Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1905-07-12
],
III : me Health
Club
D David 3. REEDEl. RI. D.. n. n
S. E+y%s5 In Porte, Ind. s.@', q.
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Some time ago i wrote q chapter
about cheerfulness, and In one OF the
club books there is whole chapter:
upon the relationship between cheer
Sfulness and longevity. 4 wish \ every
reader OF this paper would read that
chapter. *ts& -. ..sl.ss.ss. To-. b.:
s Personally and generally have no
patience with pessimists, and especial
~ with the sort that are continually
bowling about the degeneracy of the
times, the increase of disease, the retro
gresslon of the human race, and the
terrible increase of crime. I am going
to talk somewhat plainly, and ii step
on .anybody's toes he'd better keep
his toes under cover, for when I am
in. earnest stand about six feet tall
and weigh about 40 pounds. 49,, -
! 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 a 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 conundrum that cannot
be answered instanter; the pessimist
will at once say that the condition of
the people is so depraved that they de-
mand sensational news. Wrong my
friend, wrong, all wrong! What
makes sensational news? Will you
answer that? 'Ah. there's the rub.
When you answer that you must ad-
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
self-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 few hours.
During the sixteenth century q prom
tnent man, wife, daughter or sor,
might be kidnapped and held for ran
som without causing much comment
outside the immediate family circle
and friends, but the. daring work done
q. few years ago at Omaha in that line
creates CONSERVATION over all the civ
ilized world 'Why?, Because it is the
second successful crime Of the kind to
happen in all America during many
years. .--."~.>- -, f.
III shave> before me q recent issue OF a
magazine which claims to have a wide
circulation and to be an advocate and
exponent Of good health, but among
the leading articles find such head
tngs 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 q lot
more cheeful subjects. as at once ought
to prove that the editor is confirmed
dyspeptic and ought to take a few
doses of cheerful common sense and
mix it with his articles, and then per-
haps he would not create in, mis- read
ers the morbid mental condition which
favors and develops disease.
Let us examine a few of the state
ments. Is the human race deteriorat-
ing? If so, the people must be smaller
in stature than formerly. Practical
evidence, however, the actual measure
ment Of the bones of our ancestors,
as compared with ours, proves that we
are larger. 1t would be hard work to
find a company Of American soldiers
small enough to wear the coats of
mail and armor that were worn by men
that were called giants in former days.
A trial made few years ago in Lon
don proved this to the great astonish-
ment and CONSERVATION of the pessi-
mists. Measure the bodies of the num-
mics found in the east, and the great
est soldiers and kings are found to be
smaller in stature than our 17-year-old
boys, while the women do not compare
favorably with our 15-year-old girls.
Since the sixteenth century the ay-
erage longevity of the human race has
nearly doubled, and in some portions
of the civilized world it has more than
done so. Now, regarding the Indians
They are not dying out at all; on the
contrary, the census. report shows that
there are actually more Indians in
America to-day than there were when
the first whites landed on Plymouth
rock. -:
Science and common sense nearly al
ways conquer disease, and the doctors
find it hard work to find new and ter
rifying names for the same old aches
and ails: that have always existed. But
It must be done If all the great medical
colleges are kept up, and the new crop
of physicians that are turned loose
every year are to make a living. I
think, however, that the fear of dis
ease is, in many cases, more terrible