MIDDLE AND DISTANCE RUNNING 37 



kinds of temperature — drenched in perspiration one hour, shivering 

 with cold the next, hauling his 'rickshaw in all kinds of weather, in- 

 adequately fed, smokes and dissipates. His activities are irregular — he 

 may have work several days in succession, then lie idle for as many 

 more, to be suddenly called upon for a renewed strenuous task — and in 

 general his mode of life is exactly opposite to that of the college ath- 

 lete, who is required to keep regular hours, fed the most nourishing 

 foods, forbidden tobacco and spirits, is bathed, massaged and runs for 

 fixed periods of time, gradually increasing Ms performances under the 

 careful eye of an experienced coach. It is extremely difficult to obtain 

 definite information concerning the jinrickisha man. No traveler 

 whose works I have read has been sufficiently interested to publish in- 

 information of the kind that would be valuable in connection with our 

 inquiry. At the most, but casual reference is made to him as one of 

 the picturesque features of the flowery kingdom. Mr. E. G. Babbitt, 

 American vice consul-general in charge at Yokohama, has been good 

 enough to answer my inquiry, and his letter throws more light upon the 

 subject than I have been able to obtain from any other source. He 

 writes : 



The imperial government publishes annually an elaborate report (statis- 

 tics) concerning movements of the population, but the number of deaths, etc., 

 are given by " age " and not by " occupation," and it would be a very difficult 

 matter to find the death rate among any particular class. Each prefecture has 

 its own laws and regulations concerning the jinrickisha men and in one of 

 the prefectures the age of the applicants for the jinrickisha's man's license has 

 been limited to fifty-five; in Tokio, this age limit came into force in 1907, at 

 which time it was reported that there were over twelve hundred jinrickisha 

 men over fifty-five years of age. Most of these men were healthy and strong. 

 During the year 1907-1908, this consulate-general had two old janitors, both 

 of whom were jinrickisha men over twenty-five years, they said. The superin- 

 tendent of police of this district whom I interviewed on this subject attributes 

 a comparatively high death rate among them to their irregular diet and exces- 

 sive use of liquors, to which vice they appear to be more addicted than any 

 other class of laborers. 



Dak and Kaliar Runners. — In attempting to investigate the dak or 

 post runner of India, I came into possession, through the courtesy of 

 Mr. G. Lockwood Kipling, of information of especial interest concern- 

 ing the Kahar caste, also known as Jhinwars in the Punjaub. Mr. 

 Kipling writes that this caste " has for many centuries been village 

 servants, appointed to be carriers, runners, watermen, fishermen, basket 

 makers, water fowl catchers, etc.," and are trained runners from genera- 

 tion to generation. Mr. T. C. Lewis, late director of public instruction, 

 United Province, India, in enclosing to Mr. Kipling the story which 

 follows, writes: 



This goes to show that the Kahars who are in a manner born to the work, 

 and are trained to it from their youth up, can, if they do it regularly (the 



