Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-08-29
DECLARES BOXING
INJURIES SOLDIERS
BUT OFFICERS SAY IT IS ON
A VOLUNTARY BASIS IN
ARMY CAMPS

Would Americas fighting men be
able to fight better II they stopped
fighting with boxing gloves?
This question brought an emphatic
yes from DR.. Arthur H. Steinhaus,
physiology professor Of George Will
liams college; and an equally en-
phatic no from Lieut.. Ralph Hauen-
stein Of Fort Sheridan, Ill.,
DR.. Steinhaus is vice chairman OF
the health division Of the American
Association for Health, Physical Edu-
cation and Recreation. Lieutenant
Hauenstein Is organizer Of the boxing
program at Fort Sheridan.
The dispute IS over the hidden brain
damage which a hard punch may do,
and whether this criticism applies
fairly to army boxing
Punch Drunkenness
DR.. Steinhaus said that there Is
danger Of developing the well known
nch-drunkenness and also emotion
al disturbances from boxing brain in
turtes. These are insidious, he said. be-
cause the Ill effects which frequently
result are not always apparent at the
time of injury.
He condemned the sport as "the
American curse, inexcusably, especial
ly for men training for the flying
corps" and recommended its elimina-
ton from army camp activities. He
Joined with DR.. Ernest Jokl, head Of
the department Of physical education
at Witwatersrand, johannesburg,
South Africa, who made similar rec
ommendation for British filters. de-
claring he knew of two unexplained
air crashes with fatal results concern
ing well known boxer-pilots.
Boxing Is Voluntary
DR.. Steinhaus' view was described
by Lieutenant Hauenstein as far
fetched"
I'm the first place." he said there
is nothing mandatory about the box
ing program-at least not at Fort
Sheridan. It's on a purely voluntary
basis.
There is no better way know to
teach muscle coordination, which Is
| important because military maneuvers
call for every form of physical ac-
tivity.
More important, however, is box
tng's recreational value-it's morale
building-not only for the boxers but
boxing and when you give them the
kind of entertainment they enjoy, they
| are less likely to go out of camp to
look for other forms-and get into
trouble
I'VE don't let the men get hurt.
Even scratch Is enough to stop the
match. These bouts are not like
grueling 10-round professional fights,
but are for three rounds only, under
A. A. U. rules. The men are given
four weeks preliminary work. They
are carefully examined by physicians
and their instructors are all men who,
in civilian life, had wide experience
in boxing"
Loss Of Memory
DR.. Steinhaus said his observations
were based on his own studies, DR..
JOKES conclusions and report made
IN 1910 by University Of Illinois
committee which recommended that
boxing be excluded from the sports
programs Of educations.
Probably no hard blow" DR.. Stein
haus said, us taken without some in
Jury to the brain, and each little in
jury makes its contribution to the
final result-punch-drun with
its symptoms Of deterioration in the
ability to concentrate, loss of memory,
impeachment Of speech and unsteady
gait.
Even a single injury, II serious
enough, will cause the same effect.
The boxer doesn't have to be Knocked
out. Each time q small part Of the
brain is destroyed, and the brain does
not regenerate.
'DiHtness and other symptoms may
not be so serious IN themselves, but
the results, later on are likely to have
permanent effect On the victims
finer Intellectual processes. We are
actually making our soldiers less e.
fective through boxing"