The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-13

shorter, and yet in spite of all these
 drawbacks they were robust and
 healthy looking girls.
 Nowadays, alas, few of the young women in domestic service appear to
 be strong, and they are constantly suf-
 ferlng from weakness and want of
 blood. This, however, is very general
 complaint in all classes and every girl,
 high or humble, seems to be compelled
 to take iron in some form or other,
 Only after this tonic has been taken 1 for months or even years do they ap- pear to regain something of good health and sound appearances So far as the 1 upper classes are concerned, 1t is very
 difficult to say whence this mysterious ] complaint arises. All girls are liable
 to it, at any age and in any locality. It might, perchaIce, be the result of living in towns, but that in the coun- try, with the health of heaven blowing from every quarter, one comes across
 pale, heavy eyed, listless girls There is
 no explaining reason of bad or un-
 wholesome food or indifferent nourish-
 ment, and to no one cause can one at
 tribute the fact, unless it be that moth
 CTS of to-day are not so strong as their
 own parents were. It may be in their
 case that the nerve exhaustion of mod
 ern life has tended to enfeeble the con-
 stitution of the women of England, and
 thus the deterioration of their chil-
 drens health may be partially account
 ed for, but one may puzzle in vain to
 probe into the real cause of the wide
 spread anaemia of to-day among the
 higher classes.
 In less exalted ranks it is far easier
 to go to the direct source of the com-
 plaint, which is undoubtedly due to the
 excessive quantities of strong tea they
 consume daily. Nothing has more seri-
 ously injured the health of women of
 the working classes than the cheapen- ing of tea. l have no hesitation in say ing that It is the constant drinking of strong tea which makes the women of our toiling masses delicate and their children anaemic, for not only do these latter inherit that weakness from their mothers, but become even greater sim ners in this direction than their parents. It may be wondered whether the housekeeper or mistress of an av- craze establishment has any idea how often their servants drink tea in the course of the day, or of the strength of what is imbibed. Just as in their own homes, they put the teapot on the hob and let it stand there from morning till night, the stuff itself being a stewed connection. They drink tea before breakfast, at breakfast, at II o'clock, after midday dinner, at tea time and even before going to bed the tea being so strong as to be almost poisonous. One of the constituents of tea, as every one knows, is tannin, and that taken in the quantities consumed l by our servants is absolute destruction to the digestion, so that none of the | wholesome food they take is properly | assimilated with results of ill nourish- ment, bloodlessness, want of breath | and weakness. One after another in a large household falls, and if one takes | the trouble to inquire, it vii be found | that they have all been living on strong tea.
 Tea is, of course, a mild sort of stim- llant, and for the moment refreshes | and pulls hthem togeter. They know nothing of the effect 1t has on their health, nor do they believe the warn ngs that are constantly sounded in .heir ears. When China tea was the Jnly description procurable the quanti- y that could be imbbed was much ess. Moreover, it was not nearly so potent as the Ceylon and Indian tea, which has taken it's place, nor did it contain so much tannin, and, conse- luently, people could drink it with ,reater impunity. In every Well-order- d household the quantity of tea per lead is regulated, and if that amount ,e adhered to the mischief would be essened Nearly every servant how yer, buys tea over and above her al- owance, so that there is no check on he habit. We take every precaution hat our women servants should be ober, and yet we allow what is quite S bad as dram drinking to go on un- oticed. The effect of drinking tea in he quantities and of the strength in- uIged in by nearly all our domestics 5 reallya very serious matter and ev- ry head of household should make it er business to find out it's extent and top 1t as far as she can. One cause of he increase of tea drinking is the GUS om of giving beer money, instead of, $ formerly allowing a certain quanti- y of beer per head, and it is a con- tant occurrence when engaging ser ant for her to mention that she does ot drink beer No doubt this is true, utas a substitute she takes tea, mich, in the quantity she consumes it, more harmful than beer.
 At this moment experienced house. eepers could put their fingers on ozens of girls who are unfit to remain l their situations from this cause, and nless some stand is made against it ne numbers will go on increasing If le strong tea is stopped, the remedy