PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3074, 19 December 1908, Page 3

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

(By R. 0. Jarrett, Physical Oulturist.)

A PLEA FOR PHYSICAL AD-

VANCEMENT.

Is the general physique of New Zealanders increasing or decreasing? Do the standard size, weight and strength of the Dominionites of today compare favourably with that of twenty or even ten years ago? tam reluctantly compelled to admit that they do not, a fact which anyone who has given the subject even a passing thought will readily agree. It is said that the looker-on sees most of the game. While this is true with regard to sport, it also applies to the observer of national growth. It is not so very long since consternation was caused in Great Britain by the report that out of the total number of applicants tcr enlistment in the British army for that year, the major portion were rejected as being physically unfit and undersized. In New Zealand we have not nearly reached this very unsatisfactory stage, yet by no stretch of imagination can we truthfully say that our average is of as high a standard as that of twenty years or even ten years ago. If a similar war to that which°occurred in South Africa were to break out, I make bold to assert that the percentage of rejects from our volunteers would be greater in proportion to the number of applicants than in 1899 and 1900. When a man is taken ill, the doctor who attends diagnoses the case and searches for the reason, and advices the patient how to avoid a recurrence. What is the reason of our 'physical deterioration or national decay? To my mind, there are several contributing causes. To begin with, let us carry our minds back to what has been termed the pioneering days, when the early settlers arrived. These men and women were of a hardy, strong and brave type, with no lack of energy and determination. A weakling could not survive. Men and women then carried their lives in their hands, and everyone had to do his or her share of work in the various settlements.

II was imperative that each shouldbe physically fit and mentally alert when tilling the soil. A sharp lookout had to be kept for an enemy who might at any moment be lurking behind a bush or clump of flax, awaiting an opportunity to use the deadly tomahawk. The same alertness was necessary when in the bush hunting for game—ever watching for the dusky foe. For our torefathers were not allowed to settle unmolested in this land, of which we are now so proud. At a later date these settlements became towns, life became less strenuous : the fare become more luxurious, if less wholesome; the Maoris became less warlike and more friendly! until, in recent years, those who j once regarded our race as being their , deadly foe now mingle freely with us, and are at all times most anxious to prove their loyalty to our Sover- | eign and sincere friendship of the pakeha. Our pioneer ancestors had to grow and grind most of the wheat and oats required for the porridge I and r.heir daily bread. I gather from ; some of the very old settlers — who, slap, are now but few —that the flour of those days was nothing like the rnodern silk-dresseci article, but which, when made into bread it was necessary to chew and well masticate. Consequently, it caused the digestive organs to perform their natural functions. Jams, pickles, sauces, highly-seasoned i foods, and condiments were the exj ception, not the rule. The cigarette, that modern curse, was unknown. True, tnere were those who led a not by any means temperate life, but the majority of these were bard manual workers, who partially compensated themselvp.s for the injury done to their organic system, by their drinking bouts. By returning to their usual occupation, after their cheque had been "lamped down" by the bush publican,whilst still feeling the after effects of the usually shore ! and glorious ''spree" they would I set to work to knock up another i cheque, usually with many mental \ resolves that never again would they !be so foolish. The hard, outdoor j work of bush felling, scrub clearing, j ditch and bank fencing, and other work incidental to the upbuilding and a new country, would soon sweat out the poison remaining in their systems when their merry time had ended. This was not as injurious to these hardy men, as the continuous so-called moderate drinking of many city and town men of to-day—men who do nothing to eliminate the poisonous acids and gasses accumulating as the result of regular induglence in liquors, which niany a time look upon as essential to ! their existence.

Again, harking back, the majority of the old settlers were smoker:, but they smoked the pipe and unadulterated tobacco. Cigarettes are probably smoked to-daj by two thirds of those who are worshippers at the shrine of My Lady Nicotine. Smoking is claimed by many to soothe the ntrves, and to make solitude bearable. Whilst to a certain extent this does apply to the pipe, but it has the opposite effect on those who use the cigarette. lam not a smoker myself, but I may be excused if I repeat that the looker-on- sees most of the game. And 1 have had exceptional opportunities of observation. Dr. D. P. Robins, actuary and insurance examiner of many years' experience, says:— "If it were possible tor everyone to restrain their habits in accord with their judgment,-it would not be a l-are thing for men to reach the century mark. Perhaps our most difficult enigma to solve correctly is the fight against morbid and unhealthy desires, unnatural and acquired appetites. I will'continue this subject next week.