The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-12-22
SERIOUS INDIsPOsITION

ri S YOUR husband seriously
80 sick" asked the woman who
could see through the kitchen
windows of the next apartment when
she stepped out onto the rear porch.
81 saw you filling the hot water bag
and nowadays only men think of de-
manding a hot water bag! ] noticed
DR.. Charger coming in, too-dont you
feel he is terribly expensive!'
"Sshh ~ warned the lady whose hus-
band was sick, carefully closing the
door into the passageway to the bed
rooms. "This is case where you do
not stop to consider expense, my dear
Mrs. Bangle"
"Is-is he going to die" gasped the
inquisitive visitor.
ooh Albert is not in the slightest
danger!" reproved the placid wife. shak-
ing the hot water bottle to eliminate the
air. "Up to month ago Albert was
Just like the ordinary run of middle
aged men whose joints are creaky,
breath rather short and digestion not
so good as it once was. He was given
to various aches and pains, plodded up
stairs stiff-kneed and began to recite
poetry about growing old together, silver
threads and that sort of thing.
'4The worst of it was he insisted on
bringing to my attention the idea that J..
too, was tottering on the summit of life's
pathway and about to take my first
steps on the downward slope" continued
the placid wife. "This annoyed me con-
siderably since I pride myself on spend
ing considerable wealth on hairdressers.
manicures, facial specialists and mental
uplift. So I was very well pleased when
one night Albert came home quite excited
with some musical records of exercises
to take every morning. He said Hiddens
had told him what they had done for
him and that Hiddens was stepping
around like a mere boy, just bubbling
over with pep. supple as willow wand
and looking 10 years younger. Albert
said he intended being very conscien-
tious about keeping up the exercises.
"Of course he had to arise half hour
earlier mornings and he insisted on my
waking up, too. to note how easily he
went through them. Some men, he
pointed out, would have had to go at
them gradually, but it showed what fine
condition he was in at his age that he
could go right through them. They GER
tainly made fellow feel fine! He felt
20 fine that he did them again that night
before he went to bed
EVERY night at dinner Albert would
relate to me how splendid he had felt
all day and how he could feel the blood
fairly racing through his veins and ting
ling in his toes. Why. that morning 60
ing to the train. he had stepped out like
a young chap and he couldn't help no
ticing how Penhill and Nosesack and
Jones had sort of bobbled and limped
along like old men. None of that for
him! He was thankful he had sense
enough to see the writing on the wall
and take steps in time. Why. if man
kept up systematic exercise there was
no sense in his growing old at all.
at was quite embarrassing the first
time Albert ran down the front steps
in this building as though the law was
after him and two women came to my
door hurriedly to ask if they could help
put out the fire. Albert never would
explain fully about the black eye he
came home with, either. lie did admit
he was running up the elevated stairs
very much annoyed at the slow. elderly
persons in his way and that one man
rather resented being bumped into, even
though the accident was merely that AL
bert sort of lost his balance. The idea
of stiff, lazy, elderly people raising such
70 row and interfering with other folks
Nho were young and active!
"Albert ran when he descended to the
basement to beg the janitor for more
heat and he ran everywhere we went.
trailing along in the rear breathlessly
He wanted me to run, too, but / drew
the line. And he felt simply marvellous
81 pretended not to notice his surrcp
Litious rubs of knees and elbows MOI
would hear his suppressed groan'
when he went through his exercises the
second or third time every day. H'
spoiled every card game trying kindly
to convert the other men to his system
and telling how supple his muscles were
becoming and I think we should hav'
been ostracized from all society had Al
bert not suddenly gone all to pieces lik'
the one-hoss shay. There isn't bone
muscle or joint in him that hasn't caveC
in or come apart and the doctor say
he can't move out of bed for a week
You see, Albert over6id for man o
bis age and he wOuldnI3 admit it to him
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