Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24
HELPS TO A SHORT LIFE

Continued from page s
checked by regulation of diet, systematic
exercise, cold bathing, and the avoidance OF
alcohol. He can easily shorten his existence,
however, by necessarily trying diet tads,
nostrums, cures, etc, on the advice OF freaks,
neighbors, and well meaning but grossly lg-
norant friends. A fussy fat man Is fearful
nuisance The best thing he can do IS to
stick to regular medical advice; but he will
have to follow the doctors instructions
closely Faith cure never cured case OF
obesity. 1t takes patience and work, not
faith, to get rid of adlpose tissue. he scales
tell the story The fat is on the stomach,
not in the mind.
We are commonly supposed to possess
only five senses; but this limit has long since
been extended to include the muscular sense
and the sensations OF heat and cold, as DIS
tinguished from mere touch. For example,
Your sense of touch may be un1mpalred; but
YOU NAV not be able to distinguish tempera-
lures In the broad meaning OF the term,
probably the sense of proportion Is the most
valuable protection that we have. A lack
of this sense is decided life shortener. The
woman twas it a woman?) who threw the
baby out of burning house, but carried
feather pillow down stairs, Is classic exam
pie of the lack of this sense.
But hard headed business men do equally
foolish things every day Of their lives. The
man who throws away his valuable nervous
resources in order to take care OF some trivial
features of his business which could be more
efficiently handled by the Office boy, is an
instance Attacking the most serious and
perplexing problems OF life when the brain Is
tagged out by hard days work IS another
life shortening habit. The rested BRAIN Will
do in trice what the tired brain may never
do efficiently. Insensate rage over tr1fles IS
another source of life waste. Some small IL
ritation over a tri1e may signaize the be-
ginning of a day of record breaking vexa-
ton and evaporation. 1t is a life saving
habit to begin the day WELL even if it does
call for little manly self control or sweet,
womanly reaSonableness.
a more amiable expression of the absence
of this sense OF proportion Is extreme and
foolish self sacrifice, humoring and catering
to some cantankerous selfish invalid Aler-
CIV and sympathy have their proper limits
and there is no merit in nurturing the album
dant selfshness and egoism that characterize
50 many chronic invalidS. The psychic in
fuence of such indulgence is pernicious
Firmness which may seem harsh to some is
often the highest form of mercy.
High tension in the mind IS usually &C
companied by actual physical tension Of the
muscular system, and may produce similar
condition in the circulatory apparatus, the
heart and blood vessels. This seems to be a
national vice Watch the people passing
along a crowded thoroughfare some day, and
note how few walk erect, yet easily, with
faces in repose, rejecting normal physical
and mental poise. Note the nervous hur-
RED movements, the strained facial muscles,
preparing the lines and markings of the map
of worry and unrest. Many of these people
hurry home in state of tension, to eat the
meal that ends in american dyspepsia |
wonder how much of this famous malady
would persist in the face of a minute nap
or rest before dinner? Is it not the duty Of
our Health Departments to employ sand
witch men, to march up and down our thor
oughfares, with signs bearing the warning,