DIET IN THE NAVY [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—It is no doubt picturesque and in keeping -with hoary tradition that our sea-dogs should maintain an attitude of bluff heartiness at all costs ; but let a " thinking naval officer " think on both sides of the question whether the John Bull stand will entirely replace those life-giving elements about which so much has come to light recently, and which an up-to- date doctor will tell him are quite necessary to health in the long run.
What a number of naval derelicts of health we find stranded at such spas as their pensions can afford ! They drink the waters of bitterness now because their stomachs are not so hearty as their young masters had made out. Few things are more pathetic than the retired man who, once so vigorous, progresses down a painful old age crying, " I am a Man of Iron," even as he rides to the operating table.
It speaks well for the constitutions of "-Sextant " and his brother officers that they can keep fit for so long on a tinned diet ; but it seems a little harsh of the burlier brethren of the Service to condemn their loss well-equipped emfreres. If " Sextant " would only trouble to find out he could learn of the slow, sure way that poisons due to wrong feeding will
accumulate in the system, despite many a hefty walk ashore,
Until they have clogged * and hardened the arteries to bring about a flabby old age.
We are not downed to feebleness and decrepitude with advancing years. Old age is not inevitable—if only we will learn to treat our bodies right. " Sextant " may live to envy" F.W.D.," whose tummy is sensitive enough to warn him to right his ways of life while there is yet time.—I am, Sir, &c., LESLIE GREENER, The Royal Colonial institute, Northumberland Avenue.
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