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 Had you asked one of the most inventive and valuable minds America has yet known, inventor and patentee in 1836 of the —honor enough for any one man—of the little Monitor which revolutionized the world's naval architecture,—John Ericsson; who worked mentally ten hours a day for over sixty years, yet always had h is half-hour or more every day for sharp gymnastic and athletic work (as it is a serious mistake that Edison has not);—who, on his eightieth birthday in a tug-of-war alone against two young and rather vigorous-looking men, hauled them in like tom-cod; and whose splendid body brought him comfortably through clear up to eighty-four;—had you asked him if athletes need to die young; does it take long to tell what would have been his reply?

Ask William B. Curtis —"Father Bill," as the athletes