MIDDLE AND DISTANCE RUNNING 37 
kinds of temperature—drenched in perspiration one hour, shivering 
with cold the next, hauling his ’rickshaw in all kinds of weather, in- 
adequately fed, smokes and dissipates. His activities are irregular—he 
may have work several days in succession, then lie idle for as many 
more, to be suddenly called upon for a renewed strenuous task—and in 
general his mode of life is exactly opposite to that of the college ath- 
lete, who is required to keep regular hours, fed the most nourishing 
foods, forbidden tobacco and spirits, is bathed, massaged and runs for 
fixed periods of time, gradually increasing his performances under the 
careful eye of an experienced coach. It is extremely difficult to obtain 
definite information concerning the jinrickisha man. No traveler 
whose works I have read has been sufficiently interested to publish in- 
information of the kind that would be valuable in connection with our 
inquiry. At the most, but casual reference is made to him as one of 
the picturesque features of the flowery kingdom. Mr. E. G. Babbitt, 
American vice consul-general in charge at Yokohama, has been good 
enough to answer my inquiry, and his letter throws more light upon the 
subject than I have been able to obtain from any other source. He 
writes : 
The imperial government publishes annually an elaborate report (statis- 
tics) concerning movements of the population, but the number of deaths, etc., 
are given by “age” and not by “ occupation,” and it would be a very difficult 
matter to find the death rate among any particular class. Each prefecture has 
its own laws and regulations concerning the jinrickisha men and in one of 
the prefectures the age of the applicants for the jinrickisha’s man’s license has 
been limited to fifty-five; in Tokio, this age limit came into force in 1907, at 
which time it was reported that there were over twelve hundred jinrickisha 
men over fifty-five years of age. Most of these men were healthy and strong. 
During the year 1907-1908, this consulate-general had two old janitors, both 
of whom were jinrickisha men over twenty-five years, they said. The superin- 
tendent of police of this district whom I interviewed on this subject attributes 
a comparatively high death rate among them to their irregular diet and exces- 
sive use of liquors, to which vice they appear to be more addicted than any 
other class of laborers, 
Dak and Kahar Runners.—In attempting to investigate the dak or 
post runner of India, I came into possession, through the courtesy of 
Mr. G. Lockwood Kipling, of information of especial interest concern- 
ing the Kahar caste, also known as Jhinwars in the Punjaub. Mr. 
Kipling writes that this caste “has for many centuries been village 
servants, appointed to be carriers, runners, watermen, fishermen, basket 
makers, water fowl catchers, etc.,” and are trained runners from genera- 
tion to generation. Mr. T. C. Lewis, late director of public instruction, 
United Province, India, in enclosing to Mr. Kipling the story which 
follows, writes: 
This goes to show that the Kahars who are in a manner born to the work, 
and are trained to it from their youth up, can, if they do it regularly (the 
