The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1910-01-21

ally on the rack until, all at once 1t breaks
down. incidentally. his digestion becomes i'm
paired, his vital organs suffer irritation, which is
often the beginning of disease, and his circula-
ton is clogged threatening apoplexy. No
der, then, that In many an instance he dies sud-
denly, while yet in the prime Of life.
Sudden deaths much more common than
they used to be. The high pressure of modern
life, with its keen competition and intense
strain, is the chief cause. The busy merchant
drives his body machine beyond its capacity and
suddenly 1t collapses Heart disease or apo
plexy the attack may be, according to the ply
sician's diagnosis, but it Is really over-driving
that Is accountable for the mischief The stren-
uous life Is all very WELL but it is liable in these
days to be carried too far. have known several
tragic incidents Of the kind within the last few
years-one of them the case of a gentleman
whom ! had earnestly advised to lead a more
simple life. Mature" said to him, "did not
provide you with machine capable of enduring
such use. You have SO many hours for sleep,
so many for work and so many for recreation
you must arrange them accordingly" But he
kept on at the same gait, and, not long ago,
while speaking at dinner on board steam.
ship that was entering the harbor of New York,
he dropped dead. A blood-vessel had given
way
When the body-machine is weakened by over
1t cannot withstand the hostile germ life which
1t cannot withstand the hostile germ life which
1t Is obliged TO encounter. In other words, its
power of resistance Is diminished. And when
the hours that should be devoted to healthful
recreation are given up to the enervating dissi-
pations of club and social life there is double
drain upon the vitality. Many business men
nowadays are kept under such continual ner-
vous strain that they resort to stimulants in
working hours and it is this sort of abuse, COM
bned with constant and raCkng excitement,
that has earned for paress recognition as a
brain disease to which stock brokers are pecu
iarly liabe-so much so, indeed, that 1t might
be called brokers' insanity.
The conditions of luxury under which most
of US l1ve-for these are days when even the
poor man enjoys comforts such as were unob
tainable by the rich half century ago-have
tendency to weaken our constitutions and impair
our vitality. Our houses are overheated and
even the vehicles in which we ride are often
warmed almost to suffocation. Thus we have
become like dollhouse plants and, If by chance
exposed to current of cool air, we catch cold
or perhaps contract bronchitis or pneumonia, a
trifng change Of temperature cutting our lives
short in a twinkling. Or again, 1t may be that
like cause will bring congestion of the Kidneys
leading to disease of those organs proving even.
tually fatal
Not long ago, while travelling CHANGED to
stop at village on the river Rhine, where
found an astonishing number of old people.
There were a dozen over 100 years of age and
many from so years old UP to the century mark;
yet straight and vigorous. One woman nearly a
hundred years old was earning her living by
picking hops; her grandchildren were middle
aged. 1t was quite wonderful. But there was
no mystery about it; it was merely the effect of