In the following pages will be found a selection from many thousands of letters which have been addressed to me by pupils who have already profited from my system of Physical Culture. Attention is specially directed to the measurements before and after training, showing the actual progress made in muscular development.

Vachwen,
Marlborough Road,
Watford,
March 11th, 1899.

Mr. Sandow.

Dear Sir,

I have just completed a course of lessons at your “School of Physical Culture,” from which I have derived untold benefit. Through the greater part of last year I was so ill that for some time it was feared I might go into consumption. I was medically treated, and at length permitted by my doctor to try what your exercises would do.

I entered your School with weak heart, weak lungs, digestion sadly impaired. After three lessons, with persistent home work, I began very slowly to gain strength and an appetite, and now, at the end of my course, I am quite a new creature—full of vitality and energy.

The upper part of the lung, which was the chief cause of my trouble, is quite healed and healthy. I never know now what it is to feel pain and tightness in the bronchial tubes, from which I constantly suffered in the past. My digestive organs too are quite well.

I should be quite pleased to be of use to you at any time in recommending to weak ones, who may be timid to commence the work, the immense benefit to be derived from it, by my own personal experience. I should like also to mention the very kind and careful treatment I have received both from your Manager, Mr. Clease, and the Class Instructor. They give the weak ones their particular attention, so that in working one is never over-worked.

I remain,
Yours gratefully,
Mary E. S. Adams.

EBURY STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—Miss Adams.

Address:—Marlborough Road, Watford.

Result of Medical Examination:—“Very Bad.”

Nature of Illness:—“The doctors say consumption.”

Remarks:—“This is the weakest case I have ever had to treat.”

57, Gloucester Terrace, W.,

March 12th, 1899.

Dear Sir,

I am glad to take this opportunity of saying how very much my health has benefited in every way from your system of Physical Culture. It always gives me great pleasure to recommend the same to my friends.

I am,

Yours faithfully,

Julia F. M. Johnston.

E. Sandow, Esq.

EBURY STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—Miss J. F. M. Johnston.

Address:—57, Gloucester Terrace, W.

23, Church Row,
Limehouse, E.,
December 3rd.

Mr. E. Sandow,

Dear Sir,

I write these few lines to convey to you my thanks and gratitude for the boon you have given me and the public at large. I refer to your excellent book on how to gain health, muscle, and strength.

I procured one about two years ago, and have studied and practised the drills incessantly since. The result is far beyond my expectations. I am nineteen years of age and small of stature, being only five feet in height and seven stone in weight, yet, without exaggeration, I can say that my strength and muscular development would do credit to a man six feet high.

I have gained this solely by your system and cannot praise it too highly.

Another great advantage over other systems is the small outlay required, as I have obtained for a few shillings all that is necessary to train with, whereas if I had trained under another system I should have had to have made a much larger outlay for apparatus.

I enclose a list stating what I have gained in strength and muscle since I started training.

It will always be a great pleasure to me to answer any questions concerning your system, likewise interview anyone who might be desirous of seeing me.

I remain,
Yours truly,
Thos. A. Fox.

Name:—T. A. Fox.

Address:—23, Church Row, Limehouse, E.

MEASUREMENTS.

HEAVY WEIGHT-LIFTING.

Before Training.

After two years’ training under your system.

Mon Repos,
66a, Herne Hill,
London, S.E.,
March 6th.

Manager Clease,

Dear Sir,

It is just over three years since I started to improve my physical power by means of the Sandow system, and I take this opportunity of forwarding some photographs taken at different periods. In what measure I have succeeded can best be seen by comparison of my original efforts and my present attainments, of which I also forward a list. Although they are as yet nothing to boast about or sufficiently great to be handed down to posterity, they are the result of close application to the system Mr. Sandow originated, and by means of which, in a few years, I hope to attain the culmination of human strength, and, if possible, to rival that of Sandow himself, for I am a firm believer in starting with an almost unattainable ideal, then gradually coming within measurable distance of it, and eventually, perhaps, to reach it. To do this will require the exercise of many mental qualities, determination, perseverance, and endurance. I suppose there are many young men like myself in whom Mr. Sandow has awakened a latent ambition to muscular prowess, and in doing so I state without any hesitation that he alone has done as much good for the country as any man of the present century.

I can only conclude with expressing my deep gratitude to Mr. Sandow for the splendid facilities he has offered to those who wish to be classed as nature’s men (which is indeed the duty of man), and in doing so I am but echoing the sentiments of many of his pupils.

