FOREST AND STREAM, 
Hf) 


The newer era of athletic sports is manifested by the care- 
ful attention and fostering care given to them by men of 
wealth and education. To Mr. James Gorden Bennett, who 
has offered prizes for foot racing, a sport rarely if ever 
practised in the United States, our gratitude is also due. It 
is another step taken in the true direction. Its apparent 
exclusivensss, that the reward shall be given to non-profes- 
sional winners is its merit. Professional runners can always 
find their proper spheres and can win their laurels, and will 
learn that their services as trainers will be even more called 
into play. Our aptitude for athletic sports, it should be re- 
membered, cannot exist on the reputation of any particular 
runner or boatman. It is not because the Japanese breed a 
single race of men, huge as elephants and strong 4s bulls, 
as wrestlers, that we accord to this peculiar people any athle- 
tic excellence. What we want is, that our sons should revel 
in these sports, that their every muscle and fibre should be 
drilled and trained, not for the vain-glory attached to the 
conquest of a cup, or the sporting a knot of ribbons, but 
thatjthey should feel that inate pride of perfect manhood, 
which should urge them to excel, and to improve the phys- 
ical qualities nature has given them. 
The last collegiate boat race, was another notable advance 
made inthe annals of American atheletic sports. If due 
applause has been given to the contestants, conquerors and 
conquered who pulled through that notable race, the highest 
commendation should be :accorded to the administrative 
heads of those seats of learning, who have at last given this 
most important subject of physical development, not only. 
their earnest attention but their hearty approval. Our Am- 
erican College Faculties have but acted according to the pre- 
cedents laid down, by the Dons of those venerable Alma 
Maters on the other side of the water. They have discover- 
ed that instead of frowning down a most natural aspiration 
of youth, that desire to excel in healthful sports, that it 
was wiser that they should give it its proper bent; they have 
learnt, too, that instead of grudging a reluctant assent to what 
they could not prevent, it was better to even cherish and 
foster it. The aid and encouragement given to the collegians 
by our leading Faculties, is what every sensible man has 
been asking for, for the last twenty years. The boy now in 
his preparatory school, will learn to run, to*leap, to row, to 
develop all the life God has given him, with the hope that 
when he enters his collegiate life, in addition to classical 
honors, the double prize of the athletic conquest may be 
awarded him. Slowly perhaps will parents and guardians 
learn that the masters to whom they confide their sons, do 
not think now as they did even ten years ago, that a hale, 
hearty youth, ready to race his mile, or pull his boat from 
sunrise to sunset, cannot be made quite as great an ornament 
of learning, and just as fitting for the highest collegiate honors 
as the more weakly boy, whose sick and rachitic tendencies, 
through want of physical culture, showed that he has scarce 
vital power enough to carry him through his course of 
study. 
How long indeed it has taken us to understand, that there 
is nothing incompatible in a man’s throwing a summersault 
one moment and the next translating Euripides. What 
strange conventional portraits we have drawn for ourselves 
and kept repeating the outlines, depicting the possessor of 
high mental acquirements. with haggard face, deep sunken 
eyes, and generally emaciated contours/ It is the physique 
of a Tyndall, the power to climb the glacier, to scale the 
Alpine heights, to even tire out his guides, which give to this 
greatest of all modern scientists, all his scope and vigor. 
The intellectual life of Gilbert Hammerton tells us the same 
story over and over again. ‘‘ Even philosophy itself, owes 
much to mere physical courage and endurance. How much 
that is noblest in ancient thinking may be due to the hardy 
health of Socrates.” It has taken even a century, for statis- 
ticians to find out what was the most natural of God’s laws, 
—that physical and mental culture must go hand in hand. 
