The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1910-01-27
EXCESSIVE EATING.
Cause OF High Price of Food Credited
to Our Appetite.

We knew it would come; somebody
was sure to discover the fact and
hammer our heads with it. Prof.
Milton Whitney, chief Of the bureau
of soils, declares that the increased
cost Of living is due simply to the
fact that Americans are eating far
more than they did fifty years ago.
His reasoning Is, we gather, that
though our production Of food is very
great, yet our national appetite has
grown faster still; because it tastes
good in the back OF our mouths, we
sit at table, and eat and eat. and
gorge and gorge and gorge.
Thus, the supply is drained, and
up goes the price. The ultimate con-
sumer should think more, work hard
er, and eat less. Only so shall he
remain fit to survive, and hence, to
consume. But what about the man
| who sells food products to the con-
suming appetite? He gets enough
profit so that he does not have to
rise hungry from the table; he is
even able 20 accumulate enough in
vested capital to enable him to have
gingerbread twice a week all the rest
of his life, if he choose. It Is the
non-selling, hard-eating, hard-work-
er or brain-worker not employed in
directly commercial pursuits who in
evitably pays the freight He eats
too much; we have suspected it all
along; now Prof. Whitney has told
us, fatty.
Well, it is worth something to have
dislodged the truth from it's hiding
got it into the open where it can be
met. And that old wheelhorse, the
ultimate consumer, will have to pay,
no doubt. Good enough for him, Of
course. His lack of worthy attributes
was pointed out some time ago by
that eminent and ingenious econo-
mist, Mr.. Whidden Graham. He
said: t"The ultimate consumer! Why
shouldn't he pay? What considera-
ton does he deserve? Nobody ever
made his living by being an ultimate
consumer. New York Sun.
Are we a nation of gourmands? ?
1t would seem so from the above.
For every effect there is a cause.
Indigestion seems to be national
complaint. 1t is not confined to the
grown-ups either; our young men
and young ladies and even the tots
complain of it. Let us put on our
thinking caps, and try to find out the
cause.
In the olden times people lived
simply and were not afflicted in this
way. Nowadays we notwithstanding
folks with our up-to-dateness must
improve upon the ways Of our
mothers and fathers; we must have a
variety of dishes each of which con-
sists of many differen ingredients.
Can we wonder that the stomach
(patient and long-suffering though it
isl revolts st the herculean tasks i'm
posed upon it? Nature teaches us to
use things in moderation If we wish
to live long and happily. We should
be temperate in all things, not only
in drinking but in dressing and eat
ing as we'll. Then and then only will
we be a healthy, happy people.
Patti, the great singer, when asked
the secret of her youthful looks and
feelings even in old age, replied,
"By being temperate in all things"
Let us consider another cause Of
high priced meat: For several years
past the South has lost thousand of
dollars of meat. The weather has
been acting in a most peculiar man
ner, for three or four days it would
be very cold, then it would turn quite
warm almost deluding you into the
belief that summer had returned.
This year we have had steady cold,
regular old-fashioned winter wealth
er, and as natural consequence there
is no spoilt meat. Do we appreciate
this? Does it draw us nearer to the
Giver of all these blessings? Let
us not forget that "every perfect gift
cometh from above"
Another cause: For many years
game has been plentiful. AS the
country becomes more densely popu-
lated, game gradually becomes more
scarce.
Still another cause: Mr.. Editor,
our people drink, or I should have
said, have been drinking lot OF
whiskey. Usually this creates an
abnormal appetite for meat. Whis-
KEY drinkers cannot eat sweets and
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