St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1905-08-05
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Home HEALTH
u Club
By DAVID q. FEEDER. Ph. D.. Nh
La Porte, Ind.
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some time ago wrote chapte
about cheerfulness, and in one of til
club books there is a whole chapte
upon the relationship between cheer
, fitness and longevity. l wish ever
reader of this paper would read tina
chapter
Personally and generally have N
patience with pessimists, and especial
ly with the sort that are continual,
bowling about the degeneracy of tn
times, the increase Of disease, the retro
gression of the human race, and tn,
terrible increase of crime. ] am goins
to talk somewhat plainly, and if stel
on anybody's toes he'd better keel
his toes under cover, for when I an
in earnest / stand about six feet tai
and weigh about ITO pounds.
! want to say, and say it emphatical.
~, that such talk is untrue! Disease is
not on the increase, the human race is
not degenerating, nor is crime on the
increase. On the contrary, exactly the
opposite condition prevails at the pres
ent day and age of the world, and any
one OF good judgment and the ability to
make even superficial examination
can easily prove it.
| Why is it, let me ask you, dear club
readers, that the daily papers employ
agents in every quarter of the globe to
seek out and send to them all of the
horrible details of crime? Now, you
say that is a conundrum that cannot
| be answered instanter; the pessimist
| will at once say that the condition Of
the people is SO deprayed that they de-
mand sensational news. Wrong my
friend, wrong, all wrong! What
makes sensational news? VIII you
answer that? "Ah.' there's the rub"
When you answer that you must adj
NIT defeat Sensational news must of
necessity. come from that which is out
OF the ordinary, must be something of
rare occurrence. If crime were as com
mon as goodness, acts of devotion and
seif-sacrifice, would cause no COM
ment whatever-would not be sensa-
tional-would not be news.
During the early days of a mining
town upon the frontier, and before the
towns are organized, lawlessness is the
order OF the day, robbery and even
cold-blooded murder cause no excite
ment, because they are more common
than deeds of goodness. But let few
mining camp desperadoes drop into
New York and kill only one citizen on
the streets in broad daylight and the
act would be telegraphed all over the
world in a few hours.
During the sixteenth century a prom
inent man, wife, daughter OF sou,
might be kidnapped and held for ran
som without causing much comment /
outside the immediate family circle
and friends, but the daring work done
a few years ago at Omaha in that line
creates CONSERVATION over ali the civ
ilized world. Why? Because it is the
second successful crime of the kind to
happen in all America during many
years.
have before me recent issue of a
magazine which claims to have wide
circulation and to be an advocate and
exponent Of good health, but among
the leading articles / find such head
|ngs as "Degeneracy of Man" and In
crease Of Disease" Increase of Can
cer,'' Diseased Animals Used AS
Food" Many Suffering from Tape
Worm" Increase of Consumption,
'Leprosy on the Increase North
American Indians Dying OUT ety.
phoid Fever in Oysters and lot
more cheeful subjects as at once ought
% prove that the editor is a confirmed
lyspeptic and ought to take a few
loses of cheerful common sense and
nix it with his articles, and then per-
laps he would not create in mis- read
rs the morbid mental condition which
avors and develops disease.
Let us examine few of the state
nents. Is the human race deteriorat- )
ng?4 If SO, the people must be smaller
q stature than formerly. Practical
violence, however, the actual measure
nent of the bones Of our ancestors,
s compared with ours, proves that we :
re larger. 1t would be hard work to
nd company Of American soldiers
mall enough to wear the coats of
lall and armor that were worn by men
hat were called giants in former days.
trial made few years ago in Lon
on proved this to the great astonish- e
lent and CONSERVATION of the pessi- t
lists. Measure the bodies of the num- G
lies found in the east and the great t
st soldiers and kings are found to be a
q n nj = |
oys, while the women do not compare
with our 15-year-old girls.
Since the sixteenth century the av-
age longevity Of the human race has IL
early doubled, and in some portions
the civilized world it has more than d
me so. Now, regarding the Indians.
hey are not dying out at all; on the n
ntrary, the census report shows that
ere are actually more Indians in
merica to-day than there were when
q first whites landed on Plymouth y
ok.
Science and common sense nearly al
ays conquer disease, and the doctors N
I'd it hard work to find new and ter Ct
'ying names for the same old aches
d ais that have always existed. But
must be done If all the great medical
lleges are kept up, and the new crop
physicians that are turned loose
cry year are to make a living. /
ink, however, that the fear OF dis ~
Sc is, in many cases, more terrible
IN the disease itself, and If people
ow the simple, honest, homely
this they will suffer less and be
lch happier. Talk health, not dis