Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-07-28

"Best Walkers Make Best Citizens"
Says Mayor Of New York.
today there are no less than 5000
hiking clubs In Greater New YORK,
with a total membership Of more than
a quarter of a million men and wom-
en-, who are keeping themselves In the
pink Of condition and experiencing the
real Joy of living by getting regularly
out into the open country with no 9th
err means of locomotion than their God
given legs.
The city Of New York has taken Off
cial notice of the movement. On three
occasions recently Mayor Hylan has
congratulated the boys and girls of the
public schools upon their enthusiasm
IN taking up the new sport of hiking.
In his dedication Of the great new pub
lie playground in the Bronx the other
day Mayor Hylan extOlled the athletic
tendencies of the boys and girls and
impressed upon them that there was
no better or more profitable way in
which they could pass their vacations
and utilize their holidays than by the
excursions into field and forest of their
walking clubs. He gave the same
message to the Amateur Athletic I'm
ion of Brooklyn a few days later, ano
when a club Of East Side boys and girls
visited him at city hall preparatory to
a hike to the tomb Of Roosevelt at
Oyster Bay he assured them that the
best walkers among them would make
the best citizens.
Walk and Be Well
No less enthusiastic a champion of
the walking game Is DR.. Royal S.
Copeland, city health commissioner.
1.-THE benefit to health and the safe
guard to morals to be found in long
walks said DR.. Copeland in an in
terview, "are o. apparent to speak
of them. II one takes long walks alone
it Is well, for he walks the road of
health, but If he takes long walks in
company II is better for he adds the
tonic of companionship to his exercise.
Walking Is the one form Of exercise in
which there is the minimum risk of
OVERRIDING 1t. In short, l consider
walking the most beneficial of all exer-
cises and 1t is never out Of season"
"Never II M lifetime" said Ed
ward R. Wilbur, manager Of a nation
ally known sporting goods store, "have
I known such a demand as now for out
door garments and shoes and stock
fngs and appliances for the tourists
luncheon box. The rapid spread and
tremendous popularity Of the walking
club idea has no parallel In our ex-
perience.
1.-THE hiker can make his requisite
Just what he feels like spending. Real
ly, there are only two or three articles
indisp ensable to hiking-thick walking
shoes that allow lots of room, thick
wooden socks and clothing that will
give freedom of limb. He should have
q canvas or leather musette bag, such
as the soldiers used in France.
The Cow In the Knapsack
ITO get the real benefit and joy out
of hiking luncheon should be carried
and prepared and eaten in the open.
Bread and cheese, a few slices of
bacon, some coffee, a can of condensed
milk, and a cake Of chocolate fur
nish high-powered fuel for the hiker
and are readily and happily assimi-
lated even by those who in their pre-
hiking days were afflicted with d.
gestive apparatus so feeble as to balk
at crackers and milk. Fortunately for
the hiker, he can replenish his simple
larder at any crossroads store and
provide himself with the most nutri-
tious and appetizing food in a form
that can be conveniently carried.
mo single development in the prob.
lem Of food transportation for the
hunter, fisherman, hfker and all lovers
of the ost-of-doors can compare with
the gift bestowed by the man who
first found the way to make con.
densed milk, thereby putting a dairy
in every mans ~knapsack. Before lone
there will be a national association OF
mixers, and Gail Borden will be its pa.
tron saint. Such an association could do
much 10 encourage the spread of the
most beneficial and universal OF all
outdoor pastimes, map out interesting
routes, secure the establishment OF
shelters, registrations, and camp sites
at suitable locations, and insure the
rights Of pedestrians on country
roads"