ATHLETICS AND SPORTS 59 



is another custom to encourage boys to enter for 

 running sports which are unsuitable to their 

 strength and physical condition. Some contests 

 are almost criminal, particularly what is known 

 as the "street marathon" in which are entered 

 boys of all ages and physical conditions. It is 

 almost a heart-rending sight to see the forlorn 

 youngsters staggering home after four or five 

 miles of severe exertion. Long walks and hikes, 

 when gradually led up to, may be fine exercise 

 and beneficial, but the marathon, or any run tak- 

 ing so great an amount of the growing boy's 

 energy, is doubtless responsible for bringing a 

 serious, or, sometimes, even fatal injury. It is 

 the excess that is dangerous, and the permitting 

 of children to take part in strenuous sports for 

 which they are not, at that time, fitted. 



Basket-ball is another good example. This is a 

 very fine game, requiring a great deal of energy 

 and skill. If the time of play is carefully limited, 

 the game may be decidedly beneficial, especially 

 if it is seen to that all the players have sound 

 hearts. But the writer has known of so-called 

 " physical directors" who have permitted teams 

 of growing boys to play all afternoon, and learned 

 nothing from seeing them go home, white and 

 exhausted, day after day. 



Let us, then, have much out-of-door exercise 

 and sport, and let us see to it that all the chil- 



