The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-17

get that electric light line prom lsed them last year by local poli- tician who wanted to go to the General Assembly. You'll just have to take our word for 1t. ' Heat exhaustion Is Q deadly delayer of the national defense program. Hopkins, HiIlman, and Henderson haven't discovered 1t yet, but the country people long ago found out about 1t and took the proper cOr- rective measures. City folks are just finding out about 1t now.
 The doctors tell us that salt Is necessary; more salt during a hot spell than in zero weather. That's proven by the fact that ice-cream won't freeze unless you put salt on the ice to melt 1t. Melting of energy is about the same. You've got to have salt. Your health and general well-being demands 1t.
 Salt is economical, too. We know one manufacturing outfit, that has enough extra profit from government orders to buy space for their advertising in many of our hlghest-prlced advert ising mediums, that put cans of salt tablets next to every water cooler in the plant and then stuck up Q notice, in English, that those tab- lets were very expensive and that the help should use them care- fully. One hunky took six before lunch and immediately claimed somebody was trying to poison him. Another bonus fat worker claimed he got salt In his eye. (You can't please everyOne.)
 The modern method of injecting salt into the human system Is not only efficient but It's attractive. Pink and red coated tablets are the rule today. Refrigerator salesmen peddling water coolers use the salt tablet sales talk effectively. They'll actually give away Q tin salt tablet dispenser with every $2oo water cooler.
 In the country, where people are practical and haven't time to read all the reasons for being III, we oc- casionally suffer sunstroke or just get "beat out' on 2 hot day. Coun- try housewives, before the era of prepared breakfast foods and such, fed their mensfolk salt codfish, salt mackerel, and q liberal dose of salt pork. They cooked greens, with . chunk of salt pork, stirred plenty of salt into the potatoes and made sure that radishes and other garden vegetables eaten raw was near Q dish of salt. Those old gals knew how. They never talked much about 1t but they knew that their share of the milk check de- pended on the efficiency of all hands in the barnyard and around the farm. Unlike the local lady who said: "There must be lot of new people in town. I hear so many strange voices on the tele- phone," these old-time watchers over the buttery kept their noses out of the party line and sew to it that extra salt was worked into the home made butter.
 Hired men, back there, responded to treatment. They ate fried pork for breakfast, stewed codfish for dinner, and salt mackerel in milk for supper. After the meals, they drank enough feltboot cider to float the North Carolina. Scythes cut better when the hired man was salted down. hayloads went on quicker and never fell of, corn stalks fairly raced toward the sky when salty hired man hood weeds around them and pulled up the fresh, brown earth around their roots. The business of agriculture flourished, partly through the salt and largely through the greater efficiency of the help. Farmers didn't have any three-lettered req sons for not working for a living back there. The WPA hadn't been invented. Those were the days!
 When kitchens lost the salt bag and housewives started buying pretty cartons of salt at thrice the former cost. farm and home ef- fieiency went out the window. It got so the hired man had to lick the salt brick put out for the cattle. He drank beer instead Of cider. He never knew how t0 explain hls lack Of energy hut he knew that he was more tired at ten o'clock than he used to be at sundown. Kids took to ioaflng around in the shade in- stead Of golng out t0 get an honest tan. Young ladies in the country, lately home from college, feund their energy sapped during the hot months and they figured lt vas due to lack of exposed hiAe, They took Co wearing shorts and tying nm a h1nsaha4 Nslffa nnlnan4 n1naaea