The Washington herald., 1917-01-25
Preparedness for Life.
By oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.


In the recent United States Marine
Corps examination, of 1900 men
who applied at single station, only
3I6 were physically fit to meet the
requirements. Of the total number
who took the examination only one
out of every thirty-fve was physi-
cally fit. Most of the nearly 5000
men who failed to pass were rejected
because of physical unhtness.
This report needs no comment. 1t
tells its own story.
Young Americans are certainly in
sad need of physical preparedness.
With such a physical average as
this, in the event of a great and sud
den war what a pitiable showing the
United States would makel Only
one man out of thirty-hve applicants
fit to defend his countryl
What would have happened to Ger
many long before this if she had had
such percentage of physical unfit
nessl
We are hearing a great deal to-
day about efficiency in war, and in
peaceful work, but the greater en-
phasis should be laid on bodily ef-
fciency. Building up and maintain
ing the maximum of health and
strength is the first step toward an
efficient life.
One of the things which distin-
guishes Lord Northcliffe, the great
English journalist who through his
newspapers can make and unmake
cabinets, is his great faith in keeping
himself fit. No matter where he is
travelling, he has several servants
with him to attend to the details oi
his grooming. Every day he has a
thorough body massage; and no mat
ter how busy he may be or what i'm
portant things may depend upon his
presence or his personal attention, he
will not neglect the minutest care
of his body.
This self-made made who has risen
from obscurity and has revolutionized
one of the most conservative institu-
tions in the world-the British press
believes that nothing else is quite
so important to the worker as tc
bring hundred per cent to his job
Experience has shown him, as it has
all thinking men, that when he brings
himself to his task at the top of his
condition, he can accomplish more in
few hours than he could in twelve
or fifteen hours when devitalized OF
not in prime condition.
Efficiency in business means the
finest possible machinery, and the
best, the most perfect, of everything
which We use in our particular busi-
ness. We cannot manufacture eff.
fciently with cheap, shoddy raw ma
terial and out-of-date machinery, an
equipment that is headed for the
scrap heap.
All of our business equipmen,
must be in the superbest condition
in order to get the highest results.
1t is just as impossible to get the
best results from a rundown body as
from rundown machine: You can
not do your best work unless your
human machine is in superb condi,
ton. Everything depends upon the
quality of your brain energy, and the
quality of this energy must first exist
in the material from which it Is man.
ufactured. 1t must exist in the food
the quality and kind of riourishment
which first makes the blood, and ther
the brain itself.
The efficiency of the brain cell.
from a health standpoint is the basis
OF all of our vocational efficiency
and our brain efficiency is dependent
not alone upon our food, but upon
every one of our life habits and
functions.
In addition to the right kind and
amount of food adapted to our needs
we should partake of it in the right
way and the right manner. We
should have plenty of healthful out.
door exercise, plenty of sound, re.
! freshing sleep, and a proper share oi
healthful recreation under the most
| favorable conditions.
Our habituaT thoughts, our emo
! tions, and our moods have a wonder.
full influence upon the efficiency OF
the brain cells. Pleasant surround.
ings, a happy environment, a har.
monious home, the right attitude to-
ward life, living in a love-flled at
mosphere-all these things material
1y affect the quality of our brain
cells, and hence the quality and guam
tity of our physical or mental output
Look TO your health II ;s tbs