Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-04
By w. R. C. Latson. MD.


nigh universal The va
rious competitive games-tennis.
baseball, football, rowing. golf, and
intercollegiate and interscholastic
games-have thousands of enthusi
astic followers. Every college, al
most every school. has its we'll
equipped gymnasium: while in the
large cities gymnasiums, each with
it's presiding genius. the professor.
hand out to confiding patrons posi-
tive assurances as to the wonderful
curative value of their particular
brand of physical culture
In the face of all this activity We
might look for some widespread and
wholesome result We might expect
to see about us majority of people
who were at least fairly strong, active,
and healthy But this We do not
find To be sure. one man in twenty
five or thirty may have an active in
terest in athletics: but even this is
often to his injury
The average man will con-
fess that he ought to take -
exercise, but has not time
nor energy to go through
the elaborate preparations necessary
To get an hour in the gymr aSiun
means at least as much time spent IN
getting to the place. undressing.
dressing, then undressing. and finally
dressing again With the hurried
| Journey, the dressing. and the exer-
| else, the man is. after his hour 5 exer-
else, likely to find himself thoroughly
| exhausted. He discovers that an
hour of such exercise means two or
| three hours of strenuous exertion,
| and this coming after hard day S
work at the desk is too much tor him
| So naturally and justifiably he be-
| comes disguised and decides to give
UP the whole thing
But suppose he persists and goes
to the gymnasium faithfully for sew
eral months. devoting six or eight
hours a week to it, What good re-
suits does he gain, There is usually
a slight increase in the size and power
| of his muscles, particularly those OF
| arms, chest, and back, his digestion
has improved somewhat. and he feels
vaguely better: but he is very tired
| of the gymnasium. and it IS great
draft on his time Besides, he feels
i much better, anyhow So he decides
to give up the gym-and IN a few
months he is as badly off as ever
The Best Way
THERE is better way to exercise
than this,-a way that covers
all requirements and has no draw
backs But before telling about that
let us briefly consider just what a
proper system of exercise should be
and what it should do for the body
First of all. it should produce, as
foundation for everything else. an en-
larged. expanded. and uplifted body
The masters of men-the men at the
top in every line of human effort
have been big bodied men Crom-
well, Luther. Napoleon, Washington.
Grant. Webster. Beecher. Roosevelt,
John l. Sullivan. the line
of effort. the conquerors have been
big bodied men. Some have been
tall like Washington. some have been
short like Napoleon; but all have
had bodies large in comparison to
their height
Why is this. Because the trunk is
well named. 1t is merely hollow
box which contains the vital organs
heart, lungs. stomach, lntestines
liver. and so on When the trunk is
expanded and uplifted. the organs
are upheld by their normal supports c
proper place, and each organ has sPa'
in which to do it's work. Most of the:
notably the heart and lungs do the
logic duty by means of vigorous mo
therefore it is important, nay 1t is
that each shall have sufficient space
freely. Such space is provided on
fully expanded trunk. And SO tr.
of physiologic development should Fl
create an enlarged and uplifted, mo-
body.