Of Interest to Women.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 9, 14 May 1920, Page 12

Of Interest to Women.

HEALTH, WEALTH AND HAPPINESS I. HEALTH. Whelher there be any mystic significance about n umbers or not, certain is it that various important matters "g'o in threes." "Mind, body and estate," sum np our conditiou ; past, present and futune, -spell out our life ; height, length and breath, measure our space ; and our worldSy ambitions may be said to consist in "health, wealth and happiness" — but, the greatest of these is health. Without it wealth is us,c-less and happiness impossible. 1 think it probable that all men were meant to be lualthy ; . disease is an acciderit, and by no means an essential of the hamua ' eonst-itution. Generations — milhons of them perhaps — have contributed their quota of intemperance, dirt and ignorance to the causes of -lsease, and people with really perfect health are rare. The time and effort of the medical profession are set to the cure of human ills — Ainong us at any rate. Tliey ought prira&riiy to bo concentrated 011 their prevention. Doubtless it isn't the fault of the doctors ; they carne on the scene too lafcc, and have not yet even got within hail of the time when the ravages of past errors will bo repaired ; but scientific and pablic attention ought to be fastened on the prevention of further mistakes. In China, ro it is alleged, the doctors are paid so long as Ihe people remain healthy ; thelr remuneration ceases when the subject beeom.es a paiient. I have always -Ssad a very considera-ble respect for the Chinese mind since hearing this — but it may not be true of the Chinese, only of the Ulopians. Ari earnest campaign was begun liere last year by the medical officer in charge of the primary schools, a campaign for the prevention of inost of the ills that flesh is heir to, by means of a proper care for the development and preservation of children 's teeth, and their protection against diseases of the throat and chest by proper liabits of breathing. Children must stop eating sweets and soft starchv bread, they must be taught to elean their teeth and keep their little mouths shut, if ndults are to esc&pe the eiutehes of the dentist and the doctor. The doctrine sbould be preached from the house-tops. There are three most eEective means to the prevention of ailments, and I am not at all sure that tlxey are yet understood and appreciated by more than a very f.ew. People go on paying large doctor's bills, but they will not go in for fresh air, which can be had for naught, clean water which doesn't cest much even at the present rates and the high price of soap, or exercise, which is to be obtained fcogether with pleasure and proiit at the price of a little deterinination. I recently took a ride round several blocks of a residential suburb — Gladstone, ] no less — at the modest hour of 7 a.m., on a Sunday. 'There was not a chimney amokiug, and of all the houses I passed, only three had the bedroom windows wide open. Fanlights opened to a cautious chink and windows raised to a halfinch, with caref ully drawn blind within, were the rule. Now unless all the people used gasgrills or electric eookcrs, there was nobody but me and the milk-man up; and if all Ihe other folk were abed with that meagre allowance of ventilation, how do they expect to be healthy ? It is right enough to keep coid draughts out of our living rooms on winter evenings — proyided they be aired through the day -but when you are in bed, things a-re difi'erent. Yo u are warmly blanketed, with your feet belike on a hot-water bottle and voar nose just peeping over the quiit. Your bedroom has perhaps no chimney, or at any rate no ftre to make the draught and draw in air th rough every chink. You are going to be there for anything from six to ten hours, and your body needs to repair the waste tissues and elimimate the poison of fatigue from its ceils. Your window must be wid.e open if you are to get oxygen enough for the process. Water, applied both externally and intemally, is a sovercign preventive of ailmerrts. Cleanliness is next to godliness says the proverb ; I am sure it is a cornersfcon© of health. And cleanliness of person requires a wash, yes, a bath all over, every day. People — even those with the requisite conveniences at hand — have not yet all realised that the "good old weekly" is not sufficient. The cold sbower in the morning eannot of course be taken by everyone, but it can be taken by mairy who think otherwise. And as a moral discipline too, it is invaluable. InsufEcient exercise is at the bottom of most of the digestive ailments people suffer from ; insufficient exercise and over-

sufficient food. Those who are sitting or standing in shops, offioes, factories, probably think a game of golf, or tennis, or football, once a week, enough exercise. The house-worker tlrinfc, she gets pleuty of exercise. They are both wrong. They don't get enough and they don't get the right kind of exercise. People with sedentary occupatiins need somc exercise and that of a strenuous kind, everyday. Let them take up gardening as weli as golf. The civic improvements would be immense. And liousewives should learo some simple physical exercise— breathing, arm-stretohmg and bending, trunk-move-ments and son on— and take time, yes take it, to go tlirough them every day, first thing in the morning. They don't take more than ten minutes and they would correct bad postures, keep the shoulders and hips back, put youth and suppleness into every rnuscle. Why need so many [ women look as if they were permanently stooping over a range or a wash-tub? A few simple physical exercises daily would correct the tendency, which all kinds of house-work gives, and go far to preserve sclf-respect and a little wholesome vanity Us well. And let not man think he can alford to despise regul'ar physical exercise of this kind. Even out-door labourers as a rule acquire slovenly, slouching attitudes, and ungraceful gait from their daily work. Tliey should practice corrective exercises and keep themselves straight and healthy. Many people are afraid of exercise. They love ease aird lying late abed ; but if they would eonsider it, health and youthfulness into and beyond middle age can be had by the regular application of fresh air, clean water and vigorous exercise: