Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-12
Exercise Cage
For Subs Gets
Little Support
BY WILLIAM HINES
Star stan Writer

A sports arena the size of that
pesky third bedroom in the
average suburban RAMBLER was
suggested today as the answer
TO q submariner's need for
exercise, but the submariners
were staying away In droves.
The arena. dubbed the
"sportarama" by its promoter,
was shown to scientists attend
ing the first international
symposium on submarine and
space medicine at the Navy
Submarine Base here. The
scientists seemed impressed by
the vest-pocket exercise court.
but their enthusiasm failed to
communicate itself to the
VIGOROUSLY sedentary men who
60 down beneath the sea in
ships.
The man behind sportarama
is Hiram Bingham, namesake
son Of the late Republican Sen
ator from Connecticut. Mr..
Bingham, a white-haired. ram
rod-straight, lean 6-footer Of
IS years, said he devised it as
a way to get exercise while he
was in the foreign service in
Buenas Aires during the war.
Cage Of Netting
The shipboard sportarama--
tailored to fit inside a sub
marine-is a court 8 feet
wide, 10 feet long and 8
feet high. Its top and four
sides are of q thin but strong
nylon netting with a 1-inch
mesh. Its floor is the floor of
whatever room 1t Is erected in
- the wardroom Of a sub
marine. for example.
Mr.. Bingham demonstrated q
number Of games which he said
could be played in the SPORT
arama - basketball, volleyball,
squash and a form of hockey,
each scaled down as to number
Of players and scope of the
game, but all affording ample
exercise for crewmen, Mr.. Bing-
ham said.
The inventor remarked visit
fully that he had made the ship
board sportarama "a reduced
version Of the original IL by "a
by 10 playground model-at the
behest of the skipper Of the SUBJ
marine Seawclf. It was never in
stalled in the Seawolf's ward
room, however.
After we got 1t built, we
found that all the furniture in
the room was bolted down." he
explained.
The sturdy netting, which
withstood the force Of q soccer
ball kicked nightly by Mr..
Bingham and the dead weight
of q 160-pound man falling
against it-can be slowed into
a duffle bag ina matter Of sec
onds." the inventor said.
Get Exercise on Duty
The reaction Of submariners
was epitomized by an officer Of
the nuclear sub Nautilus, now
tied up across the Thames River
In New London.
Nobody exercises on a sub
marine" the Officer said. I'VE
get enough exercise Just going
about our duties. We've got one
oflcer aboard who claims to
take exercise. but we've never
been able to find out where he
does It,"
The ofhcer said submarine
crews do not get soft when they
go without exercise for weeks
at q time. Nor do they get fat
on a diet which nominally
provides 5000 calories q day.
Some scientists saw Mr.
Bingham's sports cage as a
valuable research tool. One
suggested use was in connec-
ton with an electrocardiograph
machine. with q man taking
exercise in a confined space and
then Immediately having a
tracing made Of his hearts ac-
ton.
Another possibility seen was
its use as an exercise cell inside
an alright test chamber, where
air components could be varied
to determine how men react to
more or less oxygen. nitrogen
and so forth.
One space engineer told Mr..
Bingham it would be nice to
have a smaller version, 6 feet
long. 3 feet wide and 6 feet
high to go inside a space