Report of the "How to Keep Young " Competition

RECIPES for retaining youth seem to be many and various, and it was evidently no easy task to evolve a comprehensive formula for the retention of that most illusive of all qualities.

Some competitors suggest elaborate dietetic devices, and others homely hints such as : do not eat eggs more than twice or three times a week, have a healthy body and you will have a healthy mind, cultivate a sense of humour, retain a childlike capacity of wonder, take up folk-dancing, be unselfish, eschew all forms of egotism and, of cow-se, " don't

worry ! " _ A neat prescription for women is the following :-

" Would you be younger than your years Then lot your laughter drown your tears. The use of creams and powder puff To keep you young is not enough."

Mrs. Carless sends us some verses of which we quote a part :-

' To work, but not to worry.

To rest, but not too much ; With youth, and love and laughter, To keep in constant touch.

To eat and drink discreetly ; Pay due regard to dress.

Control one's nerves and temper, Grow rich in cheerfulness.

To live with open windows In house and also mind. . . ."

Here is an extract from another

" If you'd keep Youth and grace, Mind alert, Cheerful face ; Rising early It is wise When you've bathed To exercise.

Fruit for breakfast, Honey, breSd,

But the prize of five guineas is awarded to the following suggestions from an octogenarian, Mr. Arthur E. Donkin, 5 Sion Hill Place, Bath, whose words carry with them the weight of experience :-

" Being in my eighty-first year and looking (so my friends tell me) and feeling (as I tell myself) about sixty-five or less, I set down a few suggestions as to how to keep young. (1) Associate with young people as far as possible. In my case this was, happily, unavoidable, as I was for many years house-master in a famous Public School. (2) Keep in touch with .a good dentist ; an efficient mouth-mill' is a first-class aid to digestion and hence to good health. (3) Follow the Caterpillar's advice to Alice, ` keep your temper' ; this, incidentally, is the first of Bishop Middleton's excellent set of maxims. (4) Try not to worry, or, as Horace puts it in his ode to his old friend, ' aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem.' These, then, are the suggestions of an octogen- arian, suggestions which those who desire to retain their youth as far as possible might do worse than follow."

competitor :-

-Brown is better, So it's said- Then to work Hard, and feel Pleasant hunger For next meal. Take plain dishes Which include Salads, most Important food !"