Evening star., 1923-12-16
BY FRANK g.. CARPENTER.
PRAGUE.


"tt strong be the frame OF the mother
. ber son shall make laws for the people"
e JPPOSE the United States should
have a great gymnastic awak-
1 j ening. Suppose the care of the
body should be the slogan OF not
only the men but the women as we'll
suppose there should spring up over
night in our every city and village
and even out in the country clubs of
fifty to five hundred every member of
Which should go into regular athletic
training three nights week and
keep this up week after week. year
in and year out. Let the clubs in
clude the grown-ups. and let them
begin with children OF six years and
upward. Let the classes be of various
ages, even to men and women of
thirty and forty. Let the training be
taken conscientiously and regularly,
under the best OF physical directors,
with all the appliances OF q f1rst-class
gymnasium: and. at the same time.
lat IL be associated with the inculca-
ton Of clean living and high thinking
along patriotic lines SO that the soul
to a certain extent grows with the
body. What an effect it would have
upon the rank and file Of our Amer
lean nation,
Well, this is just what is going on
and has been going on for a genera
ton or so in Bohemia and Moravia.
II has built up people. which. now
that they. have regained their indie
pendence, are bound TO be one OF the
strongest factors in the world OF the
future.
The institution which Is doing this
is known as the SokoI. You have
probably heard Of its annual meets
which take place in the great stadium
at Prague every summer where
1900 women and $1,000 men, dele
gates from the many societies. go
through their gymnastics and drills,
like one vast machine, to music COM
posed for the occasion. You may have
seen movies Of the great army of up
standing, muscular and almost per-
fectiy formed girls dressed in short
blue skirts, white waists and bright
red caps. tossing their $4,000 bare
arms to the sky, bending their backs
toward the earth, sway!ng this way
ana that in rhythmic motion or drill
ing. their $4,000 black stockinged legs
rising and falling as one to the
strains OF the band. You may have
seen the $4,000 men bare to the waist
or clad In bright red shirts and faun-
colored shirts, marching through
their myriad evolutions. their hard
muscles playing under their skins Of
velvety rose. You may have seen the
athletic feats of the individuals and
the classes. All this is wonderful
as one Of the great sport shows Of the
world, but after all il Is only a show.
What I want you TO see is the Sokoi
as 1t works every day and every week
the year through throughout the re-
public
It Is not difficult to see, and il you
will come with me you: will find it a
good sight for sore eyes. There are
SokoI societies in every city. town.
village and district OF the state Of
Bohemia. They are to be found in
every ward Of the cities, and there
are twenty-six here in Prague. In the
smaller societies, where the accom-
inodAtions are hardly sufficient. the
men go through their exercises on
three days of the week and the three
other days are left for the women.
In some of the larger halls like the
one we shall visit the accommoda-
tieus are such that the men and
women may be exercising in different
rooms at the same time. and we shalt
be able to see both sexes at work.
This section has three hundred and