36 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



train without racing. There seems to be no doubt in the minds of the 

 athletes themselves as to the effects of their running. Over ninety per 

 cent, claim to have derived permanent benefits, in many instances of 

 inestimable value, and only four of the entire number testify to perma- 

 nent injury. Some of the letters have a direct bearing on the subject 

 of vitality, others relate to it indirectly; one man writes: 



Cornell University is distinguished above all other institutions for the 

 development of runners at the distances you mention. I am in touch with all 

 the 'varsity distance men graduated in the last ten years, and there is not a 

 case of physical debility in the whole lot. Most of them are much more alive 

 than the average man. 



A famous distance runner whose feats astonished men a few years 

 ago, writes : 



I have been running for over twenty-three years now, and feel in perfect 

 physical condition. Have won races from seventy-five yards up, and have run 

 over one hundred miles quite olten. My heart has been examined by specialists 

 in London, Paris, Boston and other places, and all say that it is in perfect 

 working shape. 



Another writes : 



My father, who is sixty-two years of age, and an old distance runner, can 

 now run a quarter mile consistently under sixty seconds. He has not been ill 

 since he was a young man, and is as hale and hearty as a man of thirty. 



A quarter mile in sixty seconds is beyond the ability of ninety-nine 

 out of a hundred men whom you and I meet in the streets. The aver- 

 age boy of eighteen years can not do it, but the trained runner can with 

 ease. A form of exercise which develops and maintains in a man 

 sixty-two years of age vigor enough to perform a feat beyond the 

 strength of the average man of half his years and which brings forth 

 testimony such as I have just quoted, has strong claims to favorable 

 consideration. 



The Jinrickisha Man. — As bearing upon the general subject of 

 distance running, I have endeavored to ascertain how the jinrickisha 

 men of Japan and the dak or post runners of India have been affected 

 by their arduous occupations. Although the work performed by the 

 jinrickisha man differs widely in character from that demanded by 

 the college athlete training for distance racing, there is a parallel if 

 not similar demand upon the heart and lungs, and the effect should 

 be similar in character, differing only in degree. The jinrickisha man 

 performs infinitely harder work than the college athlete. Twenty, 

 forty and even sixty miles a day is no unusual performance, and while 

 he does not run as fast as the college man, he adds to the burden of 

 his running — which ordinarily is hardly more than a fast jog — the 

 strain of drawing a heavy weight, so that in all probability the cumu- 

 lative effect upon the vital organs is not only equal to but much bej^ond 

 that of the college man. In addition to this, he is subjected to all 



