The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-17


 thority on all subjects connected with athletics. physical culture. and sciep- tifc exercise-)
 Neurasthenia and other nervous disorders have become so prevalent in America cf late years that these ail- ments have come to be known by the general name of Americantt1s.
 Ask the man in the street why this is thus, and you will be told that it is because Americans are the hardest workers in the world, that in the pur- suit of the almighty dollar they travel at a pace which inevitably wears their nerves to a frazzle, and that their nervousness is due to their enormous industry.
 In a way, this is true. American bus mess men have followed the example of the old steamboat captains on the Mississippi, who in their haste to get weren't, and to get there first, used to 'stie nigger on the safety valve and ''get there or bust" Very often they ''busted,'' and the same is true ! their eagerness to outstrip business or professional rivals, make physical wrecks of themselves. Naturally th9 most delicate machinery gives way first before the strain, and the nerves sound the first warnings of the com ing crash.
 But for all their rushing and bus tie and hurry, Americans don't really accomplish anything more than their rivals in the commercial f1eld-Ger- mans, Englishmen and Frenchnen, for example. Outside of their business and professional interests, or other activities by which they can gain money or glory. Americans are, as a type, Inclined to be lazy and physically indolent. It is not only lack of time which leads the average American to neglect exercise and other health es- sentia,Is, but lack of inclination. There are hundreds of thousands of excep- tions to this rule, of course. but they are exceptions.
 Americans laugh at the English business man who stops in the middle of the afternoon, and permits his em- ployes to leave their work, to take tea. Of course. the Britisher might find a less harmful beverage than tea, but the rest does him more good than the tea does harm.
 America leads the world in athlet- ics, but while unstinted millions are being poured out to produce a few athletic world-beaters, the great mass of the people pay little or no attention to physical training. Sport for sports sake, as it is exemplifed in England. has minor following on this side of the Atlantic.
 Since Friedrich Ludwig JaH1n found ed the Turnp1atzs in Germany, pract- cally all Germans have had gymnastic training, nor do they discontinue their I physical culture work after having passed their youth. The Turner's and other gymnastio unions of the fatherland have quite as many elderly and niddle-aged people in their ranks as youngsters. It-is noteworthy, too, l that the rise of the gymnaStic move naent in Germany was coincident. with the expansion of Prussia from a little state to the center of a great empire,
 and with the vast commercial growth I of the country.
 l Exercise, sunshine and fresh air, are the sovereign remedies for the ttnerves'' which aff1ict Americans.
 There is nothing more certain than 1 that American business and profess sionaI men and women could accom- pIish more and enjoy life more and I live longer if they would devote a
 portion. of their precious time to out | door exercise, gymnasium work, sports and pastimes.
 But, somebody is sure to inquire at this point, if exercise is so good for people, why do many professional athletes die young? In the first place, they don't as a rule, if they take any, thing like proper care for themselves. Tn the second place. it is easily possf- -~-~-~~~~-~-~@--~-