A book is just fresh from the press on this very subject, 
which shows to an astonished world what they should have 
known long ago, and this is, the sapient fact, that the college 
oars of England, the famous boatmen of the Universities, 
live not only quite as long, but even longer, are less prone 
to disease in their older age, than those who have never 
pulled an oar. Strange to say, even novelists have gone 
out of their way to decry physical culture, and Wilkie Col- 
lins wrote a book, where] the hero, from an over zest in ath- 
letic sports, perverts all his nobler qualities, until he becomes 
a drunkard anda murderer. But what is more absurd is, 
that there are found readers to believe such fiction. To-day 
it is quite questionable whether the morbidity of some men’s 
minds, that inclination to suicide, to injure others of the 
human race, does not more usually occur in individuals 
whose physical condition has been most neglected. Con- 
sciousness of power—the knowledge of possessing strength, 
by one of the wisest of God’s provisions, mostly tempers the 
passions of one blessed in this way. It is a slander on all 
mankind to suppose that physical prowess engenders brutal 
instincts. Strong men are proverbially good natured. 
The question of money wagered on athletic contests, as 
appertaining to this subject, has been replied to time and 
time again. It is ever a narrow, bigoted argument, which 
tries to settle this gambling disposition on athletic sports. 
Is it to be supposed that because A. cannot outrun the writer, 
that from this fact A. must compine with his fleetness of 
foot, more decided gambling proclivities ? It is not the 
race-course that turns men into gamblers, it is the blacklegs 
who corrupt the race-course. Unfortuately there are few 
human events, bringing together concourses of men, not 
marred by this vice, Must we to follow up this argument 
abandon our privilege of freedom, and not vote, because a 
gambling pool is made up, to be decided by the hap-hazzard 
of an unknown event ? 
We do however commend in the highest terms the strin- 
gent measures adopted by the Springfield authorities, on the 
occasion of the late boat-race, to crush out the gambling 
spirit, and perhaps it is quite worthy of comment to record 
the fact, and one we should congratulate ourselves upon, 
that the amount of money wagered on this race was quite 
insignificant. Though somewhat difficult to encompass, we 
see no reason why the rowing clubs themselves should not 
introduce some stringent rules, forbidding members from 
betting. If our memory serves us rightly, we have we 
think seen such rules as above suggested, incorporated in the 
regulations of certain clubs. Of course it not within the 
province of the Forrst AND STREAM to become the censor 
of public morals. But did we know any method by which 
all betting or lotteries could be abolished, we would willingly 
give such a plan all the help in our power. 
. One fact not to be overlooked, is the exceeding good taste 
and judgement evinced by the religious press of the United 
States, on their departure from former preconceived notions 
in regard to rational athletic sports. Clergymen playing 
croquet are no longer excommunicated as miserable sinners, 
to be excluded from grace. Theological students are no 
longer held up as solemn warnings because they can pull an 
oar, 
The sound and wholesome advice given by these partieu- 
lar journals, has done more to fully establish athletic sports, 
to place them on a sounder basis, than all the weaker stuff, 
produced ad nauseam, by the so-called sporting organs. 
It is, then, to the schools and colleges that we look for the 
thorough propagation of all athletic sports, for certain are we 
that in the excercise of them comes the sense of manly 
honor and right. The time has passed away when a billiard 
room or a bowling alleyin a college gymnasium are con- 
sidered as lures of the eyil one. Human nature and students 
are much the same all over the world, but we believe that by 
fostering the natural inclination for exercise inherent in 
youth, they will not only be the more scholarly, but the 
more christian. 

0 = 
COLLEGE BOATING. 
aS 
LTHOUGH the great excitement in boating conse- 
quent upon the Springfield regatta has somewhat 
subsided, rowing men will read with much interest and no 
little profit an article in Hurper’s Magazine entitled ‘Ten 
Years Among the Rowing Men,” by William Blaikie. This 
paper is an eminently sound one, and treats in a rational 
way the much vexed question of training. Mr. Blaikie has 
no faith in those empirical rules in use some few years ago, 
when the least possible amount of common sense was em- 
ployed. Men in training are free to partake now of every 
‘kind of food and fluid ; all that they should be debarred of 
is the use of stimulants. Human beings are no longer to 
be considered in the same light as horses, to be restricted 
to two or three kinds of diet only, in order to get them up 
to the highest pitch of physical excellence. The antiquated 
formula for bringing up the system was not only absurd, 
but injurious, as it commenced by reducing it. Mr. Blai- 
kie says: ‘This barbarous custom came from such wis- 
dom as one found in Boaiana and works on training in 
by-gone days, and perhaps for the men it was meant for— 
prize fighters, sporting men, and their associates—it was 
well enough; for a hearty fellow, long used to loafing 
about bar rooms, and by his unrestrained appetites adding 
daily to his weight a puffy, beer-soaked sort of flesh, might 
find his body none the worse for, and his sensual nature 
cooled by, heavy sweating between feather beds, and by 
long walks and runs with top coats wrapped about him.” 
