The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-02-21
Irregular Living.

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I'll hi Tx--stftg IT, fc1 sg4 :
q. B 9sg Irregular Living.
.z It is not too much to SHY that for the
advanced activities Of life there "a hit
/ little chance ofSregulari living. People;
seem TO i, be running q race with Old
Father Time himself. in! order to get
much is gained by abbreviating eating
md sleeping for the improvement Of
either industrial or intellectual facilities
In the long run. "A pie merchant told HE
recently that The sold all his stale pies
to some restaurants at a rebate, because
the restaurant, customers were always
meals. that it. did not: make. any differ
sence to-. them whether the pies served
were fresh or stale" 5.3E<,tg1 :, III si$rI
. Strange to say, educational instit,,-
lions lead off in arrangements for fore
ing students to eat irregularly, for they
not only have the most unusual hours
TO: for specially desirable. classes, but in
many cases change these hours every
week. Nearly everything that an adj
yanced student wants to study is taught
between IL and 2 O'clock, or s and 8 D.
NJ, while as the season advances Z
o'clock in the morning is favorite hour
for lessons, It is curious when one
comes to consider it, that with twenty
four hours in the day to choose from.
educators cannot hit upon any, save
those formerly devoted to mealtime.
me midday meal, which. in former
Years was the most honored Of all Oh
seryances,= has been almost annihilated
by the encroachment of business, science.
art and religion, until it is probably
only in agricultural localities that the
,noontide rest has a semblancc Of exist
ence. The rich employer has his lunch
sent i'll and snatches few hurried
mouthfuls, or he takes a snack at res
taurant. while his empolyes usually 90
where they can be most rapidly served.
Both classes are equally anxious to save
q little time from the daily routine for
some special purpose There; are youths
that they may have time u organize
FOR athletic sports, and girls who crib
their mealtlme for the purpose Of arrang-
ing their evening sociables, and people of
all ages and both sexes who swallow a
sandwich in five minutes, so that they
may nave ten TO, spend i'll a MONDAY
prayer meeting, while there are young
men studying to be physicians who be-
ileye 1t a waste of time to sustain their
bodies with properly assimilated food in
the middle Of the day. All these, de-
pend upon an evening dinner. for their
ultimate restoration and support, forget
ting that health is but short call loan.
they all know that five hours between
meals--four for. digestion and one for
rest-is the natural limit, and yet even
II they; would, they could not profit by
this open secret of health There is not
time enough to rest and refresh ones
self before or after eating at midday,
so as the half hour, which is all that is
usual iy allowed: is. too narrow a limit
IN which to enjoy a comforta BILE meal,
they apply the greater part of the time
business allows to some purpose other
than that originally designed.
:; = But it may well be inquired why it is
that i'll schools and institutions of learn
ing there should be necessity for imi-
tating the customs of commerce so close
~ i'll filling every hour with work? This
pernicious practice has increased to the
proportions of serious evil. From the
public schools to the university, the regu-
lar course of studies embraces subjects
which would require more than the aver
age life of man to become even letter.
perfect in. The art schools are even
more severe in their requirements, while
as for music, the theosophists are proba-
bly, right in maintaining that a man must
live three or four times to get a good
knowledge of it.
Everybody sympa thizes with aspira-
tons. OF course it is a fine thing to
know all about everything, but it may
be permitted to remark that with all the
learning in the world a mans knowledge
is not practical if he don't know when to
eat his dinner The saddest result of
neglect of this kind of knowledge is that
the evils it perpetrates multiply in
geometrical proportion. If person
onits eating one dinner, he deprives
himself of the strength to work for an
other. Also, when it is observed that he
will go without his dinner one day, the
united opinion of society seems to be that
he can do without it for many other
days!
The Importance of food is we'll illus
trated by the practice of the ocean steam
ship companies with their firemen. These
fremen do the hardest manual labor it
is possible to conceive of, in an atmo-
sphere almost insupportable, yet they
do not receive high wages, but an abund-
ant table is kept constantly spread for
them day; and night. at which they can
restore their strength, and there is no
difficulty in getting men for the work.
A question which touches every indi-
vidual closely is. whether the essentials
of health, comfort and prosperity are
too often sacrificed for the shadow of
some prospective advantage? These
are elemental necessities which people
often deny themselves for the sake of
mere accessories. and then wonder why
they always feel cross.
Physical Culture at Women's Colleges
At Vassar college gymnastic exercise
is held in high esteem. This is shown by