STRONG HEARTS FOR SUCCESS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 287, 28 November 1908, Page 3

STRONG HEARTS FOR SUCCESS

HOW YOLK Sl'OlU' AFFECTS YOUR : CHAXCE IX LIFE. I " I should like an article oa ' Sport and Success in Life,'" said the Edito;of Answers to a representative of that 1 journal. " Find out all you can. Co :.o the fountain-heads." • Oh, yes. I'll begin with the doctor, then the army officer, next the business man.'' ■••Just so. Let us have all points of ■' To an eminent physician, therefore, I motored right away, and put the question: ■'Does sport make for success in i

"Well," he replied; •'sometimes it does, (leuerally, according to my experience, it seriously handicaps young men. \ou must know that success 111 I life depends mostly on a strong heart and a good circulation." I "Xot on brainsV" "On brains according to a man's calling. The Prime .Minister must have a lot of brains, the common labourer needs little. Hut neither can succeed .without the sound heart. It is this which gives a man grit and staying power. Of any hundred loafers ysu will lind Unit ninety have .weak hearts. The clerk W'ho is always, looking at the clock, the man who can't get up in the lnorii.ng, the bungler, the work-shirker,! all are failures because of their bad' circulation." "Yes. Sport strengthens the heart, doesn't in" " Sometimes. But the violent sports of England disable ten men for one they strengthen. This is what happens. A young rowing lad goes, in for football,

1 \ rowing, running, cycling. Every time ) lie overtaxes his heart. Sooner or later the heart dilates, and once this happens he is never up to the mark again. I Heart disease is killing more and more •■ people every day. " What we see is this. A man of ■ forty or lifty drops dead, hurrying for ■ a train. The doctor says ' heart failure,' 1 the jury says'■natural death.' But why 1 heart failure? The heart is not made to I

fuil. It is the strongest, healthiest muscle in the body. Inquire buck and you will lind Unit, twenty or thirty years before, this man came home one night utterly done up after a fierce J football contest, a long day's cycling, a running or a rowing match. Now, during all those thirty years his heart was weak arid he never made tile success of life that he might. "Xo; I would not stop sport. All I cay say is, that a majority of its votaries, in their laudable endeavour to excel, ruin their health, and reduce their chances of success in life." " Thanks very much for your views, but they are rather depressing. I will try the Army officer." 15ut he likewise had but little to say in sport's favour. ''Battles won ou the cricket field—eh?" remarked the major. "Not now. Don't you know that most of our men arc farm labourers, and the remainder chieily tradesmen, none of whom had much time for cricket? The officers—oh, the officers! Well, what.we want in an officer nowadays is brains. Sport is all very well in its way. Good for children and youths. But from the military point of view we have too much of it. ' "The successful ollieer is the man who spends his leisure in the study. Polo and hunting give hiui a good seat on a horse. Up to a certain point this is a gain. But it is not everything. Yes, sport generally gives a man judgment and confidence. But sport is not war. If you want to be a good/carpenter you must .practise carpentry; ifj you want to be a good strategist and tactician you must study war; and for the rank anil hie we want men who civn walk and digest their food. They must shoot straight. But in these days of loose formation, what we want above all is, intelligence. In the old days men fought in compact masses and within earshot of command. Now it is often every man for himself. "Sport gives dash. But tin' most dashing of our soldiers arc Irishmen, and they have little enthusiasm for cricket. You hear very little about sport in Germany, and Germany has the llnest army in the world. I like sport myself. But I wish we did not give our heart and soul to it as we do." Finally, I approached a successful business man. "Sport and success in life!" he exclaimed. " T tell you this. I am sick of sport. AH summer we play cricket, talk cricket, read cricket; all winter we play football, watch football, etc. Does a man become a first-rate cricketer by studying book-keeping '! Xo. Well, neither does he become an expert accountant by playing cricket. In moderation -yes. Sport is good in moderation.

"If young mi*ti would put n little more heart inln tlii'ir business ami less into sport, there would bo fewer failures. The man who gets an increase in his salary is the man wlio does his work well: Ihe man who rises to lie a manager or partner is he who puts his whole soul ia his work. You can't do this if you spend your time reading and talking football and cricket."