I have the honour to be,
Faithfully yours, John D. Peters.

EBURY STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—John Peters.

Address:—66a, Herne Hill, S.E.

Mr. Peters is a fine weight-lifter, having accomplished the splendid feat of raising 210lb from the floor to arms’ length above the head, using one hand only. This is probably the amateur record. As he is only 23 years old there is yet plenty of time for him to far eclipse even this striking feat.

30, Guildford Street,
Russell Square,
W.C.,
13th March.

Dear Sir,

It affords me much pleasure in stating that since I commenced taking your course of instruction I have greatly increased in strength and physical development—my biceps having increased two inches, and my other muscles proportionately. I am convinced that a course of your instruction would prove beneficial to any one, whether naturally muscular or otherwise. Your system is one of such gradual progression that it cannot fail to strengthen the constitution of a person even in a delicate state of health. I shall have much pleasure in recommending your School of Physical Culture to my friends.

Yours sincerely,
Leslie Hood.

Eugen Sandow, Esq.

EBURY STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—L. Hood.[2]

Address:—30, Guildford St., W.C.

34, Duke Street,
St. James’s, S.W.,
March 4th, 1899.

Dear Mr. Sandow,

Not often is it given to us in this life to sow our seed and gather in the full fruits of the same. Therefore it is with more than ordinary pleasure that I write this letter to say that with your system of Physical Culture this extremely satisfactory result is to be obtained.

When first I joined your school some four or five months ago I was a very fair average specimen of a young Englishman (and our national thews and sinews are by no means to be despised), but owing, in a great measure, I suppose, to my city life, I had run a little to seed, and more than once had required the aid of doctors and tonics. The advice of the former invariably ended with the same formula, “take more exercise.”

I was quite ready to agree with them, as during my holidays in the country, when I was exercising in one form or another nearly the whole day, I felt quite a different man and as fit as possible.

But work in the city is a little difficult to reconcile with plenty of exercise. Some time previously Mr. Sandow had opened his school for Physical Culture, and having often admired him and his feats from afar, I resolved to go to him.

I am a business man, and from a business point of view I never did a better stroke of business in my life.

I am a mortal being, and speaking from a human point of view I never in my life came to a happier conclusion than when I resolved to become a pupil of the School of Physical Culture. I have increased in girth and weight without scarcely a superfluous ounce of flesh.

My working capabilities and staying powers are all doubled, and what before was an effort has now become a pleasure. Indigestion, torpid lassitudes, rasped nerves, and jaded appetite, are to me now unknown quantities.

With splendid appetite, long peaceful nights, and wondrous powers of vigour and vitality, I can face the world and with a deep sense of gratitude say, this is what Mr. Sandow and his system of Physical Culture have done for me.

Yours sincerely,
Roland Hastings.

P.S.—I may add I am a pupil at the St. James’s Street School.

St. JAMES’S STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—Roland Hastings.

Address:—Southsea House, Threadneedle St., E.C.

18, St. Stephen’s Road,
Bayswater, W.,
March 10th, 1899.

Dear Sir,

Your system has certainly done me a lot of good and freshened me up, although I can hardly claim to have tested it fairly, as I must plead guilty to having done none of the exercises out of the school during the three months’ course that I have just concluded there.

Attending the school obviates three defects in working by yourself:—

(i.) You learn—not merely the exercises—but the way to do them.

(ii.) You get an instructor who knows his work, and keeps you at yours.

(iii.) You are stimulated by seeing others working in the same room.

The only disadvantage I can see in the system is that, if rigidly followed, you would soon be driven to patronise a fresh tailor.

I was warned not to get muscle-bound by taking the course; I now cannot see how this can happen, unless you neglect some of the exercises entirely. I hope, at some future date, you will receive a better account of your system with regard to measurements and developments from

Yours truly,
Arthur Foulkes.

St. JAMES’S STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—A. Foulkes.

Address:—18, St. Stephen’s Road, Bayswater.

3, Burlington Road,
Bayswater, W.,
March 10th, 1899.

F. A. Hansard, Esq.
Dear Sir,

With regard to my opinion of Mr. Sandow’s system I cannot speak too highly of it.

I commenced the three months’ course when in poor health, brought about by malarial fever, but after attending Mr. Sandow’s school for two months I felt better than I had ever done previously.

The increase in measurements which you have recorded is the result of two hours’ conscientious work a week only.

It would be fair to mention that when only 6 lessons remained before the completion of the course, my exercises were interrupted owing to a broken collar-bone. With better luck, these increases would possibly have been greater.

