The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-27
THE WISDOM OF THE
GOSPEL OF GOOD HEALTH.

Nm inspiring present day saying is
N this: "a man is a failure unless
he is a better man than his IA
Their was' Quite true. It is equally
true if we change the quotation slightly
and say, "a woman is a failure unless
she is physically a better woman than
her mother was
The silly old time notion that it was
rather vulgar and like female of the
lower classes to be robust and have
good health is now happily passed away.
The girl with the full, deep chest, the
strong, fiat back and square shoulders,
the arms that can show muscles, the
legs and feet that can achieve long,
swinging strides and endure walk of
ten to twenty miles is now the girl
who is proudest of herself and the one
who is admired and envied-
Good health is striven for almost
equally with wealth, and the road to it
is conceded to be by way of plenty of
air. exercise, sunlight and water. s
NJ. Jones, the Golden Rule" mayor of
Toledo. has lately given expression to
an invaluable idea in regard to the
best method of getting physical exer-
else. Mayor Jones, who is flfty-seven
years old and is proud of being able to
stand upon his head, besides thanking
God he has "a head to stand on be-
as that which is taken in the shape of
some useful work. He has thought the
matter over carefully, besides expert
menting with his theories. and that is
his conclusion.
The most beautiful women the world
has ever known and the most nearly
perfect physically were those of the
ancient Greek race. Their splendid
health and beauty were gained in ac-
..s<- III Il,
open air games in which Greek men
engaged were adapted also to the use
of the women. Besides that, noble
Greek ladies held it ever honorable to
spin and weave and dye the exquisite
ly tinted cloths of those days. Thus
they got plenty of exercise in pro
ductive employment" Ladies now may
not spin and weave, but there is an
abundance of productive employment
still. Besides the classic occupation of
homework, there are gardening, dairy
ing, beekeeping, farming in all its
phases and the rearing of improved live
stock. Any of these occupations even
a millionaire lady might engage in with
perfect propriety and to the great i'm
provement of her health. She would
know that while she grew strong and
acquired a fine, joyous physique she
would also be ''ministering to human
needs as Mayor Jones calls it.
The American nation will fail of its
mission unless it develops a race as
beautiful and as nearly perfect phys
ically as the ancient Greeks were and
a race having, besides, the large modern
brain the average Greek of neither sex
possessed. If we compare the head of
an American woman today with that
of the female Greek statue we shall
find the head of our lady to be consid-
erably larger proportionally than that
of the exquisite marble. The female
brain is undoubtedly growing larger.
Let US have bodies to match.
Such bodies cannot be grown without
perfect health to begin. For this splen-
did, royal health let us all strive. Pure
air, deep breathing, floods of sunlight,
cleanliness of the skin, proper diet
these have been dinned into US till we
know them better than some of US
know the Ten Commandments. Let us
now lay hold of them.
There is one other factor of good
health not sufficiently taken account of
| by hygienic writer's, and that is the in
fuence of the mind on the body. Any
woman, young or old, can acquire the
! good health habit in time, but she
must first fix her thought on it the
one goal above all to be attained before
she can accomplish anything else worth
while. Let a woman make up her mind
| she is going to grow into perfect health.
| Then let her call to her help all the
natural hygienic aids mentioned and
! utilize them. After that let her forget
| all about her bad health, especially her
! evil symptoms and go on and work and
| be merry maintaining a cheerful mind
always. Many a chronic ailment may
thus in time be outgrown.
MARY GOULD LYLE.
| LADY CURZON AS a DETECTIVE.