The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1909. ATHLETICS AND HEALTH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 613, 16 September 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1909. ATHLETICS AND HEALTH.

The devotion of the young men of th: country to games and sports has been fr< quently deplored, and not without just fication. The Hon. T. Mackenzie, hard] over-stated-the position at the presei time when he declared, a fow days agi that "in future the difficulty will be I fix the date of any function wit-hoi clashing'with a race meeting, a footba match, or a Government holiday." ' £ much attention has been paid to the si cial aspects of the current craze fc games that most of us have forgotten the there is a mcdical side to the questioi It is a sign of thb times that the medic; aspect of athleticism has been considere worthy of attention by the British Med cal Association. Tho question gave risi indeed,' to one of tho most intcrestin discussions at tho annual meeting of tl: Assodiation, which was held in Belfast £ the end-of July. The debate was opene j by Dr. Tyrrell Brooks, of Oxford, wh had fortified himself by careful inqui: ies from the heads of schools and collegi in Britain, and whom the athletic publ: will applaud for his decided , opinion t to value of games in tho develoj mcnt of character. He related tho cai I of>a brilliant scholar, then a young tutc at ono of tho largest colleges at Oxfon whose work had come to a standstill ov ing to a nervous breakdown. This ma had been educated solely on intollectu: lines: he had never played games. "B was a stranger .to the mental relaxatio and ploasure which pastimes brought inl the' lives of the young." Dr. Broos made numerous inquiries aB to the dai ■gers of athleticisfn, and from the roplii which he received from the headmastei of thirteen of the largest schools, in En; land he gathered that these dangers woi very small. He had reports of only deaths in twenty years, three of whic were accidental. Only two deaths d rectly attributable to athletic. exertio were reported to liim as having'occurre at Oxford during the same periods' Subsequent speakers, took a more scr ous view of tho danger of athlcticisn Dr. Clement Dukes, of Eugby, assure the Association that the school runs wei undoubtedly productive of heart-damag to untrained or unfit competitors. ] remained, however, for Sir ■ Cliffor Allbutt to supply whit our local atl letcs will think of much, more value tha a. general warning, namely, a useful hir about which there can be no mistake. C this .physician's competence to'.speak o thei question oven the. layman can.- hayo n doubt, for ho has made such a careful ii of tho nodical aspect of rov ing that a chapter in a futuro volume c hiß System of Mcdicine will deal wit the.' pathology 6f the subject. His hir to athletes is this! Avoid . exertion afte a attack of any kind of illnesi Tho man who plays football Boon afte recovering from influenza, scarlatina, c even a common cold, runs a serious ris of losing his life. Sir.-Lauder Brunto takes a. very .grave view of the offeel of over-oxortion. Ho urges tho necessit for careful training, and the appoin ment of games masters in schools in o> der that not boy shall miss taking nart i athletic exercises. It will be a satisfaction to our locs athletes, to know that oven if they aro d< ing- their country a disservice by. concer trating ; on . their'games tho energy tha they should be expending in, becomin serious citizens, they are nevertheless ai quiring some valuable personal qualitici biR Lauder Brunton,; in ! comparing Em lish .and Continental methods, pointe out that the latter depended on physics drill and exercises, and the forme mainly on competitive 'athletics. Th English method, he noted, developed sel reliance and initiative, which were nc encouraged by gymnasium - wori Dr. Brooks, also, sees in the proper eu tivation of athletics an effectivo metho of keeping a good strain in the raco. Si James Barr regards the element of cor test as important and valuable; the mor hazardous a game, ho thinks, the bette for the players.. He has condomnatio only for golf, bowls, and curling, as b< ,mg the only games ho knows which at pear to be "generally' associated wit bad language and whisky"— an opinio: that is certain to be assailed with fur y, .the.friends of these, more contempla iv® exercises. The. full effects -of th modern cult of athleticism on tho Angle Saxon race will not appear for. a genera tion at least.' .There are already som disturbing portents, however; such, fo example, as the recent beginning of th dope treatment of athletes, and th disdosure by a naval officer of the fac that athletic eminence may accompany , general deterioration of national phy sique. In the meantime it ' js the mora aspect of the public's devotion to ath lotics that is most immediately import ant, and it is not an unreasonable con tention that the craze for 'gamea ha tended to weaken ,the nation's oapacit' to think gravely upon the things . tha most vitally concern its well-being. .