The San Francisco call., 1910-12-18
TOO MUCH TOO OFTEN,
s ONE Hints from Eroe,ts Wo Are Inclined ne TO Be-
Iie1e the High Cost of LtOma May Be Blessing in
Disguise,
Disguise.

has increased the last - years Dy oU per
cent, while the increase of wages during the
time was only per cent.
SO once again is forced upon that never ceasing
question, DO we understand how to eat?" Might
smaller quantities OF food not only
economical way OF living but more healthful one?
For it often has been held and not often disputed
that as nation we far much far often and
that the toll OF generous repasts results in
what has been termed the national complaint of
country-dyspepsia.
As for New York, the fact seems incontestable Any
evening in Broadway alone a glance is sufficient
show that the restaurants there are filled with diners
and that the very richest foods being consumed.
New York" said prominent recently, "is
the greatest dining city in the world II is also
the expensive. and the have brought
about habit of rich eating among the middle class
population which is unequaed by any similar class
in the history of the world"
This is special evidence by who is we'll calcu-
lated to judge. An equally eminent physician, how
ever, presents different angle upon the question and
deals with results.
There are more diseases" he said. which are the
direct result Of overeatng in New York than in any
other city Of the country; and l say that
the percentage OF liver trouble and complaints of in
digestion are higher in that city than in any other of
the great capitals of the world
Twenty years ago this could not have been said
but the growth of disorders which are the direct
undoubtedly kept pace with the of home cook
ing For then people did not eat so much as now
sosys from a variety of causes
Home cooking, for one thing, provides far less in
variety than the woman gets who eats out
The example Of others, too has always to be taken
into account When a man sees hundreds of others
about him eating heartily OF rich food he will usually
do the same. II is also TO the result of
the increased standard of living. At all events
have become nation of overeaters and we are suf-
fering for 1t both in digestion and pocket
However this may be, 1t that the rule to
drink little and eat less is that should be followed
if the advice of acute observers is to be believed"
BRITISH VIEW
One OF the most brilliant of contemporary English
novests who paid recent visit to this country held
approximately the views those quoted. He
considered the restaurant to be one of the chief
features of New York life we'll of the lives of
other American cities and he drew direct deduction
TO the for the almost national difficulty of
the American in the digestion of his food peculiar
angle Of the question struck him.
People not ashamed to confess to overeating"
he said, though they would blush to admit to over
drinking. Yet overeating is worse on the whole in
its effects 1t has produced decadent aristocracies
in almost every country in the world 1t limits the
heavy eaters vital activity TO the earlier parts of life
At forty he wonders why he dare not attempt the
dinners which he enjoyed once while at IS or so life
IS a walk between the specialist and the expensive
waters of some foreign health cure"
In fact, the overworked American stomach has
been the bane of some of its most brilliant sons
Robert G. Ingersoll, who, while his views upon the
matters of religion not shared by the great ma
ority Of his fellow Americans was vet admitted to
be of the most brilliant minds at the American
bar, a victim of food partaken of not wisely but
too we'll Indigestion in his case became SO acute
that several times he was upon the point of death
He consulted many specialists and their verdics were
unanimous. Eat sparingly," said they "and
eat the right kind of food"
And" said Colonel Ingersoll afterward in his
nimtable way "the right sort of food is the light
sort of food"
Accordingly he Immediately put his appetite into
training Everything heavy was eliminated and the
actual amount of food substantially diminished
He ate no rich starches heavy dark meats He
drank coffee wine liquors. and he said that the
following resulted in the lengthening OF his life
by IS years:
For breakfast he ate baked apple or other fruits
IN season. He never ate toast or mullins, and he
drank weak tea-never coffee For luncheon he had
an omelette eggs in any form. For dinner he took
fricassee Of chicken, turkey any white meat, fish
sparingly and concluding cup of coffee
Colonel Ingersol in the habit of remarlng that
optimism and hope depend largely light regimen
al table
If one believe H. R. Sherard, who some years
ago devoted magazine article to study of Heinrich
lbsen, pessimism would appear to have accompanied
this great dramasts substantial appreciation of great
dinners. He notes ii also in the case of Zola Mr.
Sherard says upon this:
at may be noted that the love of the
table usually goes hand in hand with pessimsm One
remembers Schopenhauer at his table dhote and the
ny que of Emil Zola. This love of the table
appears to be the only consolation of those who have
lost faith in all the many things which make for us
the JOY OF living 1t certainly seems to be the only
consolation that life affords to Heinrich Ibsen whose
ingrained sadness impresses itself upon all who ap-
proach him"
FROM MEN WHO HAVE TRIED
The late George Augustus Sala made remark