Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-06-21
: ARMY STANDARD
: OF FITNESS

By Or, w. A, Evans,


II don't feel Well or II have q fe-
yer" or my stomach hurts: l think |,
shall send fcr a doctor" The ordinary
reason for sending FOR a physician is
some symptom. There aye those VINO
say tina; symptoms arc not very de-
%pendable signs. They make some pco-
pie think that there is something wrong
when everything is right. More often
they fail 10 war; OF trouble.
Symptoms as s~ignooards are Very
faulty. This may strike the person who
has never thought of it as ridiculous,
but Il is not. The streets are full OF
Well people running around trying to
lind some one to listen To the story of
aches and pains. ON the other hand,
Whenever systematic examination is
maue CT Il few thousand men who sup
pose themselves to ne we'll and strong.
IL large proportion of them are found
to be out OF sorts.
The soldiers in The United States
army do not lead ives. The
physical standards which they must
NEE, are TO higher than should be re-
qujreG of men in every vail OF life.
Let rs sec what are the results OF the
examinations of men who apply to re-
cr'liting stations fov entrance into the
Hn.%
The method of examination in he
regular army IS as follows: An APP
tf'rom July l. 1914. to May 81. 1915.
1886 so applied.l The officer in
charge, not a physician. applies certain
tests, such as weight, height. age, chest
expansion, manifest evidence of good
health and physical fitness and their
dence. accepts or rejects the applicant.
In the II months referred to l11.a45
We're rejected and A2.S11 were accepted.
Something more than 10 per cent of
these men who thought themselves fit
line OFFICERS decided We're not SO.
The 42.Sll professionally accepted
were sent to central recruiting stations.
The central recruiting station for the
PIPER Mississippi valley is located at
st. Louis, Mo. Here they were exam
ined by q medical board. OF the 42.Sii
sent before these medical boards 1910
were rejected.
OF the l59,S5s who thought them
selves fit l22.Si5 we're not. OF those
PROFESSIONALLY PASSED by The line Of
TIGERS IL per cent We're rejected by the
medica! officers.
The percentage &C %.ejccticns in 1918
was l3.45. OF the 4,042 rejected i'm
1915, Go had heart disease. l35 We're
somewhat deaf o. iiai some disease of
the ear; &c! had vonereal disease: 33G
could not sec well or had eye disease:
$43 had flat foot. Other conditions
We're responsible for smaller Numbers;
OF reflections.
II is TO be borne in mind that such
gross defects rs m~lderweight. over.
weight. asthma. hernia and scores of
other easily noted conditions had al
read, been Dasset! upon by the hnc of
ficers.
am INFORMED by Major or. % tae
FIRST cavalry, /. y. O., that the exam
inatlVn OF recruits for thai organizations
follows the lines laid down for the reg
ular army and that they reject from -
to 80 Is per cont of applicants. The
cillct causes tor rejection by The cav
airy medical officers are defective Wis
sion, bad heart and hel Mas. some OF
the conditions 10 pl met by the success =
i'll! applicant are as follows:
applicant must be between the ages
of is ANA So Scars, of good character
and temperate habits. able bodied. free
from disease. and must be able 10 speak
read and write the English language.
The height must not be less than 5 ( Il
4 inches. The height for cavalry must
not be over ) feet 10 inches; for artil-
lery, e feet. The minimum weight is
12S pounds. The maximum for~cavalry
is 165 pounds, for infantry, artillery.
coast artillery, and engineers is 1910
pounds"
Relations between height, weight
chest measurement, and chest mobility
must be about as follows:
Height. Weight, piration. Mobility,