The New York herald., 1922-04-23
BY WALTER CAMP.

TT is difficult TO realize how
greatly, from time 10 time, We
have changed our viewpoint in
regard to health, that most important
asset, and its preservation. The laws
of Princeton College in 1887 read,
Whereas a game played in the rear
campus by the students with bat and
ball is rude and unbecoming TO gentle
men, and tends through the alternate
heats and colds TO the injury Of the
health of those under our care, there
fore be it forbidden"
Evidently in those days. perspira-
ton through exercise was regarded as
dangerous. Nearly one hundred years
later the Yale Courdnt came out with
the statement that the increase in
accident insurance companies was due
to the growth of popularity OF base
ball and that il the mania did not
presently cease we would be without
able e-bodied citizens.
roo Years Ago Life Was
Active and Out of Doors
1t is hard indeed TO believe that
such views could have obtained, and
yet examination of history shows that
they did 1t should be remembered
that our early settlers led perforce
an outdoor life, a life in which ptysi-
cal exercise was an absolutely neces-
sary accompaniment of existence.
Civilization, while 1t has made re-
markable improvements in practical
affairs, has been gradually leading us
further and further away from the
outdoor life and drawing us more and
more within the confines Of four walls,
and We need every possible assistance
toward offsetting these conditions.
Before taking the matter up in de-
tail one should recognize fully that as
we drift steadily away from the out
door life which our ancestors in the
early days of this country were
obliged to live, we must. unless a gain
is made in other respects, become less
sturdy and enduring; because the ef-
fects of civilization are to drive us
within doors, to work less with tie
physical body, TO be shut out more
and more from outdoor air and sun
shine. That. we have made great
strides in protecting infant life. that
we are far better able to prevent and
control many contagious diseases and
epidemics are points strongly in our
favor But the question is. had we
not succeeded in doing this would we
not from the very nature of the life
which our people are living. have
found serious inroads into the public
health and well being?
Twenty-Five or thirty years ago
there was no department of health in
Yale University. Bathing facilities
were extremely limited: the means for
enjoyment of forms of exercise when
the weather made outdoor work i'm
possible weres of the most meager
kind. The minor sports were still in
their infancy and the amount of well
equipped playing surface was far less
TO the man than it is to-day.
In the old days IL student were
taken i'll his chum sought out local
doctor. whom he dragged over to the
dormitory, provided. OF course. his
comrade was sufficiently i'll 10 be will
ing TO have this done. In many cases
there was very little medical attention
unless the boy was really sick in bed
and so markedly i'll that his comrades
thought he should have a physician.
To-day. IL a man stays in bed after
10 o'clock in the morning. the janitor
reports the case and IL is investigated
by the college department of health.
AS for the men on the athletic teams,
formerly there was very little medical
oversight unless a man received an
injury such as to incapacitate him
from play. and then he was the one
who wanted the attendance and
wanted it in order to get back on the
team again.