Evening star., 1932-09-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

idea Of the Sunday roast Is almost q
sacred one with many Washington
households. Templeton Jones believed
that no other American city had quite
such q stranglehold on roasts as this
city.
In his household, for many years, q
nice roast Of lamb was the centerpiece
of the Sunday dinner table. Dinner was
set at / o'clock, in Difference to church
time, whether any one In the family
attended or not. .
On week days dinner came at .
o'clock, but on Sundays 1t was at l
o'clock, when no one was particularly
hungry, not having worked IN tne
fields. or even gone out OF the mouse,
on many occasions. Yet there was the
bio roast. temptingly done, garnished
with decks of greenery, whatever 1t was.
Jones never knew, nor did he care; ne
simply ate his share Of lamb, and pro-
It was good-that was the trouble.
Because 1t was good, invarlaply gooo,
Templeton Jones invariably ate 100
much of it, and as steadily spent the
remainder Of the afternoon In what ne
was pleased to call a water logged
condition, like q serpent suffering from
too much pig.
Sometimes Jones envied his goldnsn'
which spent their time longing Tor angle
worms, but mostly getting three smali
pinches of food once every other DAY.
Not even the most philosophical fish
could claim those pinches were too
much grub" Evidently they furnished
lust the right amount OF nourishment
for health, rather than for appetite.
The former should always be IN COM
mand. thought Jones, as he leaned
over the lily pool and inserted a fine
fat angleworm.
The Big One flashed like fire. as he
darted through the water. seized the
wriggler. and made off behind clumP
Of cattails. He knew with what ne mao
to deal. Before he had swallowed nan
the worm the Little One seized the
other end and the Middle-Sized one
the center. So the tug OF war began.
Templeton Jones reflected on the eat
ing habits of men and other creatures
Only man had introduced esthetics into
his eating. and Jones wondered If 1t did
him any good Being man, he thought
that no doubt it did. that mankind
scarce could eat at all, If he did not
refine the operation, and put 1t on q
plane of some intelligence. In America,
at least, and in recent times, the greater
proportion Of humanity has been able
to test its will power as control over
eating In the main, as any doctor can
tell you, men have shown very little
will power in this matter. Although
they are not under the unwritten COM
pulsion OF the animals, which must eat
all they can whenever they get the op-
portunity, lest they not get another one
soon, human beings insist on eating
as long as food tastes good to them
at every meal.
This. perhaps. Is the fundamental
fault in human feeding. Wrong combi-
nations. faulty foods. are as nothing
when compared with the harm done by
overeating, by pushing to conclusion
the habit of eating at each meal as
long as foods taste good" They will
taste good. of course in most instances.
long after the necessary quantity has
been exceeded.
Almost every diner knows when he
has eaten enough. but does he quit
there? He seldom does. The sad truth
is that this point is reached while 1000
still tastes good II Nature had ever
yisioned mankind as the possessor OF
plenty. instead Of being animal OF ami
mails. always hungry. she presumably
might have placed the point OF food
satisfaction at the exact point OF taste
satisfaction.
How was poor Nature to know, mil
lions Of years ago, that mankind would
one day attain a position wherein mil
lions Of human beings would not only
have enough to eat, every day, put.
alas, more than would be good for
them?
The goldfish in Templeton Jones
small pool were not worried by problems
akin to starvation or surfeit. Food
sufficient for their needs arrived every
other day, in accordance with the wis
dom printed on the small tin. Jones
did not know who dictated that fish
food policy. but. whoever he was, he
knew his goldfish.