HEALTH AND HARD MUSCLES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6340, 21 November 1898, Page 4

HEALTH AND HARD MUSCLES

If John Simpson were not a blacksmith we might not have occasion to. allude to him at the veiy outset of this writing. But he is a blacksmith, and will thus serve an import-ant purpose ; that, too, without having to put on his 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 strong and robust man, as Mr Dickens Joe Gargery was — as all 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 nailrod. ' Now it is somehow a common notion that all men -who work hard, 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 undertakers as the necessity of a distant future. Is this view a true view? Are health and hard muscles always found together? Take your time to think. Meanwhile we will hear what Mr Simpson himself says : — " Up to the spring of 1885," he writes ii: a letter dated May sth, 1893, "I was strong as most men—perhaps stronger than most. Then I began to suffer from illness. My victuals and. I li?.d a J?,Ujng out, Afti-V every meal I lnul great pain an;! fl'l'icss 7>-" the. chest. Then I got into such a condition that I had these feelings nearly „.. the while. I tried to avoid il.-;zi by e-'itiu nothing but light food, but the rev!:, v,just the same. I thi^ a raorsel of Ivai... would have hv:'c vie, 'almost as lr.uJi ' ru '". round of beef % Then I began to lose wei<. at, and had, ai! 1 could do to keej up with ny, work. The doctor gave me medicine, but I got no help from it. "I was wondering how this would end when I heard of Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup and bought a bottle of it from Mi James Crossley, the grocer at Mile Walk. The eifect was speedy. It appeared to go straight to the right spot, and it wasn't long before I was able to eat without any pain to follow. Then 1 my strength and' flesh gradually 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, JCliviger, near Burnley." Now, about that health and hard muscle question that I put to the reader ; what's th<3 answer? Why, of course, the answer is what any intelligent man would make who thinks with his eyes open. No ; health and hard muscles are not always found together. But let us look sharp and commit no errors. The facts run this Wtiy-: While a^tnan cannot grow strong without a certain degree of health, it is also true- that a not-able amount of muscular power is consistent yiitb both organic and functional trouble of the stomach, liver, kidneys or heart. A man may be able to lift 500 pounds, and drop dead within a minute after he does it. Sailors, farmers, miners, drivers of trams, 'busses, ' etc. , outdoor labourers of different sorts /(especially- after reaching midwife) nearly all fall victims to rheumatism, iiervous debility or dyspepsia. "Yes, and do hard work for years just the same. I said "or" dyspepsia. Leave out the "or" and say dyspepsia — dyspepsia only — and you have struck 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, clerking in. the Bank of England, or driving the locomotive of the Scotch Express— dyspepsia will get hold of you if you give it a chance. And most men do that as if they were as eager to be ; 11 as they are to be rich. Which reminds me to tell you in a subsequent article how to avoid dyspepsia. For this time I can only speak of how to cure it. Imitate John Simpson's example. Do what he did. And remember that stalwart men (all unconscious) often stand necirer a bed of pain, nearer death, 'than do the feeble women whom they pity.