The Life and Adventures of Ben Hogan, the Wickedest Man in the World

by Ben Hogan

It may be interesting to many to be informed of the mode adopted by experienced trainers and gymnasts in building up the system of a man when preparing him for great feats of endurance and strength. In the first place, the system must be purified and the liver and all the organs brought into the healthiest of conditions, which is now generally effected by the free use of lemons and castor oil. Formerly calomel and the black draught were resorted to for this purpose; but as the former was sometimes inclined to remain in the system, lemons came into use as safer and more efficacious. When the system, then, is purified of every impurity, the building up and strengthening process begins. Early in the morning the subject arises, and after a slight ablution, during which he carefully scrapes what is called the fur from his tongue with a thin piece of whalebone that he between his teeth bent, and then draws over his tongue after the manner of a rake. By this means, and by gargling his mouth and throat with cold water he is in a condition to enjoy a cup of tea without milk or sugar and a single piece of dry toast. This disposed of, he takes a short walk of say a quarter of a mile, and returns to breakfast, when he sits down to a mutton chop and toast, etc., still taking tea without milk or sugar. After breakfast he takes a rest of about half an hour, and then starts forth on a walk of from four to ten miles. Returning about 10 o’clock, after perspiring freely, he is rubbed dry and permitted to rest on his bed until he becomes quite cool. Then comes the strong rock-salt bath and sponge, after which, and on being rubbed dry once more, his muscles and flesh are manipulated by the naked hands of the trainer for two hours. His next meal is composed of a heavy beefsteak, some calf’s foot jelly, toast, and perhaps a bottle of Bass’ ale. He drinks but little or no water, as this liquid has a tendency to fatten and render the muscles flabby when taken internally. An hour’s sleep may now be indulged in with advantage, after which comes a regular course of exercise, embracing pulleys, bars, clubs, dumb-bells, sand and bean bags—the sand bags hanging from the ceiling, to be hit in the manner of a man, right and left, with a view to strengthening the hands and packing and hardening the muscles, and the bean bags to be thrown between him and the trainer, the one and the other catching them in turn, so as to train the eye and the hand to quickness. In these exercises every muscle is brought into play, and all the limbs made to perform every movement of which the body is capable, so that all the muscles are developed alike, and ready at any moment to do, with the utmost efficacy and precision, the work proper to them. After a good rest, and at about 5 o’clock P. M., there is a moderate sponge bath and lots of rubbing. Indeed, so important is this latter, that if one man is not able to accomplish it, more help is called in. Supper at 6 o’clock, of broiled chicken, without a particle of grease or butter, a cup of beef tea, some dry toast, and, if found necessary, sometimes a little genuine old port wine and beef tea mixed. Oat-meal and a few raisins are now and then called into requisition—the former in the shape of porridge and the latter mixed with gruel made of oat-meal also.

But this treatment must not be supposed to apply to all cases, as there are constitutions which might require one totally different in so far as diet is concerned. Indeed, the trainer’s judgment must be exercised here with the greatest caution, for to be unable to discriminate between constitutions, or to determine the quantity and quality of the food, as well as the quantity of exercise necessary in every individual case, would be to fail signally in his profession, and to be liable at any moment to do almost irreparable damage to his man.

Although the implements of training proper to the muscular development of ladies may be lighter than those suitable for gentlemen, yet they are all modeled after the same fashion. Of course, it would be quite unnecessary and indeed wrong to subject the gentler sex to the excessive exercises necessary in the case of those who are supposed to be engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with the world, or any of those vocations which require iron brawn and muscle in their successful pursuit. Still, the principle running through both modes of training is the same, and the treatment moderated only in the one case, to meet the necessities of sex and organization. But, as already laid down, I hope impressively, no matter how lovely or symmetrical the form, to secure strength and consistence the muscles must be well trained and the bath constantly used, if health and personal beauty are to be secured permanently. We are not to suppose, however, a lady needs that degree of physical culture that would enable her to lift two hundred weight in one hand and flourish it above her head, but we are to expect that she will keep her frame in a condition that will enable her to endure any moderate degree of fatigue without the slightest inconvenience, and that a brisk walk of three or four miles will only serve to sharpen her appetite rather than to prostrate her for a whole afternoon.

