Athletic Sports (extract)

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man The undergoing of present hardship for the sake of future gain is one of the most encouraging features connected with ath­ letic sports and games. That the partici­ pants may be in the best physical condition at the dayof the contest, they are obliged to undergo a long and arduous course of training, denying themselves luxuries, fore­ going pleasures, and holding themselves down to a rigid system of mechanical exercises for an ultimate object, —the winning ofa foot-race, boat-race, or a ball- game. If one man in a hundred will prac­ tise self-denial, and undergo hardship, in order to win a prize in a fleeting pastime, is it not an insult to the remaining ninety- nine to assume that they have not suffi­ cient morale to make a similar effort in preparing to win the higher prize of life ? After obtaining the measurements of a thousand individuals, ranging from sixteen to thirty years of age, I tabulated them according to age, and sought to obtain the average height, weight, chest-girth, etc., as indicated in the listpreviously described. The averagesthus obtained have been used as a working basisup to the present time. Immediately afterthe examination of the individual, he was furnished with a book 25