THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN

The most illuminating conclusion to be drawn from the report of the I. C. A. A. A. A. on the mortality of Harvard athletes resulting from their years of organized sports during the period 1870 to 1905 is the curious parallelism with which intelligent supervision of University athletics has kept pace with the decreasing death rate. While Harvard, compared with other colleges, has an extremely high mortality for the thirty-five years during which statistics were available, the important point is the rapidity with which it has been lowered with the passing of each decade. Twenty years before the turn of the century, the Harvard athlete in comparison with the average non-college man was a thirteen to ten bet to succumb to the grim reaper before the great mass of people not engaged in strenuous competition; it is now a four to five proposition that he will not attain greater longevity than the other man.

In the total decrease of twenty-two percent, almost twice that of Yale, may be found one testimonial for sanely-controlled participation in athletics. The bugaboo of the dark ages, the athlete's heart, is fast becoming an asset rather than the serious liability it was once regarded. It would be interesting to read the figures of longevity compiled by the insurance companies twenty five years from now to note what effect the stringent medical examinations, the necessary stimulus to studies, and the emphasis of the Varsity Club dietician would have on the future life of the Harvard sportsman.