SOME CAN DO IT
As he strides among the inert, quivering bodies calling cadence and briskly encouraging, Kaney always finds a few who can do the exercise. To them he murmurs,
"Proud of you, m'boy!" The period ends when the Professor rolls out an old Victrola and plays squawky records of "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean" or "Stars and Stripes Forever" while the trainees jiggle the dumbbells in time to the music.
Of course, Pat can do anything he requires of the boys, and usually does, just to prove that things which are seemingly impossible, are really very easy if you just know how. This is a spur to the fatigued athletes.
Some of the stories of achievement which have been connected with the course are fabulous. One man lost thirty-five pounds in order to get into the Navy which had rejected him for being overweight and accepted his application after three months of body-building. There are numerous tales concerning the appearance of muscles where previously there was not even a faint bulge, easy chinning by men who once hung like sacks on the bar, and similar Atlasian transformations.
Pat Kaney will probably never fold away his grey flannels and ski-jacket until all the students in Hanover can do all the exercises he can. Despite the efforts of vendors of vitamin pills, gelatin desserts, and dextrose candy, such a situation is too far off to contemplate. The body-building tradition will carry on.
