40 LHE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 
When one recalls the distances covered in the six-day go-as-you- 
please contests in vogue in this country some years ago, there is nothing 
incredible in this. If men of this day can average over a hundred 
miles a day for six days, what is there incredible in one of a race trained 
from childhood covering three hundred miles in three days? The 
interesting fact, in view of the scope of this article, is that the Kahars, 
trained from childhood to be distance runners, lived to be old men; 
that they were not only able to stand the strain of running great dis- 
tances under a heavy load, but thrived under it. 
I remember years ago of hearing that the post runners of India 
died at about the age of forty as a result of their exertions, but I have 
been unable to find any foundation for such a statement. Positive 
information in regard to the mortality of Indian post runners is un- 
available, as they are relatively very few in number and of inferior 
caste, so that they are not mentioned as a caste in health statistics. 
Mr. John Cornwall, late postmaster general in the United Provinces, 
India, writes, that the Indian mail runners cover fifteen to eighteen 
miles a day, that there is never any difficulty in getting men to under- 
take the duties and that he never heard of them succumbing at the early 
age of forty. The rumor may, he says, have arisen from “ the arrange- 
ment that Sowcars (bankers or money dealers) and Bunyas (merchants 
and traders) made in pre-mutiny days, to obtain early information as 
to the markets, rates of exchange, etc. They employed private per- 
sons, trained runners, to outstrip the regular mail carriers and convey 
information up country from trade centers. It was no uncommon 
thing, fifty years ago to see these messengers “ arriving with messages 
sealed up in quills, and with their leg sinews swollen and strained from 
their exertions,” but there is no definite and authoritative statement 
that their lives were shortened by their work. 
Conclusions.—It seems to be an open question whether cross-country 
racing is safe for any but men of exceptional strength with the proba- 
bilities in the negative. It is evident that distance racing of any kind 
is attended with a certain amount of risk, which, however, can be re- 
duced to a minimum by proper training. There is nothing in the 
testimony given by the athletes to show that distance running depletes 
vitality. As a matter of fact the presumptive weight of evidence is to 
the contrary. The facts revealed concerning the jinrickisha men and 
the Kahar runner emphasize this conclusion. If, notwithstanding his 
irregular diet, excessive use of liquors, exposure to the elements, etc., the 
jinrickisha man can live to a reasonable age; if, as shown by Mr. Har- 
vey’s testimony, Kahar runners live to be old men notwithstanding 
their extraordinary feats of endurance, we may safely conclude that the 
infinitely milder work of the college man, usually done under the best 
conditions, is not likely to injure him, and the evidence at hand appears 
to establish this beyond reasonable doubt. But the number of injuries 
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