DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVE TYPE

The active type of man is, of course, easily recognized.  He has broad, square shoulders, and is well muscled.  He is either of the wiry, elastic, exceedingly energetic type, with muscles like steel springs and sinews like steel wire—­very agile, very skillful, very quick, and somewhat jerky in his movements—­or he is tall, raw-boned, strong, enduring, graceful, easy in his movements rather than quick, and yet with considerable manual skill.  Or he may be of the short, stocky type, with broad shoulders, short neck, short arms, short legs, with big, round muscles and an immense capacity for endurance.  The railroads of the early days, in this country, were built by Irishmen.  They were either the large, raw-boned type or the quick, agile, wiry type.  The railroads, subways, and other construction work of to-day are built mostly by Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, and others from the south of Europe.  These men are of short, stocky, sturdy, and enduring build.  As a general rule, they are far better fitted for this class of work than the tall or medium-sized, large-boned or wiry type.  As an evidence of this, take notice of the fact that the Irishmen who built the railroads in the sixties own and manage them to-day.

These active men usually have square faces.  That is to say, there is a good development of the outer corners of the lower jaw, which gives to the face a square appearance.  Oftentimes their cheek bones are both high and wide.  As a general rule, they have large aquiline or Roman noses.  When they are of the enduring type and capable of long-sustained muscular activity, they have prominent chins.  Their hands are square.  Their feet are large.  If they have mechanical and constructive ability, as most of them have, their foreheads are comparatively high and wide just above the temple.  Professional baseball players, professional dancers, middle-weight and light-weight prize-fighters, most aviators, automobile racers, and athletes belong to the wiry, springy, medium-sized type of this particular class of men.  U.S.  Grant, Robert E. Peary, Henry M. Stanley, Ty Cobb and Ralph DePalma belong to this type.  Abraham Lincoln, W.E.  Gladstone, Joseph G. Cannon, William G. McAdoo, Woodrow Wilson, and other men of this build belong to the raw-boned type.  Napoleon Bonaparte, with his tremendous activities on only four hours’ sleep a day, is a good example of the short, stocky type.  While men of these types may make brilliant successes in purely mental vocations, as the result of the development of their intellects, and may keep themselves in a fair degree of health and strength by games, exercise, mountain climbing, farming, or some such avocation, they are, nevertheless, never quite so well satisfied as when they have something to do which not only gives them opportunity for the use of their intellects, but also involves a certain degree of physical activity as a part of their regular work.