The old fashioned method, as described in the books of 
twenty years ago, never fails to start off with the neces- 
sity of preparing the man for his work, no matter whether 
he was well or ill, by first giving him a strong purge. This 
was supposed to remove all the bad humors, and to give 
him a new foundation to build upon. The natural reduc- 
tion of the system, the dispersing of the extra quantity of 
fat, should be induced solely by the exercise, always re- 
membering, however, that a certain amount of it is abso- 
lutely necessary for the human organism, and that to train 
too low down, or ‘‘too fine,” loses more races than the op- 
posite. 
What a comfort it is, too, for the lazy ones to know that 
contestants for athletic distinctions sometimes err by over- 
work. ‘‘We hold that even to-day men in training are 
prone to-do too much work. When the Harvard crew 
was in Europe, preparing for the struggle that created such 
profound surprise, at least among all Englishmen—for the 
latter had expected them to be beaten from the start, in- 
stead of leading probably the best crew Oxford ever had 
for two whole miles—they would, beside a little walking, 
paddle about over two or three miles in the morning, and 
generally go over the track from Putney to Mortlake (four 
miles and three furlongs) at a racing pace in the after- 
noon ; then, after lying on their oars a little while, till they 
recovered their breath, would start back easily, and often 
swing into a stroke that gave the horsemen on the tow 
path something to do to keep up. And for this they 
were pronounced by the English press perfect ‘gluttons’ at 
work.” 
With the wide extent of country we have, and its climatic 
differences, to lay down any positive rules governing the 
amount of exercise to be taken is, we think, impossible, 
& good oarsman in prime condition on the Charles River 
‘row only. 
might take his spurts of speed over and over again with- 
out inconvenience, whilst an individual of equal physical 
stamina in attempting the same thing on the Savannah 
River, would only be the worse for it. Perhaps the heavy 
amount of labor the American boatmen impose on them- 
selves arises from the fact that the generality of them have 
not in younger years inured themselves to the task, and 
their ambition induces them to somewhat overtax their 
powers by endeavoring to make up for lost time. There 
are, however, reasons why the work cannot be distributed 
over as long a period in the United States asin England. 
Taking a wide extent of country, from Portland to Balti- 
more, where boating may be supposed to have the most at- 
tention paid to it, our rivers are, on an average, only practi- 
cable during six months atthe farthest, while in England the 
boating season is of fully ten months’ duration. 
One most important question not to be overlooked, and 
one which we shall use our utmost efforts to solve, is this : 
Is it found that the regular course of study is interfered with 
by boating ? Mr. Blaikie’s comprehensive article touches on 
this topic. He says: ‘‘The English students usually, if we 
are rightly informed, do nearly if not quite all their severe 
rowing ata season of the year when their studies exact 
comparatively little of their time, and thus the achievement 
of even the highest rank and honors are not, as has been 
more than once proved, incompatible with prominence on 
the river. But the American who wants to row a race, if 
he is yet a student, is very apt to find numerous examina- 
tions coming on at just about the time most convenient for 
the racing ; while, if in business, he will attempt to prepare 
himself for his task after business hours, when he is of ne- 
cessity more or less worn down by the labor and annoy- 
ances of the day.” 
