Evening star., 1936-07-04
By James Nerin Miller.


" of US doesn't want a healthy
a looking coat Of tan? You
know. that deep bronze shade so
characteristic of husky lifeguards and
Amazons of the sports world.
Nothing is more sought after dur
ing the recreation months. and no
wonder. In these days, when all
revealing bathing suits and shorts
for both men. and women are the
rage, nobody likes to frolic about the
bathing beaches, swimming pools or
treSh-water lakes looking like a sissy
in his or her original pale white skin
Or, worse still covered from head to
foot with blisters or fiery-red sun
burn.
But how best to acquire q hand
some tan without annoying or III
effects? That is the question Va
cationists the Nation over will be
pleased to know that Uncle Sans
experts in Washington have been
looking into the matter with con-
study and experimentation. are pre-
pared to answer this question.
Furthermore, they have blasted a
lot of foolish falla cies on the subject
which have been more or less ac-
cepted by the average person for 10,
these many years.
Since the United States Public
Health Service is authority for all
this important information, let us all
read, mark and inwardly digest the
high lights of its newly revealed
facts about Old Soils rays. In fact,
there's nothing to lose and every-
thing to gain by borrowing mother S
scissors and cutting out these words
of wisdom for your beach or pool
trip today.
FIRST of all, while packing your
vacation equipment, be sure to
include at least one pair of good
sun glasses. a large -brimmed hat or
two tand this goes for the men as
we'll as the ladies'. plenty of olive oil
and q few simple sunburn remedies
which shall be mentioned later.
OF course. in order properly to pro-
tect yourself from sunburn, you must
know something about how sunlight
affects the human body. With this
In mind then. here are some easy-to-
understand facts: Its highly pene-
trating action is not due. as most
folks seem to think. to heat. but to
the suns ultraviolet rays. Naturally
enough. more rays are present during
the months of June and July, when
the sun Is highest. The angle at
which the rays strike the skin is a
matter of great importance. because
the amount of ray received varies
directly according to the angle at
which the light strikes.
In early Summer the rays strike
from overhead, except in the early
morning and late evening. and hence
affect chiefly the top of the scalp
and the shoulders. while in Fall and
Winter the whole trunk and limbs
receive rays at more nearly a right
angle.
The amount of filtration of light
by dirty atmosphere. or a greasy or
protected body, is high. Even in Win
ter, the light of the mountain top.
especially if reflected by snow, is suf-
hcient to produce considerable reac-
tion. 1t is also a well-known fact
that light sand, water, or even an
asphalt or cement road, can reflect
enough light to affect the skin mark
edly. More surprising still, persons
sitting under an umbrella and not
directly exposed to the suns rays can
get burn. But IT'S usually exceed
ingly slight and certainly constitutes
no argument against using an UNI
brella while resting on the beach.
This result of the Federal tests is,
of course, well known, but it's worth
The action of light on the body is
such that sun baths have triple sig
nificance--as a healing agent in the
cure OF disease, as a preventive of dis
ease oy building up bodily resistance,
and as sneer pleasure giving tone,
which increases the feeling of WE'LL
being.
Nevertheless. few people know the
proper method to be taken in sun.
and fewer still have any rcali-
zation of the untoward effects that
may come from getting "sunburned."
OF ALI. the crazy notions about sun
tan that are widely accepted, the
worst one OF all, Federal experts en-