Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-07-02
discard Ice and Keep Cool.

There is great deal OF needless Suner.
ing every year while the hot days of mid
summer last. People will violate the
plainest and simplest laws of health.
Those OF us who are obliged to remain in
town during these heated terms are apt
to charge our ills to the supposed I'M
healthfulness of city life and the want of
salubrious country breezes. We are not
prepared to say that person who re-
mains in the city, and conducts himself
in rational way, is any worse off than
the summer pleasure-seekers at any of
the fashionable watering places. But the
majority do not live in a rational way.
The wellto-do merchant or broker drinks
ice-water at breakfast, and by the time
he gets down town he is laundering for
the refrigerator or Office wster-cooler.
Perhaps before lunch time he will meet
a friend, and with him take brandy
smash or mint julep. When lunch time
comes, ifhe drinks wine or beer he wants
them ice cold. If he drinks water, he
wants a lump of ice in each goblet. He
will barely have reached his office before
he will want another ice cold drink. And
all this time he feels as if he were ready
to melt, notwithstanding the cooling
drinks, and his thirst is never satisfied.
He goes up town with his hat in his hand,
perspiring more than ever, and the sight
Of the thermometers that hang outside
the druggists doors almost makes him
90 mad. In the case of the laboring
man, matters are, if possible, still worse.
He also has begun by drinking ice cold
water in the morning, and his craving
for that agreeable but delusive beverage
is never over. Being a comparatively
cheap one, he can indulge his appetite
for it to any extent. Now, in default of
the doctors, we have word of advice for
both rich and poor. There is no neces-
sity for all this perspiration and conse-
ouent vexation. Danish ice from the
breakfast table. Drink as much fresh
Croton as you like, or even as much as
YOU can, before breakfast, and let this be
followed by light repast, including not
more than one small cup OF coffee. Alter
this the suns rays can be endured with
out discomfort until twelve or one
o'clock. Then a moderate lunch, with
one or two glasses of wine or beer. will
last until the days work is over. At
the evening meal, pure water, beer or
red wine diluted with water, can be taken
ad Hbitum. But during all this time ice
should be kept out of sight. The wine,
beer or water may be moderately cooled
with ice, but neither should be taken ice
cold in summer. 1t might be blessing
to the city at large if the price Of ice were
twice as exorbitant as it, is. That com
modify is a great benefit, but it should be
devoted only to its legitimate uses, such
as preserving meats and vegetables. 1t
is customary in the hotels and restaurants
to set a goblet of ice water before a GUS
toner as soon as he takes his seat at the
table, as if ice we're the real staff Of life.
A goblet of water with lump of ice in
it, placed before person who sits down
to;order his breakfast, ought to be rejected
as promptly as if it we're glass of tepid
dish-water. The 'ice cold" drinks ad-
vertised at the various places of refresh
ment, during the het season, constitute
as great danger as the rum-shops them
selves, and weman's crusade against
this evil would receive secret support
from all sensible persons. Let the swelt-
ering toilers of the city swear off from
the use of ice cold drinks, and they will
prosper better than the giddy crowds at
Saratoga, Long Branch and Cape May.