The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-04
Eating Raw Meat.

Prof Byron Tyler. a Chicago person,
declares that he has a reform to advocate
which IS going to make the world over.
He proposes to abolish cooked food and
feed mankind or raw products; and it is
said he has a considerable following
Among his disciples are certain Chicago
people who make practice of going to
the stock yards for the purpose of drink
ing blood
OF all the food whirns which have ap-
peared n this long suffering country dur
ing the past twenty-five years-and they
are Iegion-this is perhaps the most dis
gushing There is no question, of course.
that it is possible Tor people to live on
raw meat; savages dc it, and SO do cast
always when they are unfortunate enough
not TO have any way of making a fire. 1t
is also possible, even in this climate. TO
dispense with most of ones clothing The
Sioux and IroqUois were IN the habit of
going about with one small garment for
their entire adornment. when this country
was new An Indian clad after this fash
ion, being asked if he was not cold. en-
quired in return if his interiocutor's face
was not cold and added with that calm
which has in real life as in fiction dis
tinguished the noble savage:
''Me all faces
The fact is. however, that clothes and
cooked food have been generally recog-
nized as requisite TO civilized life. More
than this. it has been considered that the
more elaborate and carefully prepared
both clothing and food We're. the higher
was the standard Of civilization. This is
in a measure true. The skill and discri7ni-
nation necessary to produce a perfect gar
ment, or a finely cooked dish, and TO ap-
preciate the same. are only TO be found
in a somewhat highly civilized com
munity.
We often hear of the simplicity Of the
! good old times. and the superior civili-
/ cation which obtains among communities
! in which the complicated living of large
cities is not to be found But the fact is
! that in such communities the living Of the
/ people, as a whole, is sometimes more
( complicated in its requirements than in
a Ierge city and that is the reason CT
! tks general Intelligence which may OBJ
! tain Take. for example, the little pro-
! vincial town Of seventy-five years ago.
The people OF that town manufactured
/ at home most OF their necessaries OF life
/ The women made their own gowns or
! personally directed their making; they
! manufactured their own sweetmeats,
| cakes, and other household stores; they
| often spun and wove their own clothing
/ and household linen The men were per
sonally acquainted with the details Of
/ their business or their farms; most work
| was hand work; and the occupations of
4 daily life, both for men and women, re-
/ quired a delicacy of perception and Of
/ touch which modern factories do not In
/ our large cities the factory worker gets
! little training for his fingers. He has but
! one sort OF work TO do. and does that all
/ the time. We find, in the low intelligence
and brute nature of the mass OF the in
| habitants OF many factory and mining
! towns, the result Of this absence Of train
| ing of body and mind. Where there is
nothing 10 make people think, they re-
main undisciplined and brutal.
To remove the gradations which sep
arate the civilized man from the savage
is simply to retrograde in civilization. The
mere question Of subsistence is not the
| only oae in life. Men can live on any
one of a dozen different sorts of food
! The question for each 10 settle is, which
viii promote his physical, mental, and
moral welfare. If he INDUCES in I'M
wholesome food, of a kind developed by
an unnatural and pampered taste, he will
have the peculiar ailments which it pro-
/ duces. If he returns to savage diet he
VIII probably find that he is developing a
| strong animal nature. The sensible
| course would seem to be to select a bin
/ of fare half way between the two ex-
/ tremes, with due regard to his especial
| constitutional liabilities