Outdoor Sports and Games | Page 2

at a dangerous rate of
speed, and in this way shorten its life by abuse just as the careless boy
may by neglect.
It is just so with the human body which, after all, is a machine too, and,
more than that, it is the most wonderful and perfect machine in the
world. With care it should last many years. With abuse or neglect it
may very soon wear out. The boy who neglects his health is like the
boy who allows the bearings on his wheel to become dry or the metal
parts rusty. The chief difference is that when the bicycle wears out or
breaks down we may replace the parts or even buy another machine,
but when our health is injured, money will not restore it.
In order to keep well we must observe certain rules of health. By
exercise we keep the working parts in good order. If we are lazy or
indolent we are like the bicycle that is allowed to go to pieces from lack
of use. If we are reckless and foolhardy we may injure some part of the
delicate machinery from excessive exercise or strain.
Play is the most natural thing in the world but we must use judgment in
our play. A boy or girl who is not allowed to play or who is restrained
by too anxious parents is unhappy indeed. Nearly all animals play. We
know, for instance, that puppies, kittens, and lambs are playful. It is a
perfectly natural instinct. By proper play we build up our bodies and
train our minds. The healthy man never gets too old to play. He may
not care to play marbles or roll hoops, but he will find his pleasure in
some game or sport like tennis, golf, horseback riding, camping, fishing

or hunting.
In this book we shall talk about some forms of play and recreation that
are not strictly confined to children, but which we may still enjoy even
after we have become grown men and women. We shall also talk about
some children's games that some of the older readers may have
outgrown. While we play we keep our minds occupied by the sport, and
at the same time we exercise our muscles and feed our lungs and our
bodies with oxygen.
It is unfortunate that in school or college athletics those who need
exercise the most are often those who are physically unfitted to play on
the school teams. In other words, we select our runners and jumpers
and football players from among the stronger boys, while the weaker
ones really need the benefit of the sport. Every boy should take part in
school games when possible even if he is not as swift or as strong as
some other boys.
It is very unmanly of one boy to make fun of another because he is
weak or clumsy or unskilful. After all, the thing that counts and the
thing that is most creditable is to make the most of our opportunities
whatever they may be. If an undersized or timid boy becomes stronger
or more brave because he joins in games and sports, he deserves a
hundred times more credit than the big, strong boy whom nature has
given a sturdy frame and good lungs and who makes a place on the
school team without any real effort.
If we live a natural, open-air life we shall have but little need of doctors
or medicine. Many of our grandmothers' notions on how to keep well
have changed in recent years. Old-fashioned remedies made from roots
and herbs have been almost completely replaced by better habits of life
and common-sense ideas. We used to believe that night air was largely
responsible for fevers and colds. Doctors now say that one of the surest
ways to keep well is to live and sleep in the open air. In many modern
houses the whole family is provided with outside sleeping porches with
absolutely no protection from the outside air but the roof. I have
followed the practice of sleeping in the open air for some time, and in
midwinter without discomfort have had the temperature of my sleeping

porch fall to six degrees below zero. Of course it is foolish for any one
to sleep exposed to rain or snow or to think that there is any benefit to
be derived from being cold or uncomfortable. The whole idea of
open-air sleeping is to breathe pure, fresh air in place of the atmosphere
of a house which, under the best conditions, is full of dust and germs. If
we become outdoor sleepers, coughs and colds will be almost unknown.
General Sherman once wrote a letter in which he said that he did not
have a case of cold in his entire