Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-22
EnglIsh and American Health.

AZ Is the general testimony Of Americans who
have lived much in England that appearances
are deceptive and that the greater share Of
flesh and color possessed by our trans atlantic
cousins is not always the indication OF better
health or greater strength. Even these out
ward ward attributes are not always the result Of
English residence. The late Rev. william
Henry Claiming. on his occasional visits to
this. his native land, used 20 lament that his
years Of English life had not given him an
added pound of flesh. while all his early COM
rades had grown stouter in America. But
even where these externals are Possessed. they
do not necessarily indicate any other physical
advantage. Certainly there are many parallels
that might be drawn, in Plutarchs fashion. be-
tween conspicuous English and American ex-
amples. Mr.. Gladstone hardly affords a more
striking instance Of prolonged intellectual ac-
tivity than did, up to the same period
of life, the late Mr.. Bancroft and GER
tainly the dyspeptic old age Of Car
lyle and the perturbed intellect of Ruskin
have been painfully unlike the serene and
wholesome declining years Of Whittier and
Holmes. Among younger English intellectual
workers il is understood that Hamerton must
live in France for his health's sake. and Sy-
monds in Italy and Stevenson in Samoa while
Henley is mainly known from his poems writ
ten in hospital. and kipling is mentioned as
already broken down in health. Among all our
younger American men Of letters there il no
such group Of invalids. Among women We hear
OF Florence Nightingale as wholly invalided for
many years. while our own Clara Barton, after
all her ordeal in our civil wsr--an ordeal which,
If less intcnse and concentrated than that Of
Florence Nightingale. Was far more prolonged
is still in active vigor and always ready on Q
eiick OF the Geographic wire, TO repair 20 any
scene OF war or pestilence or inundation where
she and her red cross are needed. Dorothea
Dix also continued her active and uncessing
lGbors until well into the eighties Such COM
n M frlt lraSfx .rr-
dence, yet certainly appeal to the Imagination
and set one thinking.
The truth probably lie that the added drop
Of nervous fluid which has been attributed 20
the American race may have Its influence in
two ways. IL wears out on one side, and vet
sustains and builds up on the other. Impair
ing something Of the vital forces, IL yet ex-
tracts more work out Of what 10 left An ac-
complished American woman who had lived
long in England, Miss Mary E. Beedy, once
gave i as her opinion that, so far as philsn-
thropic or administrative work went, what
would seem hard days work to an English
woman would seem an easy days work 60 an
American OF the same sex and age. We do not
ourselves appreciate at what pace We are
habitually driven by that combined stimulus
of climate and temperament which the late
Thomas Gold Appleton well called .'the whip
OF the sky" Who does not know in any
American city some small, thin, pallid woman
who belongs to a dozen important CON-
mittees of usefulness, and does half the
work Of each? Who does not know the CORE
spending type in the countryside spare,
strenuous farmers wife who does, withous
"help," the whole house work and washing Of
husband, children and hired men, besides car
rying on unsided that dairy which ID the most
glish farmers wife. however robust and rudy,
accomplisbes SO much. When 1 remarked the
other day to the pastor Of one such woman that
she worked too hard, ne replied: There 10 not
n farmers wife in this town who does not work
too hard L suppose that there il not q
country clergyman or physician in the north
ern states of the American Union who will not
recognize this description rs generally faithful;
and many OF them. probably, will think that
they can identity just the person to whom I
refer, and wonder when and where knew that
particular instance.
IL il be said that many of these hard-workine
Americans, men OF women, break down in the
prime OF life from overwork, that il also unde-
niable. But their strength is the same while 10
lasts. whether expended rapidly or slowly.
Only the methods and appliances by which il 10
trained should recognize the fact OF this
changed climate and temperament, and dod
with il accordingly. No one can prize more
than the present writer the immense advance
made in athletic habits among us within
quarter Of q century, but it has its drawbacks.
A good deal of our progress il still nervous,
when il should be muscular. IL il hard TO avoid
noticing in our amateur athletic exhibitions
especially among women, that some OF the best
performers. even the teachers themselves, have
a look which In the reverse Of solid. There 10
very often q strained, worn aspect, az Of excess
sive nervous tension, 90 that the better the in
structor swings the clubs or gyrates on the par.
allel bars. the more suggestion IL given Of .
possible nervous prostration waiting not far Cd.
Indeed, IL happens not very seldom that the
woman who becomes a teacher Of physiology
has herself begun by breaking down, 90 that
though she has brought herself back TO what
she calls health, she never again sttAins to Tie
lock of il. DIR. johnson parodied the line,
'who rules DER freemen should himssaf b fsss.-
by making il read.
''who drives fat oxen should himself be fsf."
II We stipulated that every woman Who
teaches people to be well should also be well
and look we'll herself. we should be carrying
the same demand q step farther. This would
not be % easy, perhaps, in . land where The
mercury sometimes changes 40 degrees in
the twenty-four hours, as in an equable climate
like that of England-more suited, perhaps,
than any other TO daily outdoor exercise
throughout the year-but IL Is . thing infinitely
to be desired Until il 10 done. We have noe
combined our temperament and our training
into just the right formula even for men, and
certainly not for women. IL must always Be
held in view, and the writer speaks from some
experience, that TO attain anything like high
muscular training for young women 10 q prob
lem incomparably more difhcult than the sams
thing for men, The slight excess Of fatigue
for which q healthy boy atones with few extra
hours Of sound sleep. may sometimes cost years
Of impaired health 70 an apparently healthy
girl. This makes the science Of health for
women more important Of course, but also
more dif6cult