Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-09-06
STAR ATHLETES
DIE At EARLY AGE
CHAMPIONS ARE WARNED or
TOO STRENUOUS LIFE WHILE
IN COLLEGE
Heart Trouble often Attacks Young
Men in Later Life.

"rhe champion .athleteS dle young,
Is the concluding sentence Of a warn
ing appended to- a long report which
the federal eoveYnmeur has prepared
on the lives of athletes. The QueS'
ton as TO whether hard training for
the more violent sports really tended
10 shorten the lives OF athletes WIS
REGARDED by the public health service
as Of vital interest to the country, rs
indeed it is. for ifNthe youth of the
country are 10 place in Jeopardy their
future usefulness, 4 is necessary that
steps should be talen TO preserve the
quality of the marhood of the coun-
try. In making their investigation
the government officials relied almost
entirely upon the opinions Of men
whose long connection with sThool
and university athle ties entitled them
to speak with authority.
DR.. w. G. Anderson. a professor at
Yale and director al the Yale gymna-
stun pointed out that, until 1905, the
Yale men who had achieved distine-
ton in the more strenuous sports as
rule lived longer, than those who
paid less attention to sports. but
since 1906 there haslheen an increase
in the death rate of Yale athletes. es.
pecially among those who 90 in for
rowing. This increase is thought TO
be due to the hard competition which
has marked college Sathletics in recent
years
On the other hand. Dr. James A.
Kase. physical director Of Indiana uni
versity seems to voice the opinion
of the majority of experts consulted
when he says that the reason college
athletes sometimes suffer from heart
trouble within a few years of their
graduation is that they subject them
selves to a violent change in habits
He says that man who INDUCES in
strenuous sports for six or seven
years, accustoming his heart to ex.
traordinary strains, should upon grad
uaiion continue 10 indulge in sports
which will afford occapation for the
full capacity of his heart, and then
gradually reduce his exercise. But
in many cases athletes take UP office
or other sedentary work and neglect
TO take a reasonable amount of exer-
else. This, according to Dr. Case is a
matter which requires serious atten-
ton. This opinion is also held by Or.
Thomas D. Wood, who for twenty-five
years has had opportunity to observe
athletes at Columbia University. But
while he believes that excessive indul-
gence in athletics is dangerous, he is
firmly convinced that moderate indul-
gence tends TO increa selthe length of
the athletes life
DR.. C. V. P. Young, director ot
Cornelfs gymnasium, agrees with Or.
Case and goes further by saying
that in his opinion basketball and
the quarter and half nile tract;
events put athletes 70 strains which
have little or nothing to commend
them az contributing 10 the physical
welfare Of the conrstanf" Or. e.
L. Brewer. director Of athletics at the
University OF Missouri. however, Is
strongly Of the belief that athletes do
not die Younger than other men. He
calls attention 10 the publicity given
TO The deaths Of great athletes, and
says that be believes this tends 10
create a popular belief that athletes
stand less chance Of living TO an old
age than other men Many Of the au-
thortties consulted by the government
officials stated that basketball was to
be INDUCED in with great care and on.
II BY picked men II is generally play
81 indoors and IS considered by many
to be the most strenuous Of all sports.
Opinions az to what kind OF exer.
else men Of 30 and - could take with
safety were also asked for The au-
thorities agree that a man of 80. who
In his youth has never gone in for
strenuous sports should be very care
full about them But the man Of 20,
who has engaged in athletics, can
with perfect safety continue TO en-.
gage in nearly all sports excepting
those requiring sudden strains on the
heart, and, II he trains properly, even
these sports viii do him no harm But
The man of As had better confine him
self 70 tennis in moderation, golf,
bowling, handball, swimming, moder-
ate rowing, horseback riding, tramp
Ing and fishing, but he should by the
time he has reached that age IN
stinctively realize that he is incapa.
bic Of hard competition and govern
the amount of his exercise according.
". However the report cites instances
Of great athletes OF former times who
s'ill indulge in vigorous exercise at
the are OF 70. They are the men who
have recognized the need OF regular
exercise as safeguard against de-
generation OF the heart tissues.
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