Outdoor Sports and Games | Page 5

so many strands that the boy could break them only
with a great effort and finally he could not break them at all. His hands
were tied. Just so it is with a habit. The first, second, or tenth time may
be easy to break, but we shall finally get so many tiny threads that our
hands are tied. We have acquired a habit. Don't be a fool. Don't smoke
cigarettes.
Walking is one of the most healthful forms of exercise. It may seem
unnecessary to devote much space to a subject that every one thinks
they know all about, but the fact is that, with trolley cars, automobiles,
and horses, a great many persons have almost lost the ability to walk
any distance. An excellent rule to follow if you are going anywhere is
this: If you have the time, and the distance is not too great, walk. In
recent years it has been the practice of a number of prominent business
and professional men who get but little outdoor exercise to walk to and
from their offices every day, rain or shine. In this way elderly men will
average from seven to ten miles a day and thus keep in good condition
with no other exercise.
It is very easy to cultivate the street car habit, and some boys feel that
they must ride to and from school even if it is only a few blocks or
squares. We have all read of the old men who are walking across the
country from New York to California and back again and maintaining
an average of forty miles a day. There is not a horse in the world that
would have the endurance to go half the distance in the same time and
keep it up day after day. For the first week or ten days the horse would
be far ahead but, like the fable of the hare and the tortoise, after a while
the tortoise would pass the hare and get in first.
In walking for pleasure, avoid a rambling, purposeless style. Decide
where you are going and go. Walk out in the country if possible and on
roads where the automobiles will not endanger your life or blow clouds
of dust in your face. Never mind the weather. One rarely takes cold
while in motion. To walk comfortably we should wear loose clothing
and old shoes. Walking just for the sake of exercise can easily become
a tiresome occupation, but the active mind can always see something of

interest, such as wild flowers, gardens, and all the various sides of
nature study in the country, and people, houses and life in the city.
A tramping vacation of several days furnishes a fine opportunity to see
new scenes and to live economically, but near a city you may have
difficulty in persuading the farm-wife where you stop that you are not a
tramp who will burn the house in the night. If you intend to live by the
wayside, the surest way to inspire confidence is to show in advance that
you have money to pay for your accommodations. Also try to avoid
looking like a tramp, which is quite different from looking like a
tramper.
There seems to be a great difference of opinion on the question of how
fast one can walk. The popular idea is "four miles an hour" but any one
who has tried to cover a mile every fifteen minutes will testify that such
a rate of speed is more like a race than a walk and that it will require
great physical exertion to maintain it for any considerable distance. An
eighteen or twenty-mile walk is about all the average boy should
attempt in a day, and this is allowing the full day for the task from early
morning until sunset.
Short and frequent rests are much better than long stops, which have a
tendency to stiffen the muscles. The walker on a long tramp must pay
especial attention to the care of his feet. They should be bathed
frequently in cold water to which a little alum has been added. A rough
place or crease in the stocking will sometimes cause a very painful
blister.
Mountain climbing is a very interesting branch of walking. It is
sometimes very dangerous as well and in such cases should only be
attempted under the guidance of some one familiar with the
neighbourhood. For rough climbing our shoes should be provided with
iron hob nails. Steel nails often become very slippery and will cause a
bad fall on rocks.
Cross-country running and hare and hound chases are much more
common in England than in America. Our runners as a rule excel in the
sprints and short dashes, although in the recent Olympic sports we have

shown