Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-15
THE QUESItf BEAUTY
Housework as S a Fine Cure
for Nerves.
SOME UsEfgI HINTS
aEd 2 .t-->ie
VALUE OF LIGHT AND PLEASANT
OUTDOOR EXERCISE.
Idleness Causes More Women to Have
Nervous Prostration Than
Overwork.


Nervous Prostitution Than
0verwork.
Here you are, you girls who are turning
gray in your teens and fighting crow s-feet
at an age when your faces ought to be as
smooth as a baby's. Here you are. with a
sermon by Or. Edward Livingston Hunt
that you should read and read again and
digest before you complain of overwrought
nerves. They may come from too much
work. but question yourself sharply first
are they not the result; of too much worry
instead? Do you work heartily. biitheIy,
strongly, and do you rest peacefully! ASK
yourselves, and don't eTade-the answer.
More women go into nervous prostra-
ton as a result of idleness than OF over
work." said the doctor, who. for long years
has made study of women and taeir most
cherished grievance-their nerves. This, In
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred-and
four. when the cry of the times is: 80
much to do! Never a minute to rest! over
study overambition, overstrain! 1T mas
been supposed that too much OF everything
was breaking down our high-strunS Ameil-
can woman, and, now along comes ols-
tjngu1shed nerve specialist saying that too
little work is doing it..
Don't you consider that 1t Is TINS So
called neWness of woman that is wrecklng
ner?" l asked. Aren't. the nerve speclaI-
lists patients made UP of women VINO haVe
taken PhD. degrees and women VINO nave
Supported esthetic husbands and women
who have presided over score or cups ;
isn't rest and relaxation the thing needed
by America feminine",
Rest From Worry.
sIn one sense yes. But not rest from
work. 1t is a rest from petty worry that
woman needs and that lies within her own
power to give herself. The woman OF To-
day Is not nearly so much. overWorRea as
she is overworried. and the woman with
nothing to do is the one who faiis VIC
tim most readily to the complaint
'Then you prescribe work IoS me WIZ. lin
of nervous prostration? 1t has been caileu
nervous prosperity. Perhaps that IS the pest
Frequently it describes 1t exactly
"a woman has wonderful powers OF en-
durance when it comes to great 1nlllsa
She can support ilargs family ana COM
out none the worse fon Mear- She can peai
the most terrific griefs,e the loss OF prop
heroine through it ALL But when she mas
no real trouble, no real responsibilities, no
work to do, she invents trials that grow
from mole hills to- mountains In a nsn.,
She drives DerSelI aiIpOSl fliSdilc w 81 -
choice Of a maid. She loses nights OF sleep
trying to decide whether she Will decorate
with orchids or poinsetta at her next iui,c
ton. She is ready for, the sanitarium by
the end of a season during which pleasur
ing was her only occupation.
ssThen what is your prescription?
when the case is not too far advanced:
I say, work. 1 don't mean that she shouid
scrub floors or tale an once posltion.a.
least pot to women of wealth. to whom
such effort wouldnbe violently sdistastefui.
But tell them to find. a genuine occupa-
ton. one that is both iipteresgtng and ao-
.sorbng If their tastes are musical. let
them Study music in earliest. Perhaps it
may be painting or literature. II does not
matter, SO long as the idle mind is occu-
pied with something that holds its atten-
ton and calls for effort: ="
CongeniaI Tasks. $50. So
81 don't mean to say that when woman
Is completely Frustrated | would drive her
to work: but as soon as she is able to en-
low 1t would advise her to busy herself
with something she likes to do-never with
uncongenial occupations, for if she dis
likes her work she will wear herself out
not with the effort, but with her, distaste
for it. 1 would have her work at it indus
triously, earnestly enough to cause self to
he forgotten but not with strain and ri
vaIry 1t is competition that makes work
difficult for many women. If they are
seeking success in profession they often
devote more time to worrying over whether
they will succeed than to. laboring Tor sue
"Then it is not how fhncfi a woman does,
but how she does 1t that counts?''
That's it. 1 don't mean that there is no
such thing as overwork, but l do mean
that it is far less common than is gener-'
ally supposed. Only a few work them
selves into wrecked condition, while
many appear to. Take, a girl, who goes to
n n win a Mace in She DaintS
only a few hours each day-not enough
to injure her at all. But all the time she
is straining, straining, silently. within
herself. She is wondering whether her
work will receive recognition at the next
exhibition. She is thinking of rival who
is succeeding fast and striving to dis
'tance her. She is considering the bread
and butter question, knowing that If she
does not make the hoped-for sale there
will be disaster 1t is not. work that is
killing her; 1t Is her way of working, of
living. If she could, calm herself she
might be able to work twice as many
hours and feel less fatigue.
Work and Rest.
you see, this all sums itself up in this
law: Work more, rest more Have 1
made it plain that this statement is not
paradoxical? The great majority of nerv-
Gus patients have failed to work and rest
both; they have merely worried Of,
taken sweepingly. There are those who
are brave and poised, and at the same
time give out because of literally too
many hours of hard work. Again nervous
troubles sometimes come as a result of
purely physical ills and must be treated
through them. But 1 believe idleness is
the most comomn cause of too common
breakdown"
You are talking of women. Are they
different from men in this respect?"
Very different. A man naturally enjoys
life and the good things that it contains
while a woman takes'to it's troubles and
cares like a duckIto water. man waits
until trouble is forced spon him. A wom-
an seeks 1T. Above alb a man, so long as
his digestion will Let bifn eats, and this
is his salvation. You can't make a woman
eat The first thing ;shs does when she
feels a bit bored with life is to turn in
disgust from her breakfast. no matter
how tempting. This is the danger flag"
While there's appetite there's hope,
then?" agsas
Appetite and Exercise.
while there's appetite there's hope.
The nervous condition is very dependent
upon the physician If women would at
tend to sleeping. eating whoIesomely and
avarciSipp baTa ,,,o,.5,