Show L FI apin est COI ht ill L V c g 0 ya J ke S V 3 aa E fill nd ll 11 I 1 lj W 00 X r n by JOHN D GRANT RAWN and agility alone will not make sports champions without good eye sight it is impossible to gain eminence in any of tho the A 7 a i 7 sports that are most popular with the public today the ability to see a fast ball quickly and accurately has made babe ruth the home run king and helen wills the tennis queen declares david staff associate of the national society for the prevention of blindness the american public oed loves to create heroes for itself in the different fields of sport and babe ruth Is one of the most popular of these national idols it Is possible that some of our readers who never neier glance at the sporting spoiling columns may not know about this ruth person so we will enlighten them briefly babe ruth started out as a pitcher and lie he was an exceptionally tio nally good one it was not iong lon before bs ability ns as a batter became noticeable and it was decided that he was vas too valuable ta in that capacity to repose on the bench a large part of the time eo they made an outfielder r of him he immediately started in the business of manufacturing home runs he turned them out with such pe persistent regularity that the sporting ng writers began to take notice and dig alg into their records they had to throw them away because the babe made new ones and continued to do so BO until temporary incapacity curtailed ills his output what has enabled babe ruth to achieve ills his reputation on the diamond some people will say that it Is his powerful swing of the bat made possible by great strength in hla his arms this is true but equally important I 1 Is S the good eyesight which Is essential when a fast ball Is coming toward the man lit at the bat it Is not only the sturdy arms arm of helen wills but it Is also her steady eye that make her queen of the tennis court bill tilden jack dempsey bobby jones and the other topnotch ers in the field of sport owe their reputations and success largely to the fact that they are blessed with healthy eyes as well as strong bodies good eyesight Is also important to the thousands of sport tans fans who go to watch their favorites perform ono one cannot truly enjoy any athletic game whether in playing or watching un fesq 3 one lias fins clear vision without such good eyesight that a strategic situation may be seen accurately and understood at a moments glance one cannot acquire skill in any sport most professional athletes realize this and therefore take every precaution to keep their eyes in good condition sometimes it Is necessary for the athlete to wear glasses but this does not mean that his days of usefulness on the field are past it Is interesting to note that a few of the best known ball players in the major leagues find it necessary to wear glasses lee meadows an outstanding pitcher in the national league for several years wore glasses in the pitchers box another pitcher who wears them Is vie vic sorrell of the detroit tigers who Is one of this years sensations others are porcher To and macfayden glasses are worn on the baseball field also by chick hafey outfielder of the st louis cardinals and by mark alark koenig shortstop of the detroit team in the american league who Is rather well known la in new york city where he was shortstop for the yankees for several years hafey and koenig are the first fielders in baseball to wear glasses while playing glasses are worn in other sports also in tennis for instance watson washburn who was for several years a member of the united states davis davia cup team has worn glasses on the tennis court for a long time and in golf willie mcfarlane former national naiona t 1 open champion and now a professional fess ional lonal in westchester county new york usually wears glasses while playing in colleges and high school throughout the united states athletic directors are specially careful about the eyesight of members of the various school teams incidentally boys and girls of high school age seem to be most susceptible to accidents that involve eye injuries perhaps this is so because they are very active at that age the national society for the prevention of blindness in a survey of eye accidents found a strange variety of hazards in athletics in the home and es especially ally in industry there was a record of a painful injury when in wrestling one boys finger found its way into one of his opponents eyes also there was the incident of one basketball player who apparently confused the eyes of another player with the basket at which lie was supposed to be aiming one university student was so confident of ills his own abilities that lie hp took oft off his mask while fencing and had one eye put out by his opponents foil in many sports there are chances of injuring the eyes with a ball golf ball tennis ball baseball handball basketball football and others but in golf aside from the danger of being struck by the ball inquisitive persons W pl 0 k 1 S V sax Y az W n X A W DOWS occasionally suffer eye ee injuries in cutting open discarded golf 1 I ilia the knife may slip and strike the eye or the rubber may cause the ball bait to rebound and lilt hit the eye in any event this curiosity as to the contents of a golf ball has a certain element of danger among the games of boyhood important causes of eye accidents ar are a the bealls realistic tl c cowboy indian and racketeer games make necessary the actual use of air rifles rifle blank pistols or hows and arrows the old fashioned slingshot sling shot has not gone gon e out of existence either apparently there are many parents who do not realize the obvious mistake in trusting children with such dangerous toys and weapons as these in case of an accident to the eyes it Is well to know enow exactly what to do there are aie three cardinal principles of first aid after eye injuries the first of these Is cleanliness next prompt rest for the eye ee and third M medical e d i e a I 1 C care are directed 11 C d by a competent physician phi preferably an oculist these principles apply even if the anji injury ary Is slight and they are imperative with serious eye injuries |