, 1891-07-04

C0PyriEhL Is9l by American Pros Ase-.
uou-l
We live very simply az uur har-
said n wealthy woman, somewhat 20
fected,y. 1--WE believe in simple EyIu.
and ! have brought my family up
practice it"
The lady 10 whom this remark WAS %.
dressed was interested 10 observe "a
staple living" which was thus Cnu
placently described. She knew that %
most every n of the ten members OF tn
large family who We're sIila 10 live thu
simply" had been very nj during IN
preceding three or four years. They hal
suffered ~yarlously from crysipells, spIna
meningitis, rvo prnstratiou, typhoi,
and other feyers, and quiusy and diph
thereto sore thruats She did not bee
live that such diseases could exist wher'
Fuuine simple living was practurl.
She found that tho food in this family
wa very generally fnvi-ihat fried Oys.
tiers. c~roquettes. Lyouuai-s and Saratoga
potatoes, gldilc cakes and similar dish.
Is, with always hot bread in some form
aud coffee for all members Of the fam.
lily, from the youngest child, a girl %
SIX, 10 the father and mOthpr-wsre the
rule for breakfast. She found tina,
cereals were seldom served there. They
hated them, as was natural for pllate'
accustomed TO highly seasoned fried
food Neither was fruit popular there,
She found that tine Young men and
women OF the family, even 10 the school
children Of from fourteen 70 eighteen,
We're IN the habit Of sitting up until
midnight, often later, and then retiring
10 sleeping rooms which We're furnace
heated and into which, with one or two
honorable exceptions. DO breath Of the
outside air was allowed 10 penetrate.
These exceptions had learned, the
mother declared, cranky notions while
away at college and boarding school
Most Of these young people had been
obliged 10 leave school early in life, be
their 'headth" would not permit
them to study.
She found that the girls Of the family
wore corsets at the age of eleven, and
that the pretty, doll faced daughter Of
eighteen, with n bust measure Of thirty
six. after she had been subjected to the
manipulation Of the drcssmnker. had a
waist tweuty-one inches round, like
thousands Of other girls who never laced
in their lives"
She found that the boys Of the family
tho younger ones surreptitiUusly, tho
older ones Opeuly-had smoked cigarettes
from tho time they were eight or nine
years old. She found that the girls, be
youd making their owu beds and doing
"A little of their personal mcndiug, never
eXerted themselves 10 do any Wholesome
aFs.wl= FluH fI.aa1r.V all I4.LIH1 aa
allowed 20 take hot baths as often ~
they liked, and TO stay in them as long
AS they liked; that all were free to 20 to
the pantry whenever they felt like it, and
that only the richest cake was ever locked
away from them, while an abundance of
dOughuuts, cookies and ordinary cake was
always Mt their disposal; that IL was
impossible 10 keep them supplied with
pickles. "thc children all liked them so
much;4 that while the boys wore heavy
underfiauuels during the severe weather,
.T5 E=A.wauldn-LL4crr7 E7r7%
derclothing made their waists and arms
look so large; that neither the mother
nor the two elder daughtcr-althOugh
the former was suffering from "a chronic
disease and the two latter had had sew
cral severe illnesses and were always
very delicate-cver rested during the
daytime unless they had been "up late"
nj an entertainment the evening before
They had no time to waste IN lying
down" the mother declared. with con
stantly increasing ~compIlapncu rs she
rehearscd her way Of doing things; she
had always brought her daughters up
to be busy-It didn't make much differ
nee what about-but to be busy about
something
Two Of thc girls We're really very fond
of reading, but the books which they So
lected were such as they would far bot
ter have left alone. They often read
themselves 10 sleep Mt night, the mother
assured her Mortified visitor proudly, and
not i~nfrequcutly 1.-THE gas would be
found IN their rooms burning brightly
mt 3 or 4 in the morning, when they had
fallen asleep before they knew it! Such
a joke on them!'
This wealthy and misguided dame is
not the only one who imagincs that she
is living simply when She is living
after "a manner rs far as possible re-
moved from that ideal standard. Many
a comparatively poor family, too, fancy
that they are Giving simply when they
are in reality almost as far from it as ia
the case cited. In fact there seems TO be
q general lack of understanding IN the
popular mind rs 10 what simple living"
ia Yet everybody seems to approve OF
it and 10 feel that it, and it alone, leads
TO health and genuine comfort II Is
worth while TO try and get at a proper
definition Of a term which seems to be so
widely misunderstood
Undoubtedly our pioneer f~1rafathers
enjoyed something akin 10 the simple
living which we want We need to
''backslide " after Mr.. Rusklus defni-
ton Of backsliding. ION the way, most
of Us go" says that fiery apostle Of sim
phcity, the faster we slide back. the
better. Slide back into the cradle. if
going IN is TO the grave-back, / tell
you, back, out Of your long faces and
into your long clothes"
An old proyerb says:
Sunrise, breakfast; suuhigh. dinner
shutdown, sup, makes a saint Of IA sinner.
The jewellers IN cities cannot well nd
just their meals to the simple hour Of
OF fOrefathers; but they can and should
see that their Childreu's meals are thus
adjusted; and we eau also see that they
are Of proper food But what is truly
simple foodg
There are three simple" modes OF
cooking They are baking or rDrst1.g