Of course this is unfortunate, but there is no help for it, 
Though we are the greatest advocates of athletic sports, we 
hold that boating must be subservient to study. Weare not 
sure, however, that any ill effects have yet been noticed by 
those most competent to judge of such matters. A very able 
letter, referring to this and kindred subjects, will be found 
at the conclusion of this article, from Professor Hitchcock, 
of Amherst College, addressed to the editor of Forest . 
AND STREAM. 
. The arguments advanced by us somewhat at length in the 
article on the New Era of Athletic Sports, as to the neces- 
sity of varying our sports, we deem to hold good in this 
particular case, where possibly the training for boating 
might interfere with collegiate duties. The supremacy in 
boating in England does not arise from the fact that they 
Other exercises are in vogue. Of course the 
exact and elegant methods of rowing, under a good coach, 
take a certain amount of time, but this time isa limited 
one, and is secondary to the question of their muscle and 
endurance, which can be acquired by a thousand other ways 
than by being seated in a boat. The preparation, then, for 
the water contests in the United States must have its origin 
in ball play, foot races, cricket, the use of Indian clubs and 
all gymnastic exercises, which have to be carried on all the 
year round, 
A true enthusiast, somewhat even of a Prussian as he is 
in his ideas of the superlative excellence of physical train- 
ing, perhaps the most important portion of Mr. Blaikie’s 
article is that devoted to the subject of having proper men 
to take charge of gymnasiums. Harvard, it is stated, had, 
not very long ago, an instructor, ‘‘an ignorant negro, who 
found his stipend so paltry that he was obliged. to eke out 
an existence by giving boxing lessons and keeping an old 
clothes establishment in a neighboring cellar.” Mr. Blaikie 
urges, and most properly, that in order to gain the respect 
of his pupils he who teaches in the gymnasium should have 
amoral and mental calibre sufficient to command the re- 
spect of his pupils, and should be conversant with the anat- 
omy and physiology of the human body. ‘If gymnastic 
‘institutions were made compulsory and regular, the results, 
under the teaching of such a guide, would be swift and 
most gratifying.” We are somewhat afraid of the cwmpul- 
sory idea, at least for the present, as far as regards exercise. 
But who knows? Compulsory education may, in time to 
come, so thoroughly instruct us as to the other wants of 
man, that what might seem strange to-day may perhaps be 
considered as a necessity some fifty years hence. 
AMHERST COLLEGE, July 31, 1873. 
Epiror ForEsT AND STREAM: 
You ask me for my “opinion ”’ upon the following questions: ‘“‘What do 
you think is the effect of constant boat practice in colleges during term 
time upon the ambition of students to excel in the paramount oBjects of 
a collegiate course ? Does not the encroachment operate injuriously ? Are 
Professors impelled by public clamor to wink at it against their private 
conviction?” : 
Of course I can only answer for the students of Amherst College, and 
express my own opinion. 
Of our students, not more than twenty have had more than e general 
interest in this matter,’so that the great mass are unaffected in their ambi- 
tion to study, and of these twenty, fully one-half are (have been) of such 
high intellectual ability, that their 7@n& has probably not been in the least 
affected by it. Five or six of the remainder have no doubt suffered in 
their intellectual standing, and that mainly because they had poor pre- 
paration before entering college, and now need more time to prepare their 
recitations, than those who are quicker in their intellectual perceptions. 
But of all our young men who have engaged in boating, there have been 
none who have dissipated in the exercise. If they have suffered at all, it 
is because required to take so much time for a few weeks of each summer 
term in their long journey to the water to practice in their boats. 
Tam sure that none of our Professors are impelled by popular clamor 
to favor this measure against their private convictions. But at the same 
time we all know that there is never a time in college when the students, 
many of them, are not deeply interested in something only gevmain to the 
intellectual work of the college course, If it be not secret societies, it is 
chess playing; if not ball game, tt ig theatricals; when the concert and glee 
club fever rung low, then a moot egurt or squabble over parliamentary 
tactics {s eyre to make some popular excitement outside the regular Gels 
lege curriculum, Aud here! where a college Faculty need the most 
