The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-18
From the Boston Herald.

@ HE present occupant Of the @ White House and his imms- diate predecessor are the only Presidents that have been given to regular and systematic athletic exer- cises.
 As to the early Presidents, they lived in an age when tennis and golf were
 unknown in this country. and not one of them would have thought of boxing or single stick as a mode of exercise. The virginians all rode on horseback. and George Washington, an active out door person all his life, although he
 thought himself old when he entered upon the presidency. was still fond of riding.
 It was as President in New York and Philadelphia that he first found himself regular and permanent resi- dent of a considerable city, though he
 took what opportunity he could to get
 away to Mt Vernon, and once there resumed his regular outdoor life. rid ing and walking for hours daily over
 the plantation. In New York he drove out in his state coach, rode on horse back and occasionally walked the streets with that great stride of his that all men who saw him ever after ward remembered. but he must have missed his accustomed open-air fife of camp and plantation. His health was ordinarily good in spite of his changed mode of life, though he nearly died or anthrax in New York.
 The virginians who followed Wash ington in the presidency. and John Adams, liked to get away from the seat of government to their country homes,
 where they all lived much in the open active a man as their great predeces- sor. The truth is that Washington, whom most persons think of as born to luxury. probably endured more genuine physical hardship than the poorest man that ever occupied the chair.
 Jefferson, like the other Virginians. rode on horseback; but it is probable
 that he went on foot to his first in-
 auguration in spite of tho picturesque tradition of his tying his horse to the fence about the capitol grounds. He took his greatest pleasure at his plan tation.
 All the early Presidents after the re- moval of the capital to Washington ap- pearsd freely and unattended on the streets and upon foot. for the snallness of the population prevented them from attracting crowds. John Quincy Adams, who was uncomfortable when he at- tract4d popular attention, rose early in warm weather and bathed before sun- rise in the Potomac. something that probably no other President ever did. When he csremonfousiy began the dig sing for the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road in 1928 the crowd cheered on see- ing how we'll he handled the spade. Jaokson, like washington. had led a life of hardship and much physical ac- tivity, but hs was i've years older than Washington on coming to tho presidency and by that time less active man. He showed himself on foot in public at | Washington and gave an audacicus en-
 emy chance to tweak his nose. He also
 made the long land journey from the capital to his home in Tennessee and 1t
 must have been upon ono of these trips
 that . foolish fellow at Cumberland
 asked an impudent question about the
 irregularity of his marriage. to which
 Jackson responded with sternly reprss-
 sive glance and the answer that his l quegtionsr seemed to be very bold man.
 Jackson, however. was not one of the specially active Presidents.
 l Van Buren was not an outdoor person or . special lover. of physical exsrcise'
 though he liked to get away to his quiet
 Kinderhook, where he could move about
 undisturbed by staring crowds. There is pleasant description of him in old aSe long after his rstirssnsnt from the
 presidency as walking tho streets ef New l York with his son John, smaAL quick l white haired aaa clear eyed, with the activity of . much younger man.
 l From Harrison to Pierce the Presi-
 dsn4s wsrs mostly oldash and not esps-