The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1891-06-19

select pure, uneolored candies at a reil-
able confectioner's, or what Is better,
make them at home, and give them to
her children at the close of their meal.
The children of the poor are, as a rule,
insufficiently fed, but this is the result
of the ignorance which prevails in the
selecting and preparing of their food
quite as often as from a scarcity OF 1t.
A bony IN presents herself at a
civ -dispensary. She is decently dressed,
but her skin is the color of parchment.
She holds BY the haal a pale. unhappy
looking child. The case is stated, but
before the prescription is made comes
the question. "What does the child eat:'
The doctor is prepared for the answer,
that he eats the same as the rest OF
the family do. The doctor asks what
that is, and to the uninitiated the
answer is often most reassuring, to wit,
BREAD, meat. potatoes, milk, also pies
and cakes when we can get them" The
bread. whether baked at home or pro-
cured from the baker. is as nearly fresh
from the oven as possible, and always OF
bolted -four.
- l. lie IilEdG Il L1IGI III 1Gls esaAtt NOI402 ~
the table with its nutritiye qualities
nearly all destroyed by the process, while
the hardened fbers are so impregnated
with fat that the gastric juice (the sol
ven of meats, but not a digester Of fats
cannot act upon them, aniH.n indigesti-
bic, irritating mass is introduced into
the stomach instead of the n%utrinent
which the meat, if properly cooked,
would furnish. The milk is bought by
the half pint at a cheap grocery, and it
is often so poor that it does not matter
that so little is used. Strong tea and
coffee complete the list. The bony as
pect and parchment skin of the mother
and the sickly pallor of the child are ex-
planned, and much advice and little medi-
cine are given.
This is no isolated case. On the con-
trary, it is one Of the most common.
The rusty teapot and "Great American
Spider reign in all these homes, and
their victims are numbered by tens of
thousands. As q rule the food is sup
piled at a cost which might insure excel
lent fare for all. Intelligence in selec-
ton, ability to buy the most nutriment
for the least money, and then to cook it
in a manner both palatable and whole
some are the necessary qualifications.
There Is no truer missionary field open
to the philanthropist than that of in
structing the poor with regard to their
food-how to make the most and best OF
what they can command-and no greater
public benefaction is possible than one
which should convert the little starye-
lings of our underfed population into
children Of a stronger and better growth.
In other words, let a little of the good
sense which is exercised in the care of
other growing creatures be bestowed up
on the children, and we shall soon cease
to deserve the appellation Of a nation OF
4dyspepties.
Indeed, without d-isparagement to the
latter, l am sure no one will deny that ii
is of much more importance that the re.
suits of careful observation and scientific
study be concentrated upon the develop.
ment of the physique Of a growing citi-
zen of our Great and Glorious Repub.
lie" than that a bantam rooster or al.
derney calf be brought to its highest
perfection. LUCY NJ. HALL, NJ. d.