The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-10
Ry .MacLevx of Rabxlon.3

(By FMacBevy of Babylon.1
 The author of this and subsequent articles to appear in these columns Is one of the worlds foremost authori7 ties on the subjects of which he treats. Some of the greatest men of Ameri- have been under his care at his Long Island health farm and his gymnasium on the roof of an 1S-story office building in New York-J
 W. w. Naughton, the San Fran cisco sporting authority, has faceti- ously suggested that boxers, in their training waste a lot Of physical effort that might be1 applied to some useful purpose. Instead of. Jogging along the road. the man in training, he sug- gests, might follow a blow, or SOW grainl Loading grain, he adds. might take the place of tossing the medicine ball, and cnopping wood would make a good substitute for handball. MT. Naughton's- remarks are offered in a spirit of 1evity, but at the same time there is a lot of truth in them. have found that fellihg trees and chop ping wood is fine exercise for my men, provided I can get them inter- ested and arouse the spirit of compe- titionss and provided a1so,s they get the necessary bath. and rubdowu after their--exertion-5z Given a frequent change. of employment, and given al an interest and enthusiasm in the work, and proper supervision, real manual labor might be substituted for most gymnastic exercises and sports. But, to derive benefit, there must be- variety and interest, and that's the rub.
 Few men are so much in need of ; exercise, and few get less of it. than the bankers, financfers, and business men of affairs grow portly in both body and spirit,s and they find it nigh ty difficult to unbend-speaking both literally and hguratively. They are trained to dignity, and they find it difficult Ito put that quality aside long enough to exercise and play. They have commanded so long that they find it hard to. take orders from aN gymnasiuna instructor, as if they were boys at school again. When they do relax, however, they make tractab1e pupils Bank presidents, dnanciers and men of wealth generally are usu- ally inclined to fat but that is far from z6efng n in d1catf0fl of health. This class of men are far from being robust. When they once get inter esfed in gymnasium work, however, they are more likely to overdos than shirk it. It is odd, but men of this class usually develop a. forldness for boxing. and they take more pride in their ability to outpoint an opponent than in cornering a market or effect ingaa big financial deal
 <Thousands of people take up phtsi- cal culture at home but drop it be- cause they expect too much and too soon, and because with the spirit of couapetition absent, their interest soen wares. A lot of rot has been writ ten on sshow- to get well and strong by wrfggliug the toes for two minutes each morning. and this has served to disgust intelligent people with the whole business. Now, in exercise as in everything else, there is a happy medium, and this varies with the in dividuaL Too little is useless, and too much may be harmful Exercise should never be continued to the point of exhaustion, nor should 1t be so light as not to induce pers piration and deep breathing. It takes time to de- veI0p the muscles and, before enter .ingupon systematic course Of physi- calAstrainings the pupil should deter miNe to .senlist for the war; At the beginning, it is well to set down the date on which practice commenced, weight height, chest naeasur urements, ] normal relaxed and expanded; also neck. shoulder, forearm, upper arm, waist, thigh and calf ,and at stated intervals afterward register the in- crease as the result of exercise. This will serve to keep up the enthusiasm andaWzll he an dfageSnezat fo fur tEler progress The trouble with home exercises is that so few will play fair with themselves. They are too busy. or 1t is too hot, or too cold. or they find some other sexetse for ..putting 1t off just this time.''
 4 thing that has served to make many people disgusted with the physi- cal culture movement is that so many self-5tyled experts have sought to identify 1t with all sorts of fads and lsms These self-seeking charlatans, In order to glorify themselves, have bitterly denounced all medical men. calling them selfish, monograph butchers Any intelligent person knows that this is mere bunconbe Any doctor knows, and will so advise his patients, that proper exercise will cure many ailments that medicines