The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1880-11-06
vEaIjTu AND nEcHEATuoN.


That all work and no play makes Jack a
,ull bov, is one of those common sayings
which we seem bound to accept, whether
We like it or not. 1t is truthful saying
md an untruthful, a wise saying and an un-
wise, according as one word in II is inter
preted, and that word is PLAY. II play
really means play in the strict sense of the
term, as it is defined for us in the diction-
aries viz "As any exercise, or series Of
exercises, intended for pleasure, amusement
or diversion, like blind mans buff; or as
"Sport, gambols, jest, not in earnsst"-then,
truly, all work and no play makes Jack
dull boy and Jill dull girl.
But in these days there is a difficulty in
accepting the saying as true, because the idea
of play, especially when it is expressed by |
the term recreation" is not always repre-
sented in the definition have given above.
We now often really transform play into
work and our minds are so constituted
that what is one persons work is another
persons play. What backwoodsman
would call his horse like labor, foremost
statesman may call his light Of pleasure.
How shall we define it? What is play or
recreation
Men differ, think, on the definition Of
work and play more than on almost any
other subject-differ in practice as much as
in theory in regard to it.
From whatever side we look upon this
picture it seems at first sight to present an
almost nsoluble problem, when the concep
ton Of mixing recreation with work, so as
to make all work recreative, is considered.
Amongst the masses there is no true recrea.
ton whatever, no real variation from the
daily unceasing and all but hopeless toll
nay, when we ascend from the industrial
and purely muscular workers to the major
ity who liye by work, we find little that is
more hopeful. There is no true recreation
amongst any class except one, and that a
limited and happy few, who find in mental
labor of varied and congenial kind the di-
versity of work which constitutes the truly
re- creative and re-created lite.
We get, in fact, little light on the nature
of healthful recreation as we let our minds
rest on this one and almost exceptional class
of men of varied life and action of mental
kind. They come before us, showing what
recreation can effect through the mere act
of varying the labor. The brainworker who
is divested of worry is at once the happiost
and healthiest of mankind, happiest, per-
chance, because healthiest a man constant.
ly recreated, and therefore of longest life
A physician who has recently computed
the facts bearing on this particular point
gives us reading upon it which is singular
ly appropriate to the topic now under con.
slderaton. He has reckoned up the life
value of five hundred men Of greatest ment-
al activity-poets, philosophers, men of sci.
ence, inventors, politicians, musicians, actors
and orators-and he has found that the
average duration of their lives to be sixty
four years of age. He has compared this
average with the average duration of the
life of the masses, and he has found that IN
all classes the members of which have sur
viyed to twenty years of age the duration to
be fifty years. lie therefore gives to the
varied brainworkers value of life of four
teen years above the average.
By later calculation, relating to hun
dred men belonging,we may say to our own
time, he has discovered a still greater value
Of life in those who practice mental labor
seventy years being the mean value of life
in them ThereuTon he has inquired into
the cause of the difference so strange and S,
startling, and has detected through this an
alysls, as and Others have, combination
ofsaving causes, the one cause most influenc
ing being the recreative character of the
, work. His observation is so sound, so clio.
quent, aud above all, so practical, can fee
no necessity for apology in giving it a
length. He is comparing, in the passage 81
, quoted, what he calls the happy brainworkei
with the mere musceworks, and this is th,
argument:
5 "Brainwork is the highest of all antidote:
) to worryj and the brainworklng classes ar
therefore, less distressed about many things
i less apprehensive of indefinite evil, and les
disposed to magnify minute trials, than thos
4 who live by the labor Of ftheir hands. To th,
0 happy brainworker life is long vacation
| while the muscle worker often finds no jo
a in his daily toll, aud very little in the i'll
. tervals. Scientists, physicians, lawyer
e clergymen, orators, statesmen, literati an
[ merchants, when successful, are happy i
e their work without reference to the reward
!, and continue to work in their special cal
d ings long after the necessity has ceaser
= Where is the hod carrier who finds Joy i
J. going up and down a ladder; and, from th
9 foundation of the globe until now, ho'
@ many have been known to persist in ditct
II digging, or sewer-laying, or in any mechan
n cal or manual calling whatsoever, after IL
attainment of independence Good fortur
n gives good health. Nearly al the none
n in the world is in the hands of brain worl
Is ers; to many, in moderate amounts, 1t is e
D. sential to life, and in large and comiortab
,e amounts it layors long life. Longevity
b. the daughter of competency. OF the man
/ elements that make u2 happiness, ment
S, organization, physical health, fancy, irien,
a and money-the last is for the average ma
RI greater than any other, except the first. Lo
OF money costs more lives than the loss
u friends, ior it is easier 10 find friend thl
us a fortune, - Chimney Corner.
rs
es LISI OF PATENTS
70 Granted by the United States to citizens of th
lg State, for the week ending Nov 2, 1880, fur
ID ished for the CARBON ADVOCATE, from L
I Law and Patent office OF ]. McC. PERRIN
;, 500 l. street, Washington, ID. @,
IN E. p. Baugh, Philadelphia, mill for redu
. tiOn.