The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-02
''CITY FELLERS"
 JUST AS STRONG AS COUNTRY LADS
Show That School boys from Town Are Tauqht
 to Develop Physiques.

If you were to tell the average proud parent of the average small town that almost any school boy of cities can jump farther, run faster and chin himself more times than his own village bred son, he would probably look you indulgently in the eye and ask if you really felt quite all right today. People have heard so much about how the slunas dwarf children and how the city has to re- oruit it's sound, abie-minded men in rural districts that the inferiority of city-grovvn lungs and muscles has be- come a kind of a by-word
 In order to get at the facts in the case, a man connected with the Rus sell Sage Folndatfon was recently led to apply his yard stick to this particular tradition Selecting cer- tain athletic tests which are oom- nronly met by large numbers of schools in New York and other large cities he took them back to the good old New England town of Ipswich and tried them on its home me-grown school children.
 The tests were in jumping, running and chinning and the passing marks in thes three events which the Ipswich boys were asked to make are met each year by thousands of boys of the same age in many large cities.
 
 the three simple requirem rents for elementary pupils while among the high school lads there was not 9 sim gle student who was able to make the marks set for boys at that age. In the chfnnfng, or pu1I-up, the 1ps-a w1ch boys were able to do only about one half as well as boys from some of the most ccngested sections of New York City.
 MT. Howard Roscoe Knight, who fcraff f017 claim that the results demonstrate an all-round physical inferiority on the part of these Ipswich boys. They had had no body training in their schools. The New York boys, on the other hand, had enjoyed systematic physi- cal education since entering school. The comparisons, in other words, are straws which indicate that the large cities are overcoming their defects, as habitats for the human animal, and that if the towns and villages do not wake up they may some day suf-. fer the cl1agrin of having to look upon the large cities as health resorts.
 MT. Knights survey of the recrea- tionaI life of Ispwich which, by the way, numbers about 5000 souls, gives many evidences to support the grow ing belief that the small town, all though blessed with play spaces, is really in 8 bad way because 1t has has nobody whose particular business IL 1S IO Iu44 t44C pAGsy pAcy ground is like a theatre. To draw large patronage it must be efficiently. managed.
 Play activities do. of course. go on without paid guidance in small towns as well as everywhere else. Shooting craps, playing cards, breaking win dows. swapping yarns at the livery stable, joy-riding, prankS down in the lumber yard, jumping freight trains-such pursuits flourish with I ~ NTEs. where. But if you have large fields. ampley ards. and spacious halls, somebody must be on hand with ta,n attractive program or the recreation facilities which you want your young people to use will probably be little
 Ipswich possessed no systematic I physical training nor expert play leadership, and it's recreationaI life showed the result. After school on shree different days more than 60 per cent of the 696 boys an6fS girls observed were in the street and less than seven per cent were using the l athletic field. Over two-thirds of the boys and over one-haf of the girls attend the s.movies'' once a week or oftener. sixty-nine per cent of the boys and fifty-two per cent of the girls expressed a preference for those subjects which are readily classified as '.thriIlers'' while but five | per. cent OK E11eE DOyS ana three per cent of the girls mentioned films that could be called educational
 The report of this survey, which has just been published, throws an Illuminating light upon many other features of the recreatfonal life and needs of a small town. In closing 1 it presents a program of future de- velopnents for Ipswich, many pro- visions of which would apply with equal appropriateness to other towns and villages throughout the United States. Among the recommenda4 tions given are the following: Physical training for all boys and girls as regular part of the school cIrr1cuIun-
 Teaching of games for home and playground use.
 The extensive use of group games in physical training and the use of 1 Athletic Badge test and group ath- letics.
 Equipment of each school and school yard with sufficient apparatus to enable teachers to make the best possible use of recess time | Grading of school property wher- ever necessary to render it most use-
 That in the next school building erected a. gymnasium with lockers and shower baths be provided.
 That the building be equipped with rooms may be used for civic. social, and recreational purposes after school hours.
 The organization of a public ath- 1etic league.
 permanent holiday celebration committee.
 HEAT SWEEPS DARDANELLEs
 Cairo, July 2.-A heat wave has