Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-10-26
FOOD AND STRENGTH.

From the st. Louis POst-Dispatch.
Keeping in out of the heat, Henry
L. Sherwood, ofAstoria, Ore. who is at
the Southern, in the course Ofconver-
sation with a Post-Dispatch reporter
said: 'Having been for the last
thirty years engaged in the fur bust
ness, 1 have been called upon very
frequently to visit China, and have
taken a number of trips to the islands
of the Pacific and certain parts of
India. I have been obliged to learns
good deal about medicine, and from
the works read conceived certain
notions as to the best diet for the
development of muscular strength. I
studied the the matter carefully, and
after a long series of ObservHOns came
/ to the conclusion that the medical
writer's know little or nothing Of the
subject, and that diet, as long as it
was not absolutely deleteriOus, has
/ little or nothing to do with physical
! development and endurance. In the
/ early sos was called upon to live
! for months among the Indians of the
/ Northwest, especially among the
! BlacIfeet, Flatheads and GrOs-Ven-
! tres.
''With the exception of the latter,
who eat Il great quantity Of fish,
! these tribes were almost exclusively
meat-eating, and their vegetable diet
was not worth reckoning. Never
! among white men have I seen any
thing like the same endurance that
! they displayed. They were never of
heavy physique, few Of them weigh
! ing 160 pounds, and most of them
! below 145, but their runners were IN
! equalled on this continent. With a
few pounds Of pemmican meat dried
in the sun and pounded into a no
! mOgeneOus mass, one OF the Black
/ foot runners would set on q journey
! of 300 miles over q rugged, noun
! taineOus country and never take
more than five days in making the
! trip, while the first Of them would ar
rive at his destination in a little over
four. On a trip OfOver one hundred
miles the best horse would stand no
! chance against them, even on level,
| ground, and when once among the
mountains they would laugh at all
mounted pursuit, no matter how
close the hOrsemen might be to them.
! The GrOs-Ventres, on q fish diet,
would start off to trading post
with q pack of fur weighing $50
! pounds on their backs and travel
forty or fifty miles a day without ap-
| parent distress. So much for a diet
exclusively compounded Of either fish
or flesh.
''When 7 went to China" Mr.. Sher-
wood continued, Il was astOnished
at the wonderful feats Of the coolies
engaged in unloading the vessels.
They were usually men rather under
than above the average stature Of
whites, but Ofimmense depth Of chest
and strength of limb. Never in my life
have [ seen such muscular develop
ment as that Of some OfthOse coolies.
! The knOtted muscles stood up in
/ great ridges and punches all over
/ their chests, arms and shoulders,
and their short, sturdy legs bore
them up like towers. 1 have seen
! one of them come up to a vessel car
rying a long elastic pole over his
| shoulder with ropes at each end to
fasten a package to it. He would
take two packs of furs, tie them to
the pole, stOOp down so as to get his
shoulder underit and trOt off with his
/ load as if it were nothing unusual:
Each of these packs had been carried
to the wharf by two strong seamen,
one being deemed unequal to the
/ task, and vet those coolies would
move off easily under what had been
considered q good load for four
sailors. Four hundred pounds was
no uncommon load, and some
were said to be able to carry 600 or
! T0OpOunds for long distances These
/ men, whose muscles were far more
/ powerful than those of any human
beings / ever saw, never tasted any
thing but rice FROM years end to
years end. A few of the most pros
/ porous would occasionally, say once
/ q month, get a bit of meat or fish to
eat, or now and then a little bread,
/ but fully twO-thirds Ofthem never had
/ any thing more nutritious than rice.
/ Bread and water which among Amer
leans and Europeans is considered
/ the most meaore OF all diets, would
have been a feast to them, and Yet
/ their strength far exceeded that ac-
J corded those who live on q diet far
/ more generous and nutritious accord
/ ING tOmedical science Thesame things
was true Of the Chineseriver boat
/ men, who were magnihcentiy built
men. and could pull their heavy oars
twenty-four hours at q stretch. re-
T ceIVmg as fOOd during that time Q
/ couple of handfuls OF rice-abOut as
/ much as an American would eat at a
I single meal when he had q number OF
other dishes on the table.