IN WINTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3828, 26 July 1927, Page 65

IN WINTER.

XVe are a month past the shortest clay, and very soon wo shall see the crocuses and snowdrops, that herald another spring, peeping through the damp brown soil of our garden beds. It always gives me a thrill of pleasure to see the first yellow crocuses spreading their petals in the bright sunshine of a fine, but still, wintry day. They have such a cheerful glow that I love them better than ever their white and purple companions, lovely as these arc, too. No doubt there is much wintry weather still before us, and we may reckon on the possibilities of an August or. worse, September, but the frosts arc losing their power. .Tune is our month of severe frosts in this part of the country at all events, and this last June we had good measure of them. Lovely days come with frost, days of . brilliant sunshine and clear, blue skies; keen, pure air, and wonderful

golden lights at sunrise and sunset. But, personally, I cannot rejoice in a continuance of frosty weather, the chill is so penetrating: the contrast at noon between the sunny and the shady side of a house or a street so disconcertingly sharp. And how dank and tomb-like unwarmed rooms on the shady side of a house are in frosty weather. Dunedin frosts are quite severe enough for me. I should not like to live in Central Otago, where Ibis winter the frosts, always heavy, have appro died something like Antarctic severity.

Then frosty weather means hardship for so many people, and for animals, too. I don’t like to think of horses slipping and falling on slippery hillside streets and roads on days of frost and thaw. And when I hear the rattle of milk cans outside in the freezing dark somewhere about 5 o'clock it makes me shiver sympathetically to think of the milkman and his boy, and many more like them, whose work calls on them to get up at what, for comfortable people, seems the middle of the night, and endure the cold and wet for hours before sunrise. For healthy people in comfortable circumstances, whose vocation does not entail exposure to weather, winter has. or no- I have, no terrors. But it is a different matter with the poor and the weakly. And winter is apt to be a trying season for country dwellers and workers. The city dweller is taken swiftly to his or her work by tram or bus, or walks along

well-paved roads and streets: and nowadays shops, offices, and public buildings are adequately, sometimes over, armed. I believe all workrooms must now be properly warmed, too; formerly, girls and women employed in shop workrooms and clothing factories, etc., used to suffer terribly from cold in severe weather. Then High Schools and other principal schools have central heating nowadays; better than the fireplace, which only warms a small part of the room, leaving the scholars at a distance from it to freeze. There are so many new conveniences and comforts to-day to help us *o overcome climatic extremes, and to make life easier and pleasanter; and’the town-dweller profits most by them. Then for town-dwel-lers the winter half of the year brings so many social pleasures and i rests — dances, theatrical performances, concerts, lectures, and club gatherings. The country dweller misses all or most of such winter pleasures, and the winter is apt to be a dreary season for the women folk especially. The outdoor work that commonly comes within their province—looking after poultry, giving a hand with milking, and so on—is trying in cold, wet weather when yards and roads ire • 'ddy, when it is wet underfoot everywhere, and everything is cold to handle. And the children have a hard time, ofteiFwalking or riding long distances to and from school, and sitting in schoolrooms often insufficiently warmed. Still, winter has

its pleasures, even for farming folk. It compulsorily shortens the working day ; it is the slack time of the year for both farm and homestead, with fewer cows to milk and domestic animals to tend, and little to do in gardens and orchards, '’.rhe winter evenings and wet days give time for reading and the following of any favourite pursuit or hobby, which must be neglected during the busy season. And for children winter brings the delights of sliding and snowballing; so long as they can run about and play healthy cliildren mind the cold little.

Winter brings its troubles in the way of colds and coughs, easy to contract and difficult to get rid of in cold wet weather. They seem to have been unusually prevalent and severe this winter, and real influenza also. The beat way io guard against them is to build up the constitution by nourishing food, exercise, fresh air, and sufficient sleep; to protect the body from cold by suitable clothing and footwear, and to avoid chills and anything likely to lower the system. One may harden oneself to withstand cold and changes of temperature to- a considerable degree, but one must practice the hardening judiciously, and not all can go through the same process of hardening. The morning cold tub is most certainly not tor everyone; it is dangerous for anyone witn heart, weakness, as also are very hot baths, and for those with a tendency to rheumatism, and in general for all with feeble vitality and weak circulation. I think many people in these days of health cults are- apt to go too far in their devotion to cold water and fresh air. I know one family in which cold baths and open windows have been the rule, and its members are hardly over free from colds or other ailments.

A little while back, Mrs, Sheila Scobie Macdonald, in one of her interesting weekly letters, gave her view of the fresh air gospel as tested during the winter epidemic of influenza in England. All the doctors were telling people to keep their windows open, and be out of doors as much as possible in all weathers, as the only means of escaping influenza germs. It sounded very well, but Mrs Sheila Scobie Macdonald noticed that almost every day brought a fresh postman to replace an influenza-stricken predecessor. So, after a little thinking, she closed her windows, built up a good fire, and sat down to enjoy it.

Nothing is more lowering than long exposure to cold, which really lowers the bodily temperature ; this weakens the natural defences of the body against invading germs. Moderation, common-sense regard both to general experience and to the individual constitution, are necessary in the matter of fresh air, as well as in that of diet. It may be better for a weakly person to give up the customary walk rather than face a bitter north-east wind of the searching quality that penetrates all defence of clothing. I should be inclined to say that nowadays girls and younger women are underclothed for a variable and often cold climate like ours. When I see their short skirts and flimsy stockings and thin shoes worn on the coldest winter days, I wonder how they can escape chilblains. But they seldom look cold, so I suppose they have hardened themselves from childhood up to endure the exposure. And if they do contract colds sometimes, I suppose they will say that their men folk, who clothe themselves so much more substantially, take cold as often or oftener.

Still. I often hear girls and women complaining bitterly of the cold weather, and I cannot help thinking that if they were less bent on following clothing fashions, and in cold weather wore more really warm underclothing and more substantial footwear, they would suffer much less. It is not necessary to disregard appearances. Good cashmere stockings accord better with winter dresses and wraps than thin silk ones. And on dressy occasions one can always wear a pair of thin silk stockings over warm woollen ones.

This year the colours worn out of doors have been pleasantly bright and cheering. Not in hats so much; I have seen brighter hued hats in other years; but in coats and cloaks especially, a welcome change from the more customary drab, brown, an<l very dark hues. All tones of purple, from the nearly blue to the nearly red, are prominent, with blues of many shades and warm reds and reddish hues, and the bright colours are. very enlivening. But for good individual effect the colour of the hat must be harmonised with that of the wrap—a detail often neglected. Cold weather is apt to be unbecoming, giving one a red nose and roughening one’s hands, even if one escapes chaps and chilblains. There are plentiful toilet remedies to alleviate these ills, but keeping in the best health possible will go a long way to prevent them. Thin blood and a defective circulation predispose one to chilblains. A child that suffers notably from them is almost certainly below par physically, and needs special care to build up its constitution. One is oft n warned that if one would escape chilblains one should avoid sitting over the fire or putting one’s hands and feet near it. I think this is one of the health rules that must be interpreted broadly. The core of truth in it is that it is fatal to put one’s hand and feet to the fire when they are freezingly cold, as children are apt to do; the circulation must be restored by nibbing and gradually warming them. But one need not treat the fire like an enemy and condemn oneself to cold feet all the time. I generally get close to the fire when I can, and toast my toes and fingers when they are chilly, and I never have chil-l-la ins (though I used to suffer much from them as a child and through my teens), and very rarely oateh a cold.