The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-09-10
Washington, D. C.. eeDt. g.
DON'T staks exsFcise." Get out and


Washinetoa, D. C., eeDt. s.-l
Don't -taka sxsfciss." Get out and
p,syi
This d the latest bsAsst Of the
most advanced thinkoFn On the sub /
jet Of what u good tor ma They
ssy that exercise has been made |
such . serious matter IN ttia coun-
try that It has been robbed Of half
III value-of more.
It used to b that few IN the
United States thought Of taking
exercise for IT. own sake. Then It
began to b discovered that the
liver needs shaking mp, the lungs
require deep breathing, the skin
should perspire. Forthwith the
professors Of calisthenics and ply
steal culture came into their own.
These subjects began to b taught
in the schools and By private
sayants, and they were advertised
In all magazines and newspapers
and taught by correspondence.
All over this broad land people
were set to work touching their
toes II times before breakfast, ly-1
ing on their backs and waving their
legs In the air, standing before
windows and breathing deeply,
writhing, rolling, twisting. kicking.
working at pulleys, manipulating
Indian clubs and dumb-bells, SOL
EMMY sparring with their own i'm
ages in the looking-glass.
The natural tendency Of the
American il to take things too ser
iously anyway, so that he easily
fell for this idea Of making exer-
else . very serious and conscien-
tious undertaking.
According to the new school Of
physical culturists, this is all
wrong. Tho trouble with 1t il that
it is no fun. For exercise 10 an
emotional - well IS . physical
thing. II you don't get excited and
forget your troubles, half the rec
reative and educational value Of the
exercise is lost A wild chase after
your hat in q windstopn 10 worth
more than 4 week Of setting up ex-
ercises, because it contains the ele-
ment Of exciting play.
A typical representative Of this
new play theory is DR.. e. D. Angel.
who is said to have invented more
games than any other one man.
The Necessity Of Play.
play has q real biological Sig
nificance," said DR.. Angel. 1T has
been part Of the life Of peoples
through all the ages. Primitive
man got his complete education
through play. He learned to throw,
run, swim, hide, climb, tussle.
Later be used this training in hunt
ing and fighting. Without the cum
ming given to him by the games Of
his childhood he would have per-
ished. Young animals get their
education the same way. The kit
ten who pursues q ball Of yarn ID
governed by the same instinct as
the tiger stalking its food in the
jungle. To preserve the race there
has been planted in man the in
stinct Of play. Fortunately it has
been a delightfully."- impelling force,
and so the instinct of play, which is
simply part of the instinct of self
preservation. has done much to
make our lives happier. =
Nov we are removed from primi-
tive conditions, but we still have
the same kind Of body, and life is
still competitive proposition. Re
CARELESS Of our power to cerebrate
our continued success still depends
on physical efficiency. And, what
lis more important, so does our hap
piness. So why not utilize in edu-
cation the most natural thing we
have inherited, the impulse to play
Why make exercise bitter dose? ?
| DR.. Angel maintains, with the
support of most of US who have
done boresome arm exercise In
school, that classroom calisthenics
is bitter dose. He says that ply.
steal training as taught In American
schools calls up visions of a grouI
Of children standing between desk
and raising arms and bending leg.
as directed by a teacher who is her
! self, as rule, anything but an In
spring object Of physical perfec
ton.
IF this performance served It,
purpose" said DR.. Angel, "in i'm
lproving the child's body the same a.
reading, writing and arithmetic
improve the child's mind, We woul'
have fine physical specimen
emerging from our schools. Blu
, we don't. Millions have been spen
, on systems Of physical education
without results at all commensur
ate with the expense. In other words
we have hitched onto education a,
artificial group Of maneuvers tina
have no relation to life. Education
, Of any kind is futile if 1t lacks 4