Norwich bulletin., 1920-07-17
THE MAN WHO TALKS

THE MAN WHO TALKS
 If leisure ever comes. I propose to write a book on My Neighbor and l. This neighbor will not be any one person but q composite made up of all the good quail ties of all the. good neighb2rs I have ever had. In bulk it will be- some volume, even if it's literary value does not make it one of the best seIlersf To create and preserve the spirit of neighborliness is among the choicest reeollections of ones life. What a blessing it is to have good neighborss those who are interested in your happiness as you are in theirs. I honestly think this neighbo1' of mine once planted 8 bed of roses near my property because he knew of my fehdness for roses. He didn't cut down an azalea bush (which was in his ways because he know that I reveled in it's splendor One of the wisest investments ever made was to help his boy who was stumbling along in Latin and algebra Did he ever pay it back? Yes, a thousand fold, when he asked with tears in his eyes how my boy was when sick with pneumonia. When write this book, My Neighbor and l. somebody will read it.
 Sir John lubbock in that delightful book. The Pleasures ofeTLife, has one chapter on health in which he gives ad- vice which we all might heed. Among other things, he pictures the suffering and ill-humor of life due to oFereating. We need to be told this as the season of un- ripe fruit and vegetables is upon us. He lays great stress on dyspepsia, which is caused by oyereating and tdo little exer- else. Science has discovered that 1t makes less difference what 8 man eats than how he eats it. Plain living, high h 1iY,Iri cure health for most of us. The close relation between high thinking and good health is not a sentimental whim, it is a scientific fact. The poet Herrick has this bright verse:
 ."Go to your banquet then but use delight, So as to rise still with an appetite.'
 The good health of MT. Gladstone is often cited as evidence of what chewing will do, his custom being to give every bit of meat twenty-five bites. He did not feed however, at an American restaurant.
 There are two seasons of the year which parents-especially mothers dread. The one is the raclling days of thin ice around the Thanksgiving season, when the skating fever takes hold of the impressive lad. The other is the swim
 
 the water when torrid heat is upon us is a perfectly natural impulse on the part of the growing lad. Parents make great mistake when they deny their children this privilege. It tends to create fear of the water on the boys part, which great ly increases the danger There are two necessary things for parents to do in this matter: First, see to ' that the children learn to swim, even = compe- tent teacher has to be hired I hope the time Will come when learning to swim will be demanded by law as much as learning to read and write. Secondly. show the child that tile z are times when plunging into cold walef is injurious When done reasonably there is healthful- ness as well as delight in bathing, espe- cially in salt water. Human life is too valuable to let down any of the safe guards.
 The lure of the vacation period is also tugsing at us--tte bigger boys, and the impulse ought to be obeyed.5 It is irnpos- slble to suggest a vacation program that Will fit all individual requirenlents The word "ehange's comes as near to it as anything. For a while we ought to quit the ordinary vocation. It would also be Wlse for a time, at least, to quit the
 
 ing the sultry season the usual trend of thought. Usually it is best for these who live in the city to ge tiHto, the country and those of the country to go into the deeper wilds. Those who live by i e sea- shore had better try the mountains dur ing July and August and those who live inland and on the uplands would do well to get into their bathing suits and min gle with clamshenss and seSweed as long as they can stand it. All this involves cha Ii ee even to the contents of your pocket books
 The automobile Is no longer a Iuey exclusively, it has grown to be a necte- slty. especially since the tractor has been introduced so largely into business. And yet the growth of this industry shows the N'pid financial increase of the people-
 eclally our American people At the
 st estimate, according to recent maga- zine article, thefe are 7,750,0o0 automo- piles in use in the Tr%ed States of these about So0.0o0 are trucks, Now this is very nearly one car for every 13 persons Tn the United States as against one for every 2,1S2 persons in the rest of inc world One person in every 26S in Eng land,- one in every 40e in France, or sS4 in Germany and on1y one in every $500 in Russia has car. In Iowa there is one car for every five persons. or almost one for each family. Has this gfeat in- crease in wealth given us a correspond- ing increase Of happiness?
 We can hardly realize how far our reading is responsible for what we are. It is true that we grow into the likeness or what delights us most. As we are a very busy people, our reading is all the time sadly in arrears, and for that reason some of us make a frantic effort in va eaton time to catch up; vain hone that is rarely realized But what shall we read? ought to be more generally asked than is it. As people are we not letting hctlon take too large ap lace in the read ing schedule? A reasonable amount of fiction-and, of course, mean. good ic- tion-strengthens while too much weak ems the intellectual capacity. A we'll rounded mental life demands wide range or knowledge, such as We get from the fine arts, history, music, travel, economies and philosophy.
 This is the season when the foliage is at the height of its strength and beauty. The blight and drought have rot vet marred it's density and color As we gaze across the broad and varied landscane one thing only bIotches the view. and tL at is here and there the leafess chestnuts the dead reminders of a glorious past. Can it be that this beautiful and .servicea ble tree is gone beyond all hope of restitu- tion? What sport there used to be in gathering this delicious little brown mt Science has coped with all sorts of in sects and blight. Lest us hope tha. if will yet be able to smite this chestnut fungus.