Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1918 — City Youth In Better Trim Than Country Brother [ARTICLE]

City Youth In Better Trim Than Country Brother

One result of the United States’ war with Germany, is to disclose the fact that the city youth is in better trim physically than his country brother. The draft has brought thousands of - young men before qualified physicians for examination and throughout the country it has been found upon investigation that the big, strapping, husky farmer boy is physically inferior as a rule to the city or small town youth. Just why this is true is a mystery, but it is true nevertheless. Country boys who look as if they never had an ailment during their entire lifetime are rejected for some physical defect, while . the smaller, weaker looking town boy passes the examination with flying colors. Just why the farmer boy who it out in the open air every day doing hard, manual labor should not be the equal of the city boy who is working at easy labor in an office is a thing that mystifies members of the medical profession. In marching, statistics again show that the city youth out distances the boy living in the rural communities. However, this can be attributed to the fact that the city boy is constantly walking on a hard surface while the country boy walks upon the hard pavements but a very small portion of his time.