by Elsie Lincoln Benedict
Available in 98 free installments
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¶ While writing this book our windows overlook a public park in one of America's one-million-population cities. Hundreds of unemployed men sleep there day and night. Having occasion to pass through this park daily for several months it has been interesting to note the types predominating. Hardly one per cent belonged to the Muscular type.
¶ Because he is such a hard worker this type gets a good deal of praise and glory just as the fat people, who manage to get out of work, receive a good deal of blame. Yet work is almost as pleasant to the Muscular as leisure is to the Alimentive.
¶ Fighters?those who really enjoy a scrap occasionally?are invariably Musculars. Their square jaws?the sure sign of great muscularity?are famous the world over and especially so in these days when war is once more in fashion.
The next time you look at the front faces of Pershing, Haig, Hindenberg or even that of your traffic policeman, note the extremely muscular face and jaw. Combat or personal fighting is a matter of muscle-action. Being well equipped for it this type actually enjoys it. That is why he is oftener in trouble than any other type.
It was no accident that the phrase "big stick" was the slogan of an almost pure Muscular.
¶ "The strenuous life" was another of Roosevelt's pet phrases and came from the natural leanings of his type. The true Muscular is naturally strenuous. Because we are prone to advise others to do what we enjoy doing ourselves it was inevitable that so strenuous a man as T. R. should advocate wholesale, universal and almost compulsory strenuosity.
We tell others to do certain things because "it will do you good" but the real reason usually is that we like to do it ourselves.
¶ The next time you go to a vaudeville show get there in time for the acrobatics and notice how all the participants are Musculars. If there are any other types taking part please observe that they are secondary to the acrobats?they catch the handkerchiefs or otherwise act as foils for the real performers.
All the hard work in the act will be done by Musculars. You will find no better examples of the short, stocky, well-knit pure Muscular than here. You do not need to wait for another show to realize how true this is. Recall the form and height of all the acrobats you have ever seen. You will remember that there was not one who did not fit the description of the pure Muscular given at the beginning of this chapter.
¶ We once had occasion to refer to this fact in a Human Analysis Class. One member declared that just that week he had seen a very tall, unmuscular man performing in an acrobatic act at the Orpheum.
Knowing that this was impossible, we offered a large reward to this member if he were proven right. We sent to the theater and found the acrobat in question. He had just finished his act and kindly consented to come over.
He turned out to be a pure Muscular as we had stated. The class member's mistake came from the fact that the acrobat appeared taller than he really was. High platforms always give this illusion. Furthermore his partner in the act was of diminutive height and the acrobat looked tall and slender by contrast.
¶ To be an acrobat is the ambition of almost every boy. There have been few who did not dream, while doing those stunts in the haymow on Mother's broomstick, of the glory that should be theirs when they grew up and performed in red tights for the multitudes.
Almost every boy has this ambition because he passes through a stage of decided muscular development in his early years. But only those who were born with much larger muscles than the average ever carry out their dreams. The others soon develop girth or the "sitting still" habit to the point where a cushioned seat in the first row of the parquet looks much better.
¶ Something that will wear well is what this type asks for when he drops in to buy a suit. Musculars are not parsimonious nor stingy. Their buying the most durable in everything is not so much to save money as for the purpose of having something they do not need to be afraid to handle.
