The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-14
HINTS ON HEALTH AND EXERCISE
(By Mac Levy of Babylon)

to be the victims of despotism.
 MT. Edward F. Brown. superinten- dent of the Bureau of Welfare of School Children of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor of N. Y, offers some statistics that would probably be true of almost any large American city. An examina- ton of thirty-four per cent. of New
 York's school children shows that seventy-two per cent are physically defective. MT Brown points out that there are less than a hundred physi- clans to look after the physical well fare of 825,0O0 school, chiIdr ren-that New York annually spends $49 on the mental education of each child, and forty-four cents for the health su- pervisioq of each youngster. He de- cIares, and rightly, that i'll health is the largest single agency contributing to the Restitution in a community. and adds:
 .tThe real wealth of a nation is- not determined in it's counting houses nor in the enormity of it's natural resour- 5ces, but in the production of a race sturdy in body and keen in inte1lect-''
 For many years I have been engag- ed in the work of physical training of men and boys, athletes and neuras- thenics.. and have been impressed with the readiness with which the physical defects of youth yield to ex- ercise, when conducted under proper supervision, provided also that the teeth, eyes, nose and throat receive timely medical attention. What are minor and easily curable ailments in youth become the chronic and often fatal diseases of maturity. The way to eradicate a physical defect is, in the language of Potash and Perlmut- ter, to kick it in the budi''
 Gymnasium work in the winter, and a summer vacation in the coun- try, give thousands of boys a fair start in life. but they are the fortun- ate few. Little more than a start has been made in the physical educa- cation of the masses of children. To extend this benef1cent work need not
 be highly expensive. Hundreds of young graduates of medical and den tai colleges would be glad to devote a part of their time to the school chil- Their youth might be of advantage in gaining the confidence of the young sters, and their inexperience would not be bar, since most of the defects of youth are readily recognized. A small staff of experienced specialists should be engaged to look after more obscure and difficult cases. Exercise shoGld be made compulsory, and should be under proper direction School teachers of the future should be educated to look after the physical
 as well as the mental well being of A1AC C411A0. III 4A4at1J t1coCSs ASA O PA<1y- grounds are inadequate, roofs of school buildings could be converted into gymnasfums, for both outdoor and indoor work. From my person al experience with a gymnasium on the roof of an office building. I can declare that a roof offers the ideal place for a city gym and the near
 est approach to country conditions.
 Two other important reports, deal ing with the physical welfare and athletic activities of college students, l have recently been given out, and I will offer some extracts and comment on them in my next article. Some will say that I have exaggerated the 1 imp ortance of physical education, but they are haistaken. Every honest physical instructor knows that he
 must confine himself to understate-
 ments. lest he be classed with the IcharIafans- Il.ls .s... A