The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-07-05
BY AN ENTHUSIAST.

The joys and Benefits of Country Life
Pictured by Poetic Pen.
For four months, when the winds were cold
and snow and slush prevailed, the resident of
the suburbs received large share of chatting
from his city brother who couldn't be hired to
live in the country. But now the tables are
turned. The man who lives out of town is
consulted about 'nice country boarding
places" or ''shaded cottages for rent" and
he is importuned toprovide ''cool retreatsn for
the city man whose wife last winter swouldn't
live in the country under any circumstances"
or who ''fails to see what there is in the
country to make life there bearable."
There is nothing like blistering days and
sweltering nights to compel respect for the
judgment of the man who has provided q
country-home where he can escape discomforts
which are almost tortures in city during the
heated term. Until recently only the wealthy
could afford country homes, but rapid trans
portation and the subdivision of many farms
near the city have brought the summer cottage
within the financial range of the thous ands
with moderate incomes.
When the people who look out of little loop
holes in the brick walls that line our city
streets, or who are bold enough to come out
on the stone or iron outriggers of these walls
to get breath of air, realize that with little
effort they can give their lungs pleasant sur
prise and monopolize whole block of pure
air, they won't be long in coming to sensible
conclusion of the matter. When heads OF FAM
lilies note that in one week the city food in
spector condemns 1907 pounds of meat, ., 400
cucumbers, $50 quarts of cherries, and 800
crabs, besides quantities of various vegetables,
can they fail to see the Importance of provId-
ing for source of supply of fresh and whole
some fruits and vegetables? This they can
readily Go in the acre or half acre which goes
with the suburban or country home. When
mothers who care for their babes read the
daily list of deaths from cholera infantum-a
list which any physician will tell them would
be shortened from one-half to twothirds if
those little ones had been taken to the coun-
try before the hot weather set in-they will
catch up their darlings and flee to the woods
and the green fields.
To dweller in the country there is no sad
der spectacle than to visit the city at the close
of hot summer day. Instead of air filled
with the fragrance of white'and red clover, or
the ripening grain, or the resinous pines, he is
choked with dust. Instead of yistas of
brooks and fields and woodland, fresh from
the hand OF God, he will look down long rows
of brick walls inclosing lines OF tree-boxes,
curbstones and asphaltum. In these ways of
brick and asphalt he will see many poor little
puny children, with shrunken limbs and lustre-
less eyes, whose small necks can hardly support
their big heads. They appear like Gagged
birds and seem to be looking beyond the
square or block which is the limit of their
little world. The fact that there are other
children who seem to thrive amid such sur
roundings does not relieve the picture of the
sadness of those little faces which seem
mutely to appeal for something pure, some,
thing sweet something natural 1t is the re-
finement of cruelty to attempt to bring up
children in a city. Mention was made in a
recent number of the HERALD of the necessity
for children's sanitarum, where they could
have big playground and country diet. That
at best is but makeshift The home should
be the true sanitarium and to be such it must
be in the country in summer There are
thousands of families that could establish
such sanitariums except for a prejudice against
the country, which is always silly and when it
initiates against the health of the children,
is cruel. f.. B.