The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-26
Reflections Meet
For the Day Hfter

From tho Lancaster New Era.
The evils of over-indulgence in al
Coholic drinks have been made plain to
everybody. If we did not see enough of
this with our own eyes, what We daily
see and read in the newspapers would
be sufficient to thoroughly convince us
of the fact. But there is another indul-
genCo to which even more people are
addicted than those who are given to
the use of stmulants, and that is over
eating. 1t is no easy matter to say how
much harm comes to us during the course
of the year through dietary eXccsses.
We give this matter no attention until
1t is forced upon us by disagrceable and
often dangerous after-ConscqucnCes. In
digestion is the parent of many physi-
cal ailments, and when dyspepsia comes
along and lays it's relentless grasp on
the hearty feeder the victim easily
reaches the conclusion that there is lit
tie left in life that is worth the living.
o
The pleasures of the table appeal TO
most persons most pcrsuasiVciy. Many
! a person who denounces strong drink
may himself over-indulge when he sits
| down to an elaborate dinner of rich
| foods. TO get drunk is discreditable, and
| to persist in the habit is sure to lead to
| trouble But men may indulge in the
pleasures of the table to an excessive de-
| gree and nobody thinks them any the
/
| hearty eater, and that is the end of it.
| There is no manner Of doubt that quite
! as many men dig their graves with their
| teeth as go there through Over-indul-
| gence in Strong drink, although 1t must
| be said that the over-indulgenCe in food
| Is not so demoralizing, nor so repugnant
to our moral sense, as the former. What
| ever personal Inconvenience people suf-
| fer who are given to table eXCeSSeS,
these do not manifest themselves dis
| agreeaby in public places and in public
sight.
The doctors have not been silent on
this interesting question. Again and again
| they have cried out against it, but it is
| an uphill flight to contend with a de-
| moralizcd appetite. Sir Henry Thomp-
son, Il noted English authority on dietetic
| matters, recently expressed himself as
| follows: 81 have come to the conclusion
that more than half the disease which
embitters the middle and latter part of
life Is due to avoidable errors in diet,
and that more mischief in the form of
actual disease, of impaired vigor, and OF
| shortened life aCcrues to civilized man in
| England and throughout central Europe
from erroneous habits of eating than
from the habitual use of alcoholic drink
considerable as | know that evil to be. "
o.
| And vet medical men are sometimes
| themselves the worst Offenders DIR. Abef'
nethy, one of the most eminent of Eng
lsh medical men, ate a very light break
fast, and then took nothing more unit
| evening, when he ate a dinner thai
rivallcd in the profuseness of its solids
and LIQUIDS those of some of the Caesars
| OF course, men who lead active, out-of
| door lives, or whose lines of business de
mand much physical effort, require anC
can assmilate more food than those diff
ferently employed. The main thing is Il
, stop when you feel and know you hav'
eaten enough and not to take one slic'
more because It appeals strongly to th'
palate. 1t takes a strong-minded man t
do this, therefore so few persons do II
Frequent eating or indulgence at irreg
: ular intervals is most harmful, The stom
= ach Is an organ that requires rest quit
! as much as the arms or the legs, AM
when overtaXed is sure to give way.
O.
Everyone has felt at times that he ha
| been imposing on this patient, 1ong-suf
, | fering and long-forbeaTing oIs.n; hu
forbearancc is not a virtue with him eN
l | cept on rare occasions, and he continue
[ | TO repeat the offense with everyday reg
. | ularity. This Is a question that concern
everybody. While the drink habit al
4 fects only a class, nearly all of us ar
. victims to the habit of excessive eating
G Like the drinker, the great eater finds
= difficult to break away from his evil hal
Il It, and all the more, no doubt, becaus
s he does not realize the danger of hi
G course.