HURRY AND HEALTH.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 July 1923, Page 4

HURRY AND HEALTH.

si A X FRANC i«( O, Jim I. Almost every Antipodean icali'-os thitt Amerlea's habit of e.'ii-i aid l.\ hurrying is iitnlcrmining the hoaltii ut the nation, and a most interesting conirihution to ihe subject has jit-l been ollVred hv MBs Carl Ormond Williams, field seen*lary of the -National Education A-social ion ol Arneriea, tile headquarters oi which institution i- closely eoiiueeU-tl with the] American Child Health AssoeinGvoi. ] A Css AVilliams, i- eu'nviuf' d that j thi* American people, driven in hnstl" | and ru.di. nr' cutting short il:oir lives | from ten to fifteen years, says: •■llurr.v at the cost of health must he given up. Tin* American people to-day are* not gelling nearly Lin rest they need. .Many of them may follow Go eight hours’ sleep idea rigidly. and yet not lie getting the lull rest which is diversified relaxation. "T lie people oi New Aoi k Cby are more tin fort iinat e than lho-o from smaller communities. The straphangers in the subway are undergoing mental strain more taxing than even physical work. Their only hope will he iii slowing down and taking more time. "Through,out 'France it is customary to take two hours for lunch, part of which time is given over to a short sleep. In Groat Britain, and all her colonies, with the possible exception of Canada, everyone stops about I o'clock for tea. Tn the I'nited States neither custom is generally observed. Americans usually work eight, nine, and ten hours a day, with a brief respite lor lunch, and then go scurrying off to catch a train, so they will have some time to home.” This hurry anil strain on the mental and physical make-up cannot last indefinitely without a serious clfeet upon America's national make-up. Miss AVilliams asserted. American people must give more time to relaxation. They must find hobbies. They must learn to play golf without doing it with one eye on their wrist watches, and to walk without some particular destination in view. "Twenty vears ago our problem was of another kind." -Miss Williams continued. "Then we were being gripped with the appalling toll that was due to lack of .sanitation. Since that time, we have clone many not able things in the line of health. In the period have come purified water. fly swatting, window and door screens, and protection against mosquitoes. In IsOs typhoid and malaria were almost expcctcil, in 101* they were distinctly against the rule. But we have not yet learned one of the greatest rules of health—how to take life without tin due strain." :