A railroad president not long ago said that he had
not the time to take exercise or rest, that his salary
was fifty thousand dollars a year, and that his company
had just given him a bonus of fifty thousand; hence
he could not shirk his responsibilities. He paid
the full measure and was buried in six months from
the time of the warning. In one issue of the
New York Evening Post the following deaths were
noted:
President Hyde, formerly of Bowdoin, fifty-nine years
of age. Capt. Volney Chase, of the Navy,
fifty-six years of age. Capt. Campbell Babcock,
fifty years old. Colonel Deshon, fifty-three years
old.
Our Cabinet officers and executives and the members
of the Council of National Defense are likely to forget,
in the excess of their patriotism and loyalty, that
there is one edict higher than that of the greatest
government in the world. When Nature gives an
order there is no appeal to a higher court, and the
excuse that a man has not the time to obey, or is
doing something that his country most urgently needs,
has no weight in that court. When Nature touches
a man on the shoulder and says, “Stop!”
he stops. The penalty of frayed nerves, overworked
brains, and underworked bodies is failure of body
and mind. The premonitory symptoms are irritability,
quarreling, depression, fierceness and inefficiency
of effort, and finally complete breakdown. Three
to four hours a week physical exercise under a scientifically
tested plan and arrangement will keep these men fit.
Is the price in this emergency too high to pay?
Up to the time when this world conflagration started,
a man’s physical fitness was merely a matter
of individual interest. The general health of
the community was important, but that fact was not
sufficiently pressing to do much more than attract
the attention of the health boards, and perhaps a
few recently organized and semi-philanthropic bodies.
But suddenly there flamed out a war in Europe, and
at once the countries involved found that upon the
physical fitness of the people would depend their
lives and freedom. It was no longer an academic
question. It became an immediate and vital fact.
In September of 1914 the writer placed the following
suggestion on the top of his syndicate athletic article:
Americans awake!
Guard your shores and train
your men,
Teach your growing
youth to fight;
Make your plans ere once again
Ships of foes
appear in sight.
Teach new arts until you hold
In your bounds
all things you need.
Then you can’t be bought
or sold;
From commercial
bonds be freed!
If Manhattan rich you’d
save,
If your western
Golden Gate—
Train a field force, rule
the wave.
Every day you’re
tempting fate!
