The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-19

/ nastic feats, cheered on by many more
thousands Of friends and relatives.
sive civic ceremonies, drills. physical
culture exhibitions, contests of Skin
and endurance. dances. games. concerts
| by German singing societies and many
other features Of interest.
! Elaborate preparations have been
made for the gymnastic festival sta
dunn has been constructed for the races
and other athletic events. Congress
passed a special act authorizing the
| loan Of $50 large tents to the organiz-
| alton, for occupation by its members
| during the festival. believing with rea-
son. that the hotels of the Queen City
could not accommodate the crowd OF
visitors. A large tent city has sprung
up on the Carthage fair grounds.
equipped with baths. and hospitals. gas.
post ONCE. telegraph. telephone ana
| press service, and ample facilities TOT
cooking and dining on large scale.
The Cincinnati meeting Is a great
event among the German Turner So
cieties throughout the country. It Is
estimated that $4,000 members of these
| societies will participate in the festfv-
al and that 100000 spectators in ad-
| dition, will witness the events. The
visitors will feel perfectly at home In
| Cincinnati, as probably there cannot
| be found so many of their race ana
kindred in an equal area anywhere else
| in the United States as live in that por-
| ton of the city north of the canal.
which is known locally as "over the
Rhine"
| One of the most interesting and in
terested visitors attending the festival
is General Ludwig Augustus Won Heine
of the German army, who Is accompa-
MED by his stan. General Won Heine
was delegated by the German military
authorities to study the gymnastic
powers of the American Turner'S, with
| view to adopting some Of their meth
DDS for use In the physical culture sys-
TEN of the Kaiser's army.
| The Turner societies probably have
done more than any other single agen-
cause of physical education and gym
nastics throughout the world. The
| word Turner" means "gymnast" It
was coined about 1911 by Friedrich
Wilhelm jain, who Is popularity known
among Germans and their descendants
In every land as the "Turnvater." In
| the hour of Prussia's deepest degreda-
ton, after the battle of Jena, Jain hit
upon the scheme OF bringing about his
country's redemption by training a ma
| tion of athletes In the end the Tur-
ner idea played a prominent part in
the final overthrow of Napoleon and
Father jain" himself. at the head of
faction Of entering Paris with the Al
lied troops in 1914.
Originally organized as a system of
political athletics, the society suffered
somewhat from prosecutions and mis-
understandings. Many OF tbs members
of 1S4S and were forced to flee to
America. Later the organization came
into Its own again and II is primarily
responsible for the magnificent phy-
sique of the millions OF loyal Ger.
mans who are ready to follow the Kat
ser's eagles to battle. There are T00..
600 active male members Of Turner
societies In the German Empire and
the gospel of the Turnvereine is being
preached and practiced, too, in one
form or another, all over the world.
The first American Turner societies
were organized at Cincinnati and Phil.
adelphia In 1s4S. Similar organiga-
tions were formed In other large cities
shortly afterward. : The Civil War
checked their growth because the Tur-
| ners. being opposed to slavery, enlist
ed IN the Union army almost to a man.
There were several regiments COM
posed entirely of Turner's, and one OF
was a popular hero After the war the
societies were reorganized and have
fiourfshed. Many Of them own their
halls. representing capital OF many
millions.
There are said to be between 500 and
400 separate Turner societies in the
United States, divided into twenty-nine
districts and having total member
ship of nearly $4,000. These include 81
900 young men, or so-called active
members, an equal number OF "old
gentlemen" as they call themselves,
bnt who are in reality generally be-
tween 80 and 40 years of age, 1000
| 80 \
girls. Each society meets weekly, or
oftener, to drill with wands and per-
form various gymnastic exercises under
the leadership and direction OF Turn :
wart," who Is elected annually. Be-
sides demonstrating the poetry of mo-
rion. Turner societies prove that longe-
witty, health, beauty, happiness, NOR
al character, and success in life are
best attained by educating the body az
well as the mind.
| The Importance OF phyhical culture
was urged by Jefferson, Franklin. DR.
Benjamin Rush and other early patri-
OTIS. In those days the education of
OF military drilling. The first educa.
tIonal institution to introduce GYM
nastics as part Of the regular instruct
| ion was Round Hill School at North
ampton, Mass. New York High
School followed in 1895. Harvard
/ dles BROWN ana WllndmS were anon q
the pioneers in tho movement. At first
the exercises were too violent. This
led to a reaction In which manual
training was substituted, but proved
unsatisfactory. Since then various sys-
TENS. including many worthless and
some harmful fads. have had their
vogue.
Important events in the history of
American athletics were the organiza-
ton of the frst boat club, the Knick-
erbocker of New York, in 1928, the
first baseball club in the same city in
1845. the first all-round athletic club,
the New York. in 1868. and the intro
duction of the bicycle in the same year
and Of lawn tennis in 1874. The first
Y. NJ. c. A. gymnasium was opened
in New York in 1859. In the late sew
entities and early eighties gymnasiums
began to spring up everywhere, and
now there are probably 1000 of them
in America. including a number of
municipal gymnasiums, the first OF
which was established in Boston in
1889. Amherst was the first college
to make physical education compul-
sorry.
Millions of people are either practic-
ing gymnastics or very much interest
popular demand for knowledge that
the Turner's started a course of IN
struction for teachers in New York as
early as 1886, and in 1874 they estab-
lished a large physical culture normal
school at Milwaukee. The Y. M C.
A. opened a training school for physi-
cal Instructors at Springfield in 1887
and there are gymnastio normal schools
| at New York Boston, Chautauuua and