I am, Sir,
Yours truly,
C. Foulkes.

St. JAMES’S STREET SCHOOL.

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—C. Foulkes.

Address:—War Office, Pall Mall.

York Place,
Manchester,
February, 1899.

Mr. E. Sandow.

Dear Sir,

I have much pleasure in enclosing a copy of my measurements taken at the end of last December. I am a pupil attending your Manchester School, and cannot speak too highly of your system, or the manner in which it is taught by your instructors.

Wishing you every success,
Believe me,
Yours very sincerely,
J. A. Sinclair.

OXFORD STREET SCHOOL (MANCHESTER).

Copy of Measurement Sheet.

Name:—J. A. Sinclair.

Address:—York Place, Manchester.

High Lawn,
Bolton-le-Moors,
March 16th, 1899.

Dear Mr. Sandow,

After six months training as a pupil at your School of Physical Culture (Manchester), I now feel qualified to judge as to the merits of your system.

For the perfect and symmetrical development of the human form I can conceive of nothing which rivals the dumb-bell and rubber exercises as taught and practised in your gymnasia.

For the promotion of lost health, due to bodily neglect; as a cure for insomnia, and many abdominal disorders, it needs no recommendation.

Concerning my personal improvement, little need be said, sufficient to say I never felt better in my life, and recent weight-lifting tests have proved me to be possessed of nearly double my former strength.

Nor has my speed or activity suffered in the least (which so many, erroneously, consider to be the inevitable result of such training). On the contrary, I feel as capable of doing my 10⅖ for the 100 as ever I did.

Believe me,
Yours very truly,
Harold L. Butler.

Casteluan,
Wimbledon Hill, S.W.,
March 8th, 1899.

Dear Sir,

Having been under your system for a little over a year, I should like to add a few words in praise of your system generally. I hardly think that actual figures as to measurements and weight-lifting, give any adequate idea of the general benefits received by anyone who takes up Physical Culture thoroughly and puts his back into it.

If figures are any guide to you, however, I may quote the following, which were all taken at your School in Ebury Street.

My lung capacity has increased from 283 to 417 cubic inches, my chest expansion from 39½ to 42¼, thigh from 20½ to 22⅝, and calf from 13⅞ to 15¼.

In weight-lifting I can raise 125 lbs. from the ground with my right hand above head by means of the body-press, instead of 60 lbs. With two hands I can jerk 165 lbs. instead of 85 lbs., and I can hold out at arm’s length with my right hand 45 lbs. instead of 20 lbs.

Your system has so generally benefited my whole physique, however, that I consider my health has improved to an extent far beyond any actual increase in figures.

One of the grandest benefits of Physical Culture is, to my mind, the increase of will power and general concentration, which can never be measured in any actual way, but which is bound to appear in after life, in short becomes an integral part of his character.

Yours truly,
Claude Barton.

26, Gordon Mansions, W.C.,
March 21st, 1899.

Dear Mr. Sandow,

I am glad to be able to say a few words about your system of Physical Culture. I write feelingly, for I can scarcely express how grateful I am for what it has done for me. A few years back I became unpleasantly conscious that a careless disregard for my health was beginning to unfavourably affect my work before the British public. Notwithstanding the indulgence shown me by audiences in all the musical centres, I could not disguise from myself the unpalatable fact that, as a result of neglecting a cold and getting generally “run down,” my singing voice was becoming seriously impaired. And so it remained until chance led me to your school of Physical Culture, and to renew the active bodily exercise which I had dropped for so long. The result was eminently satisfactory; I was soon once more able to fulfil my public engagements with reasonable satisfaction to myself and, I trust, some pleasure to my audiences. I entirely attribute the return of my powers to the course I went through on your system.

Actors and singers do not need great muscular strength, but they do most emphatically require health, and, of course, health and reasonable development go together. No man is such a slave to his physical condition as the actor or lyric artist. However great his talent, he cannot give expression to it if the machine be out of repair; his physical health is obviously his most valuable asset. For this reason alone I am sure that every member of my profession would be well advised to get into the way of devoting a few minutes every day to your exercises. The lyric artist especially would find his voice improve, his spirits be more exuberant, and his general vitality at a very much higher level. In addition he would in most cases discover in a very short time that his figure and limbs were so much improved that his former expenditure upon lambs-wool tights, padding, &c., would be entirely obviated.

I am,
Yours very faithfully,
Alec Marsh.