The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-19
THE OCTUBER MAGAzLNES.
Lippincott's.


the use of strength TO excess, from strength,
and How. to Use It," by Walter Wells, are
worthy of attentions
The great social or industrial sin OF our
American people is, that they habitually do too
much. They are the hatdest worked community
on the face oil the earth, aud a community most
emphatically and seriously 0uertCOTked Tue
statement Is in nowise an oUer.statement One
who has not had the opportunity of observing
the laboring habits OF other peoples eau hardly
realize at What high pressure ou1 industry goes
on. IL Is not so much that we work more hours,
or that we work at so much gr, ater speed. The
American arts an, on the average, accomplishes
third more daily than the imported workman
OF almost whatever nationality. Nor do we cut
short the hours of labor A days work with us
is, at the shortest ten hours long, and in
the winter entrenches upon the night at both
ends. Food-takng aud other indispensable
offices are crowded into the least possible space,
end some of them are heinousy neglected for
sheer want of time" Mutitudes of our la.
borers get so tired during the day as to be
beyond the power of enjoy anything during
the evening except motonless sit-do Wn in the
easy chair, ,and frequently SO tired as not to
sleep well during the night. Anything like
general habit OF amusement is unknown.
Tho holidays, of which we have few beyond
the parallel OF almost any other people, are
not observed, even when they occur, by
more than a partial and limited cessation
OF labor. Half our farmers hoe corn make
hay all day on the Fourth of July; and our lum-
bermen and wosd-choppers swing the axe
through Christmas almost to man. Nothing
but Sunday, indeed, puts stop TO the rush of
business.
and factories run twelve hours day; our IRON
working establishments Is press ON their labor
from weeks end to weeks end with alternating
gangs of night and Gay hands; sewing wome1
are mewed uD at their terrible business
from seven o'clock in the morning to
eight in the, evenings; clerks of both
sexes are confined as longs. our "best'
public schools break down their choicest
pupils with overwh Ginning tasks; our colleges
and theological seminaries graduate their first
scholars almost dead; professional men of every
grade, II men OF ability, are tasked beyond en-
durancei and instead of working less everybody
is pressing on to work more and TO work harder
than ever before.
The effects of this great excess of labor as
exerted upon the health and physical condition
of our people. are just what might be antici-
pated, and may be seen most clearly upon COM
parlson OF our population with thote from which
we are derived AS compared with any of these,
we are gaunt and cadaverous. ALI our adipose
tissues are burned up in the fires of our over
activity. What in them is rounded muscle in us
is attenuated cat-gut string. Those forms of
unhealth which most directly and legitimately
| result from Overwhelmingly, nervous diseases
| and aiments-are diffused among us, in acute
| ness, variety, and numbers, hey ond equal COM
| parison with any other people. Neuralgias make
| their abiding.place of torment in millions of
| our population. Our proportion oS insane is
| above the average already, and is augmenting
more rapidly than the general census of the
people.
In particular, as the result OF the excess
sive drain of strength TO the brain and
muscles induced by such stress Of labor, %
| the visceral system-the organs chiefly
| concerned in the vital processes of allmen-
tation, among the larger proportion
| of efficiency. Dyspepsia in numerous forms is
| well.nigh universal; resulting, first, from the
| hard service put upon the 8 omach In working
up material again st the waste OF so much labor;
| and, secondly, from the withdrawal from it of
the vital force essential to its effectiveness.
| Chronic bowel disturbance or ineffciency is
& a na6t pcts
us in millions. Pills are swallowed by billions
annually; whereas what the eXcretory system
needs is the store of vital energy stolen FROM it
| for purposes Of labor. Consumption kills us Off
| in hundreds OF thousands annually, and we ease
| our consciences by cuIslng the climate; while
thirty. three per cent of the cases result from
excessive toll. Uterine difficulties with lsgens
of associated maladies, are as characteristic of
American women as imperfections Of the teeth
in both sexes; nearly all traceable, late soon,
| to the high-pressure life of care and labor
| entailed upon them by our civilization.
| The following items about John Bull and his
way of doing things are from "The Englshman
as a Natural Curiosity" by G. B. Austin-
The Englishman makes grand errors in his
ideas of the necessity Of accomplishing too much
at once; he governs little colony as if it was a
great State, with office holders, and assistant
| offce-hoiders, and sub-assistants; and if he
wishes to open up new territory TO settlement
3,
the roadway must be solid, rails spliced, masonry
| squared and equipment as elaborate as if it was
to run through the midland counties at home.
Hence he likes places where prosperity pro ovides
| the means for elaborate administration and ex-
| trayagant improvements, and abandous such
| as are struggling with difficulties and embar-
rassments. This is the misfortune of the
British West Indies, and with few ex-
| ceptions the best of the real Britons
| have left them, while those who remain are
frantic in their exertions to follow the example,
| neglecting almost everything which would
| public convenience in the community. But the
| Government goes on just the same, with gov
| eIners, counsellors, legislators, Mr. Commission
| er This, Mr.. Inspector That, Ushers of the
| Black Rod, clerks and messengers while inter-
| nal improvements and even ordinary roads are
| neglected, sidewalks unpaved, streets unlighted,
| houses unpanted and tumbling to pieces, re-
sources undeveloped, and harbor conyeniences
| going to waste. The noble Briton, with his eye
| fixed on home, tolls on too often in a hopeless
race against fortune, living in a neglected
house, with neglected social advantages, until
| unexpectedly carried to the neglected cemetery
to moulder in his neglected grave.
1t is fortunate Tor the progress of the world
that so much of its surface is occupied by the
| Engishmap and his descendants. 1t is glo-
| rIous race, and destined for noble tutnre,
although at home it may not appear to the
greatest possible advantage. We should not
| always consider John Bull the most desirable
accession TO a small tea party, nor be disposed
to admire his association with strangers as he
| draws himself IN behind his shirt collar like a
turtle, realizing the popular description of q
| Philadelphan-''so respectable, self-suf1icient,
and uninteresting;" but he has so many good
| tlaits, such liberal, noble characteristics that
impress upon whole peoples and mould the
destinies or empires.