COLLEGE ATHLETICS. 



Kumher of Cities having Inhabitants of 



731 



At the last census fifty cities held 15~j*o per cent of the aggregate 

 population of the country. Whatever may be said in favor of city life 

 for adults, nothing can be said in favor of its influence upon the vigor 

 or morals of young men. Life in the cities is faster than in the coun- 

 try. The incentives to excess in mental work are greater. The v^ear 

 and tear of the nervous system is more intense. At the same time the 

 opportunity or necessity of physical effort for the young men of the 

 well-to-do classes is reduced to a minimum. 



2. Increasing Knowledge demanding moke Brain-Cultuke. — 

 Thus increasing demands are made upon the brain and nerves by the 

 faster life of the cities, and by the need of a better culture to meet 

 the competitions of that life, "while the opportunities are lessened for 

 strengthening the body against these demands. When the population 

 was extensively engaged in rural or mechanical pursuits, without the 

 division of labor which now obtains, the bodies of our young men 

 were hardened by toil and invigorated by life in the open air. 



That the concentration of population is reflected in the attendance 

 at our colleges can be established by an examination of catalogues. 

 The fact is certainly evident at Yale University, as will be seen from 

 the accompanying figures. Of every one hundred students in the cata- 

 logue, there were registered as coming from cities of thirty thousand 

 inhabitants and upward — 



Anything that will help to counteract the disintegrating forces of 

 city life, that will help to strengthen our city young men against the 

 insidious forces of ill-health, against the forces of low-living, that Avill 

 tend to keep young men out of disorders, out of crimes against self 

 and society, is to be welcomed as an ally of the best education. I 

 maintain that the system of athletics existing at our colleges and in 

 our athletic clubs in all the cities of the land does this. It does more. 

 Its work is not only to save but to form men. It helps our schools 

 and colleges to send out into the world not merely scholarly ascetics, 

 but men full of force and energy, men of strong fiber, physical and 

 moral. 



