Health and Hard Muscles.

Manawatu Herald, 6 December 1898, Page 3

Health and Hard Muscles.

_, « : Iff John Simpson were not a blacksmith we might not have occasion to allude to him at the very outset of this writing. But he is a blacksmith and will thus serve an important pnrpose ; that, too, without having to put on hia leather apron to do it. And he will do it by standing in front of his forge for five minutes while we all take a look at him. He is a srong and robust man, as Mr Dickens'a Joe Gargery was— as a'l blacksmiths ought to be. Ought to be, I say. But are they?— as a matter of fact ? No, they are not— not by many a length of nail rod. Now it is somehow a common notion that all men who work »'ard, especially amid rough surroundings and in the fresh air, are apt to be vigorous healthy fellows ; they are supposed to joke at doctors, to have no use for apothecaries, and even to regard und-rtakers as the necessity of a distant future. Is this view a Hue view? Are health and bard muscles a'ways found together? Take your time to think. Meanwhile we will hear what Mr Simpson hinself says: — "Up to the ppring of 1985," he writes in a letter dated May sth, 1893, "I was strong as most men — perhans stronger than most. Then I began to suffer from illness. My victim's and I had a falling out. After every meal I had great pain and fu'ness of the chest. Then I got into such a condition that I had these fee'ings nearly all the whle. I tried to avoid them by eating n- .thing but light food, but the result was just the same. I think a morsel of bread wou'd have hurt me a most as much as a round of beef. Then I began to lose wi ight, and had all I cou'd do to keep np wiih my work. The doctor gave me m 'dicine, but I got no help from it. " I was wondering how this would end when I heard of Mother Seigel's Curative S.vrup and bought a bottle of it from Mr ji-mes Crossley, the grocer at Mile Wa'k. The effect was Bpeedy. It appeared to go Pt aight to the right spot, and it wasn't long before I was abe to eat without any pr.in to follow. Then my strength and flosh gradua ly came back, and ever since I have done my work as easily as I did before the disease, whatever it was, overtook me. (Signed) John Simpson, Cliviger, near Burnley." Now, about that health and hard muscle question that I put to the reader ; what's the answer ? Why, of course, the answer what any in'e'ligent man wonld make who thinks wi h his eyes open. No ; heath and hard muscles are not always found together. But let us look sharp and commit no errors. The facts run this way ; Whi'e a man cannot grow strong without a certain degree of health, it is also true that a notable amount of muscular power is consistent with both organic and functional trouble of the sfomaoh, liver, kidneys, or heart. A man may be able lo lift 500 poundß, and drop dead within a minute after he does it. Sailors, farmers, miners, drivers of trams, 'busses, &c, outdoor lab urers of different sorts (especially after reaching mid life) nearly al fall victims to rheumatism, nervous debility, or dyspepsia. Yes, and do hard work for years just the same. ! I said "or ' dyspepsia. Leave gut the " or" and say dyspepsia— dyspapsia only— and you have s'reck bottom. This produces all the other maladies; they are merely results and symptoms of it. There's no keeping clear of it by running off to sea, working on a farm, or diving down into a mine. No matter where you go or what you do, indoors or out, e'erking in the Bank of England, or driving the locomotive of the Scotch Express - dyspensia will get hold of «yon if you give it a chance And most men do that as if they were as pager lo be ill as they are to be rich. Which r minds me to teM you in a subsequent article how to avoid dyspepsia. For this time I can one speak of how to cure. it. Imitate John Simpson's example. Do what he did. And remember that stalwart men (all unconscious) often stand nearer a bed of pain, nearer death, than do the feeble women whom they pity.