Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-04-23


1t is easy enough to say that there are
twenty-four hours in the day, and that il
we take eight for sleep and eight Tor
work, we shall still have eight left for
recreation But he who attempts to
make practical application of this very
attractive theory will find himself won
dering where all the twenty four hours
come in. For instance, let us split the
difference" between the hour in the morn
ing when the day labOrer and the average
business man get to work, and say That
modern humanity begins its daily labors
at s o'clock a. m. From 8 o'clock until
noon are four hours. An hours moon
ing" and work begins again at one and
continues until five. Our work day will
then be finished though it is more apt
not to be until six. If we stop at five, an
hour of rest remains to us before the time
of the evening meal then follow, say
four hours of recreation-mental, social
or physical-Qf we are in mood to take
it, until 10 o'clock. Later than this, recre-
alton bellies its name and becomes really
a WEAKNESS to the flesh The man who
is to get to work at eight o'clock the
next morning must, or ought to, be in
gets fairly to sleep at II o'clock, his eight
hours of slumber bring, him to seven
O'Clock next morning, leaving an hour for
toilet, breakfast and getting to his place
of labor-little enough time, as all will ad-
nit
Now, in this representative day we have
had our eight hours of work and our eight
hours of sleep, and, by tight pinching,
fue hours that might possibly have been
devoted to recreation. Where are the
missing hours We find them in the
time devoted to eating and resting with
out sleep. Strictly speaking, eating and
resting are recreations-that is they re-
plenish and retit us for our work. But in
the common acceptance of the term, they
are not recreations.
However, we will allow them to be
recreations and so we have nominally
solved our puzzle of the hours. But we
submit that the average man is not salts
fed with the solution. Deep down in his
inmost heart he is convinced that the day
is not fairly divided He feels that he has
really worked more than he has played,
and yet has slept, rested and eaten no
more than he ought The same curious
1ttDDR VI luNdTu protest IlStS w ltilill Hill,
as makes tumult of the school boys breast
when, in reply to his excuse that he has
not time enough for all his duties, the in
eXorable teacher answers, You have all
the time there is" The argument is unan-
swerable; the fact he somehow cannot
find.
Two considerations explain the dissatis-
factory nature of the solution. First, the
eight hours of work are from the pith and
centre of the day second, the preliminary
conditions for positive and actual recrea-
ton are subtracted from the eight hours
of play. Labor's third of the day is solid,
selected and supreme recreation's is
broken, secondary and not defended from
trespass. Looking at the matter in a prac-
tical way-leavng out mathematics-and
we really follow the good old custom of
our forefathers, work all day, sleep all
night, and play when we can, under a stand
ing protest and in the face of petty dis
couragements and obstacles which rob
recreation of its proper part in the econo-
my of life. OF course we know that work
is nobler than play or rest, but there
ought to be enough Of the latter to keep
the worker fresh, vigorous and cheerful.
The average American does not take
enough of either rest or recreation.