There is no enjoyment of life without health; and there can be no health where physical culture is neglected. To be sure, there is a certain class of beings who believe they are possessed of health so long as they are able to move about without any great trouble to themselves; but let these once taste the sweets of well-trained muscles and steady nerves, and they will soon begin to find that they had only been vegetating previously. How culpable, then, would it not be on the part of any person of ordinary understanding to neglect the means of health and strength and comfort placed within the reach of even the poorest in the land? For it will be remembered, I have stated plainly, that every man and woman in the world is a gymnasium, so to speak, to himself or herself, and that there is not in this or any other country a single household, gentle or simple, that has not within itself more than one implement of physical culture. Any one can improvise a club, a pair of dumb-bells, a bar, or something answering to weights and pulleys. Every person can manipulate and exercise his own muscles; can use the sponge bath, and, in most cases, obtain pure, fresh air, posturing, throwing back his shoulders and thus expanding the chest; stooping, swinging the arms and legs to and fro; hanging by the hands, sustaining the whole weight of the body from time to time, and taking long gulps of fresh air, and relaxing them as long as possible on the lungs, are all modes of educating and strengthening the muscles. And although the exercises thus accomplished may not be as effective as those under the direction of the accomplished trainer, yet they are in the right direction, and cannot fail, if persisted in, to culminate in the happiest results.

I do not intend to be egotistical when I say that I have done something in this my native land for gymnastics and physical culture generally. There are in this city and elsewhere gentlemen of distinction, in and out of the learned professions, who can bear witness to what I here state, and who can speak of me from their own personal experience. Nay, more, I think I may venture to say that I have been the means of building up into perfect strength many a weak and shattered constitution on the part of more than one lady and gentleman within the limits of this fair city to-day, not to speak of others that are scattered through the length and breadth of the land. In this direction, as well as in that of physical culture generally, my experience has been very far from limited, and I freely give the world the benefit of it, so far as what I have now said here is of any value. I speak with the heart and the pride of a man who is wedded to his profession, because of the benefits it is so eminently calculated to bestow on every age and condition; because I have known it to alleviate suffering and to eradicate disease, and to develop to the highest state of perfection the human system, and to make it all that the good Father intended it to be. As the case stands at present, men and women are suicides who, by their own neglect, curtail not only their happiness but their existence. If a hundred years is the natural length of the life of man, how comes it that so few attain that age? Monsieur Flourens has only answered the question in part, in so far as I am aware. He only pointed out the case, but did not, I believe, enumerate the remedies applicable to it. It is because that we have become accustomed to this shrivelled span of our life that we do not shrink with horror from its contemplation. But let us, while looking the matter full in the face, examine how far we are ourselves a party to it, and we shall begin to discover that, in our neglect of the means of securing health and strength, and of fortifying ourselves through good habits and judicious physical culture against the inroads of both time and disease, we are surely acting the part of suicides.

Let me then, before bringing these brief and imperfect observations of mine to a close, direct, once for all, the serious attention of both old and young—parents and teachers—to this all important subject of physical culture, or the art of preserving health and strength and happiness, till called hence in the true natural order of things. Let me say to the delicate young miss whose frame shrinks from every passing breeze, and whose cheek is a stranger to the flush of the rose, that she may become a very model of health and brilliant feminine beauty if she will follow intelligently the advice already laid down. If she would have a figure and step like that of Diana, she must see to her muscles and her bath, and go into daily training proper to her sex. Her fate in this relation is in her own hands. In relation to weak or sickly children, also, there is much to be done on the part of parents, who sometimes permit the delicate little sufferers to become almost confirmed invalids, although the sponge and the hand rubbing process, with other judicious operations, would restore them to perfect health and strength, and lay the foundation of a true man or womanhood. And what shall I say to the delicate and robust youths, who alike mismanage their case—the one in not endeavoring to build up his constitution into a perfect whole; and the other in not giving proper direction to the strength already pertaining to him naturally? I shall warn him of the feeble constitution, that, unless he begins a course of physical culture, he will never be able to fill the true mission of a man, mentally or physically; while to him of the robust frame I shall say that he is simply carrying a weight of flesh about him useless and flabby, and will continue to do so until he enters on a course of physical training, that will give consistence and proper tone to his brain and muscle.

