Bisbee daily review., 1916-01-16
CLAIMED ATHLETES
 TO BE LONG LIVED
Late James F. Sullivan Show ed Other Side of Vital Sta
 tistics Question.


 cent finding made in a report prepared by the federal government concerning the longevity of athletes which comes to the conclusion that champions die young, would have been opposed stout ly by the late James F. Sullivan had he been alive. Sullivan generally is conceded to have been the greatest ex- pert on athletics in his, or any other time. He was deep student of sports and gave much thought to their effect on the individual.
 His opinion on the subject, in con tradistinction to the verdict of the fed eral report mentioned, is of interest at this time and is quoted from notes of an interview with MT. Sullivan by a sports writer who was his personal friend. He is quoted as follows:
 "It is the easiest thing in the world to collect mass of statistics of one kind or another on any side of the question under discussion. The fair way is to set forth both sides of the case and judge in whose favor the bal ance lies.
 Tn the first place, every athlete knows that the general and essential rules of athletic training are these; don't use tobacco:> : don't drink; don't keep late hours; eat plenty of whole some food; in short, don't dissipate. The athlete, to be successful, or to be- come a champion in his particular line of activity, must adhere to these fundamental principles. Here then, we have an ideal mode of life, which tends to a healthy body and a clear mind.
 Unfortunately our official athletic records do not go back further than 1876; but there are an astonishing lot of the champions of those days who are active and useful citizens today who give every promise of being with us for good many years to come. - Mind you, I am talking only about champions, the men who reached the highest possible point of attainment and those whom one naturally would expect to have done the hardest and most strenuous work to attain heir places.
 whenever a prominent athlete dies the news is printed in every sporting page in the land, but some. of our statisticians who are seeking to decry sport do not care to take into consid- eration that 100000 young men have died on the same day whose deaths are not chronicled.
 Tn reply to the question, Are we benefitting boys by running them% answer emphatically, yes, but as in other things, there is a right and a wrong way to do it. I believe that the tendency in our high schools today is to try and force the young athlete too much. This is borne out by the fact that many a promising youngster on the track or field while at school, fails to come up to expectations when he reaches college. He has had his strength and vitality sapped. All branches of athletics, especially for younger boys, should be under the strict supervision of a competent gov. erning body.
 AS the result of an intimate con nection with athletes. and athletics covering a period of a great many years. am prepared to say that ath- letics, conducted as they should be and can be conducted, are beneficial, and the proof lies in the living evi- dence of thousands of men who have passed middle life and are today hale and hearty"
 During the interview. which was a comparatively short time before his death, MT. Sullivan enumerated scores of champions of forty years ago who still were active in the country's af- fairs, among them being Edward Pay son Weston, the long distance walker, now more than 70 years old.