting in this field, however.
 Tt is well known" say the Appleton Irticle, that the city recruits in the Union army during the Civil war made better soldiers than those from the They were quicker, braver nore intelligent; and, what is more re- could stand more hardship. A Spanish war officer told me that his New York City recruits were the best md bravest men he had, with the ex- ,eptiOn of some Bowery toughs, who were worse than useless. The tough s the waste. product of the modern ,ity.
 Statistics dealing with adults in this have been collected with treat detail in France. where it is ound that the most thickly populated district shows forty-three men of gen. us 70 every one hundred thousand in- labitants, as against five to every one hundred thousand in rural districts The fip1iraS Show conplusivalv that the