The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-07-18
Give the Boys
a Fair Chance
BY ]. Franz DAVIS
OF The vigilaBt.s.

years old Perhaps you have.
] And suppose Trustworthy doctor
told You the boy was not in good
health--that he was below par-that
he was irrevocably handicapped in
his fight with life.
And suppose the doctor told you the
illness might have been prevented ir
YOU had taken the right steps and
that he added, 1T is probably too
late 10 cure this boy, but ! can tell
you how TO prevent these younger
sons of yours from following in his
footsteps. You have it in your power
to see that your other boys have a
far better chance for health, and the
recipe is one that will not only give
them this chance but they will enjoy
the treatment. which will seem to
them like boyish game
! What would you say-aDd do2
Would you give those younger sons
their fair chance. or would you be
optimistic and go on in the same old
way. trusting to Providence or lucks
Well. all this has happened. not to
your son, perhaps. but TO our sons.
We have just been startled by the
discovery that one-quarter of our
young men between the ages of TWEEN
ty-one and thirty-one cannot pass the
not too strict tests of the National
army.
1 one-quarter OF the boys drafted suf-
t 60 r,k,
/ One-quarter of the young men
called by lot from all the young men
of those ages (Which means fair
average of the youth of the country.
OF all classes-l physically unsound TO
+ an extent that means not only inca
pacity to be a soldier but incapacity
:; to be healthy citizen.
I One-quarter of all our youth handi-
capped for the task of living useful
and successful life.
( AT the same moment thar we learn
this disturbing fact we also receive
an object lesson as TO its remedy.
F Immediately, if we are the shrewd.
hard-headed. clear-thinking people
that we like to think we are, we grasp
the remedy Immediately we unite
TO do the obvious thing that shall
make our younger boys stronger than
these older ones.
I Do we?
We do not. AT least. not all of US
do. Some of US even oppose the use
of the remedy. just as ignorant peo-
pie, in time of plague. fight the saw
ing ministrations of the sanitary
squads.
l sat opposite youth OF twenty
two. from a New England town, a few
evenings ago. and listened while he
talked about his work and play in the
big army camp that is located on the
border OF the city where l live. He
touched upon the matter of health in
cidentally. hardly aware that he was
doing so.
AT home he had always considered
himself in fairly good condition. he
said. True. he caught cold pretty
easily. and was subject. in the winter.
to sore throat. And quite a few
things to eat didn't agree with him
imagine a boy of twenty-five with
even incipient dyspepsia, And he
had always been rather thin: his
mother hated to see him drafted, be-
cause she feared he was not robust
enough to stand the strain
He mentioned these things as pass
ing comment in connection with the
Information that he had oasgruwn his
uniform. having gained twenty eight
pounds during the five mouths he had
been in the army Also. he said he
could eat anything now. and he hadn't
had a cough. or a sore throat. or even
slight cold. this past winter.
This youths military service has al
ready given him perfect health. in ad-
dition to training and discipline that
viii be invaluable TO him in the CON-
ing years. Also. he has Travelled quite
widely. and is broader minded citi-
ben at twenty-five than he would have
been at fifty II he had never left home.
Where is our boastsd American
common-sense that some u us do not
want TO take the step thai will give
this boon of better heSltb. better dis
cipline to fit them for the problems Of
life. and greater breadth OF view. 10
all our young men,
Universal training wonld do it,