The Van Buren press., 1898-09-24
WHEN A MAN is PAST FORTY.
GosM Care of His Health and
Character.

When a youth, man considers himself
mature, while others are callow; at 4
later date he calls himself young.
though the contemporaries are old.
says DR.. Henry F. Walker, of New
York. The hardest thing that he is
compelled to realize is that changes
occur in himself; that thing which
he has heretofore done with impunity
may in time become hazardous in repe-
tition. The morning cold plunge, the
going without an overcoat, the refusal
of extra footwear-any or all may be-
come hazardous to health. 1t is often
quite difficult to persuade an aged per-
son or his friends that exercise i'll the
open air is not absolutely essential to
well being. or that the fireside is more
invigorating than the cutting wind OF
brilliant winter day They quote ex-
perience against you. Having always
done thing with advantage, they can
do it still, unmindful that the personal
equation has changed and that an ele-
ment once friend to buffet may be-
come foe that kills. OF the elements
the one most harmful to the aged is
cold.
To the old as well as to the very
young a mild heat for the sleeping
room is better than the haphazard
temperature given by an open window.
That he has always slept with the win
dow open, no matter what the wealth
er, is boasted by man who demands
an overcoat and a fur cap in waking
hours, without seeing his inconsist-
ency. There is a great deal ofShon-
sense talked about the need of fresh
(meaning open) air in the sleeping
room. You can constantly cherish n
catarrh with it. Nansen, in his sleep
ing bag, has proved that one can sur
vive and thrive with a modicum of it.
Dr.. Walker says that the chief haz-
ards of the man who has reached the
time when he should be his own ply
sieian are internal rather than eXter-
nal.
The willing worker has always
enough to do for others. Each year
adds to responsibilities which he as
sumes through his own or other ne
eessities, or by choice through ambi-
ton. And each year gives him body
a little less in strength by which to
carry them. The change may be slight,
but it is actual. The consequence is
that with increased work and weak
ened body aid which is harmful is often
sought. There are two things which
threaten such a mans comfort-half
or wholly recognized diminished phys
ical strength to do increasing work,
and the inability to get abundant sleep
or enough sleep for full refreshment
| think that the greatest hazards to
a mans character are likely to come
after he has passed As years of age. He
has become more lenient in his judg-
ment of others, and is likely to be more
indulgent to himself. To speak of
things wholly physical, he has then
the temptation to both stimulants and
narcotics Tor hypnotics) in the highest
degree. And these temptations come
to him when he is acting chiefly as his
own physician. II young fellow be-
comes drunkard before he is 80 you
can usually find for him the plea OF
heredity. But there is many a man
who has passed so years and 40 safely
who in the next decade succumbs to al
cohol because he needs a brace to help
him transact the business which the
close work of previous years has
brought to him. He takes to alcohol,
not in the conviyial way, but to help
him over hard place; and he takes it
in just the worst manner, without ac-
companying food, and when food
would likely be distasteful or even
harmful, by nervous preoccupation
The afternoon drink TO tide him over
a weary day joins to itself earlier pota
tions when business presses, and the
morning cocktail before it has begun.
And all this is due TO the overwork
given to the man whose established
character has brought him to the
front. If a man passes in safety the
time when strength declines without
his realizing the fact and reaches the
time when he must acknowledge it, he
is all right. II it be not alcohol alone
that is used, it is alcohol with a subtle
stimulant more deadly, cocoa or a
kola, which obscures the immediate ef-
feet of the medium.
The other hazard is the use of hyp-
notes. OF course, these are of various
degrees of potency and harmlessness.
But you will find that the man who con-
suits you for insomnia knows the list
and has tried them all before he has
applied to you.
In view of such conditions the doctor
thinks that often the counsel given by
the physician must be rather that
which the priest is supposed to give
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