HOW THE WATER HABIT GROWS. 



The love of outdoor life is growing more 

 rapidly in this country than it ever before 

 grew anywhere. Thousands of people who 

 have heretofore imagined they could not live 

 without the luxuries to be found within 

 brick or stone walls, and on paved streets 

 are leaving their city houses every year and 

 going into the woods or on the waters. 



A larger part of this outdoor movement 

 is taking the aquatic form. There never was 

 a time when so many boats were being 

 built and sold as to-day. The size and 

 character of these craft are regulated only 



ment in houses or offices, and to a lack of 

 proper exercise and good air. Men and 

 women who live a large portion of their 

 time outdoors develop strong, vigorous con- 

 stitutions, good lungs, good appetites and 

 a confirmed habit of sleeping 8 hours at a 

 stretch. The indications are that if this 

 outdoor sentiment continues to grow the 

 medical colleges will have to shut up shop 

 and many of the doctors already on the 

 town will have to seek other occupations. 

 A strong proof of what I have said 

 about the water habit is shown in the fact 



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AUTO BOAT SPEEDWAY, 22 MILES AN HOUR, 40 FEET. 

 Owned by Charles L. Seabury. 



by the means of the purchasers. Million- 

 aires are buying elaborate and luxurious 

 steam or sail yachts, as heretofore. The 

 man of moderate means is content with a 

 40 or 50-foot gasoline launch, or a small 

 sloop or catboat ; while the man of less 

 means, the man who works for a salary, 

 does his cruising in a rowboat, fitted with 

 a one-horse-power engine, or even in a ca- 

 noe propelled by muscular power. 



All this development of the love of out- 

 of-doors is encouraging to the student of 

 sociologoy, and in fact to every one inter- 

 ested in the health and prosperity of the 

 people. 



Many of the ailments that have kept the 

 doctors busy heretofore are due to confine- 



that there are about 5 times as many boat- 

 building plants in this country to-day as 

 there were 10 years ago. Furthermore, 

 most of them are behind their orders all 

 the year around. All of them are constant- 

 ly increasing their capacity and adding to 

 their working forces. 



Where will this thing stop? It will 

 probably not stoo at all. It will keep 

 on growing as the people become more 

 highly educated in the advantages of this 

 form of recreation. The time is likely 

 to come when Long Island sound and the 

 North river will be as densely crowded with 

 pleasure craft as Fifth avenue is now with 

 carriages and automobiles ; but one-third of 

 the earth is covered with water, and it wiU 



87 