There are, I am aware, certain parents and guardians who are opposed to gymnastic or athletic exercises, as the process of training is something like that adopted in the case of pugilists. And this brings to my recollection an incident that occurred to me personally when engaged in teaching the art in Michigan, not very long ago. I was engaged at the period in directing a gymnasium connected with an educational institution, and had besides opened my own rooms, where I gave private instructions. I had not been engaged over a month or so, when a legal friend of mine introduced me to a wealthy grocer, whose two sons, aged respectively seventeen and nineteen, were going to school, but who were tall, consumptive-looking creatures, with but little apparent life or strength in them. On entering into conversation with the father of these boys, I happened to introduce my profession as a great promoter of health, and one that could be brought to bear with advantage upon his two sons. He did not take my observation kindly, but, in a manner that was very far from polite, intimated to me that he wanted to make scholars and gentlemen of his sons, rather than entrust them to my tuition, which he plainly hinted would tend to leading them off in a different direction. I felt a little nettled at his rudeness, but was determined that I should not imitate it, although he had insulted me to some extent.

“Well, sir,” I observed, in reply to his remark, “it is quite proper, and is very creditable to you to give these young gentlemen a fine education, for I know, to my cost, what a poor education means, although I am satisfied that neither wealth nor learning are the only constituents of a gentleman. I regret to say that my education is very defective, although, in knocking about the world, I have learned some things, and among them, that of being polite to strangers and of being considerate of the feelings of others. And now let me ask you to give me, if you can, any intelligent or good reason for your sneer at my profession, which has for its object physical culture only. Had you made yourself thoroughly acquainted with the subject, and with its mission and benefits, you would have been able to perceive that in the present state of the health and the physique of your two sons, neither of them can attain to anything like proficiency in their studies. Their brain sympathizes with their feeble and undeveloped frame and hence no good mental work can be performed by them. Again, if they are permitted to continue their studies on the same plan upon which they are now conducted, they will be old men before they reach the age of thirty-five. You object to allowing them to attend my class for a couple of hours in the evening, imagining that were they to attend it they would become fighters and pugilists; but in this you are mistaken. I am no friend or champion of pugilism, but simply a physical trainer who develops the muscles, strengthens the system and the brain, and gives the whole frame something like true consistence. And whether, I should like to ask you, would your two sons, who are all but skeletons, be safer in my hands for a couple of hours after school every evening, for a few weeks, than in standing at the corners of the streets or in visiting drinking and billiard saloons, where the foundation of drunkenness and gambling are so often laid, and where the seeds of active disease are so often sown? In the one case they would be subjected to a pleasant course of physical training, resulting in health, strength and activity, and out of the reach, for the time being, of bad examples and bad habits. In the other, they would be breathing an atmosphere not always pure, and fragrant at times with some of the worst vices of the age. Whether would you rather see your boys men with finely developed forms, active and athletic, or mere apologies for men, with no physique, and with no life or health in them, not only from a neglect of their systems, but from the excesses and indulgences to which your conduct so tends to expose them. With me their health and morals are safe for that length of time, at least; and, as they are taught nothing that does not tend toward their mental and physical welfare, as they suffer in neither language or deportment, and are rather led in the way of generous and manly sentiments, I think they would not deteriorate from any contact with me, or with the true gentlemen of the profession.”

ADOC AND PAINE—PEDESTRIANS.