The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-15
YES. EVERYBODY LOVES
A FAT MAN-BUT FAT IS
FATAL TO EFFICIENCY
(BY "GravY."l

Yes, everybody loves a fat man
and when one of them is stricken
with apoplexy, or any of the other
fatal ailments that fat flesh is heir to,
the oosequies usually attract a large
concourse of sincere mourners, who
do not have to carry onions in order
to shed real tears. All of that is very
gratifying, but, as a person inclined
to be slangy might express it, there
isn't much nutrin1ent in it for the re-
mains.
Efficiency is the watchword in this
day and age, and fat is fatal to the
fullest measure of efficiency Of
course, this isn't saying that a lot of
obese persons are not pretty smart and
able to take care of themselves Irwin
S. Cobb, for instance, although in
clined to adiposity, has as nimble a
can write stories much more emci-
emily than a lot of lean authors one
wots of. Yet there isn't doubt that
he could do better if leaner.
AS an example of the statement that
fat and efficiency are at war with each
other take the lam entable case of
James J. Jeffries. There was a time
when the California bear was quite d
classy boxer, as all will admit. Then
he retired from the ring and settled
down to a life of luxurious ease. When
he answered the call for help from
the stricken white race, Mr.. Jeffries
carried excess baggage to the amount
of half a hundred pounds. He could
doubtless have worked it off gradual
Iy, taking two or three years to the
lob, and have been little if any the
worse He chose to do his reducing
within the limits of a few months.
You remember what happened to Mr..
Jeffries at Reno. It was not Johnson
that whipped him, nor dope" but
fat John L. Sullivan lost his title in
| the same way. From these sad cir
cunnstances may be adduced one ray
of hope@Jack johnson and Sam
Langford are also showing a tendency
| to pick up fat.
OF course, most fat men will go
! right on being fat, and take their
chances, ignorant and unawed. For
the few who really want to reduce,
| however, the way is open, provided
/ they are not already too far gone with
| fatty degeneration of the diagram, or
other vital organs. They have but to
follow the methods of boxers in TAX
| ing off weight, while avoiding the ex-
| cesses of which pugiltsts are often
guilty in attempting to get down to a
| certain weight within a specified time.
| Many boxers have ruined their physi-
cues by too strenuous training. There
was the case of Frank Erne, one time
| lightweight champion. 1t was back in
1900 that he agreed to make 128
| pounds for a battle with Terry Nc
| Govern. For days he baked his body
| in the sun, practically abStaining from
| food and drink, and although he made
| the weight he was so weak that Terry
| easily defeated him, whereby Erne
| lost his reputation and, soon after
| ward, his title.
| One of the best methods for reduc-
| ing, as practiced by boxers, is to travel
over miles of rough rural roads at a
| -,
| should be worn, if the weather is at
all cold, and after the run the cloth
| ing must be stripped off at once. AL
| cohol should be applied to the entire
| body, followed by a brisk rundown
| with a coarse towel. The average fat
| man won't be able to travel very far
| the first day, but the distance should
| be gradually heightened to eight or
| ten miles a day. This time-honored
| method of training opens all the pores
| of the skin, and gradually the sur
plus fat oozes out. Flabby muscles
veloped to their full capacity. OF
| course, it's hard work, and of course
everybody you meet Will chort1e with
| glee, for it is a funny sight to see a
| fat man chasing DER the lea.
Packey Mcfarland, one of the clev-
crest of the present crop of boxers,
uses variation of this method, but
Packey lives an abstemious life and
| seldom has to take off much flesh to
reach the weight at which his efffci-
| ency is highest. Every other night he
! takes a hot BATH. with the water at
| about eighty. degrees, and scrubs his
| body to open. the pores. In the morn
ing he dons a heavy sweater-several
| sweaters, if the weather is cold-and
| walks a couple of miles at a rapid
pace. Upon returning he sits in q
warm room for twenty or thirty min
| utes, without removing his clothes
| and then takes a tepid bath, gradually
| cooling the water until it becon es
| cold. This is followed by a brisk rub
| bling.