Medicinal Value of Vegetables

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, March 7, 1911: Oh pshaw, it’s a hard task to write something, when you have nothing to write. We had onions for supper, and I can taste them yet. I am not very anxious for the morrow, for with it some questions to be answered, but they might be easier than what I think they really are.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

In Grandma’s day onions were considered to be good for the nerves—though they don’t seem to have done much to calm Grandma’s anxiety. The October 1910 issue of National Foods Magazine listed 12 vegetables with medicinal value. (The list suggests that nervousness and constipation were frequent problems a hundred years ago.)

Medicinal Value of Vegetables

Watercress is an excellent blood purifier.

Lettuce has a soothing effect on the nerves and is excellent for sufferers of insomnia.

Tomatoes are good for a torpid liver, but should be avoided by gouty people.

Onions are a tonic for the nerves.

Spinach has great aperient qualities and is far better than medicine for constipation.

Beet root is fattening and is good for people who want to put on flesh. So are potatoes.

Parsnips possess the same virtues as sarsaparilla.

Apples, carrots, and Brazil nuts are excellent for sufferers from constipation.

Celery contains sulphur and helps to ward off rheumatism. It is also a nerve tonic.

Dates are exceedingly nourishing and also prevent constipation.

The juice of grapes is laxative but the skin and seeds are likely to cause constipation.

Bananas are beneficial to sufferers from chest complaints.

National Foods Magazine (October, 1910)

Electrified for a Few Moments

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Monday, March 6, 1911:  I passed a rather restless night. I was most too tired to sleep. I did some moaning before the night was over. It snowed in the night. Daddy took me to school this morning. What M.C.R. did at S. Was so electrified for a few moments. I got a ride home tonight. Did today’s walking yesterday.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: 

I have no idea who M.C.R. was (another unsolved mystery in this diary!) or what was done—but it sure seems to have made an impression. Today’s “walking yesterday”, refers to walking the rails to Turbotville the previous day.

Trespassing: Walking the Rails

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Sunday, March 5, 1911:  I went to Sunday school this morning. Carrie Stout and I walked to Turbotville this afternoon going up the rail road. We were rather weak in our feet by the time we got home. Ruth and I went to church this evening.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: 

Whew, this was a hike. It’s about 5 miles each way via road and it may be a little further on the railroad tracks. In 1911 the roads weren’t paved yet, and Helena and Carrie were probably trying to avoid the mud by walking on the railroad.

Apparently lots of people walked train tracks in those days even though it officially was considered trespassing and could be dangerous. Below are excerpts from an article in the local paper, the Milton Evening Standard,  that was written less than two months before Grandma and Carrie walked the rails.  

Article in Milton Evening Standards, January 19, 1911

FATAL TRESPASSING

Three More Victims of Practice in the County

The Fearful Death Toll Last Year—Every Section Furnishes Share of Victims

The deplorable accident near Mount Carmel on Tuesday morning, in which three young men while walking on the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad lost their lives in the twinkling of an en eye, should arouse the citizens of this vicinity to the terrible danger of this practice. . .

According to figures just published there were 585 persons killed on the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad in 1910, while trespassing. In 1909 there were 633 and in 1908 743 or about two persons a day during these three years. Each community has furnished its share of victims.  . .

We have become so accustomed to reading daily reports of theses horrors that we do not realize the enormous sacrifice of life and limb for the figures do not include the large number of persons injured, some permanently crippled—due to this dangerous habit. .  .

It is impossible for the railroads to patrol every inch of the rights of way, so that there will be no mishaps, but by adults exercising proper care to see that children are not exposed to dangers, and exercising this care themselves, a great reduction to these fatalities can be made. 

Milton Evening Standard, January 19, 1911

Sibling Teasing

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Saturday, March 4, 1911:  Things certainly were stale today. Mother was so out of humor this morning and we poor kids received some scathy scoldings. We usually do nearly every Saturday, or I do at least. I have a mania for teasing Jimmie, and when I do I get some growling. If you see any mistakes in this entry, don’t let on you see them.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: 

At least Grandma’s mother didn’t chase her with a stir stick like she did the previous Saturday. Jimmie is Grandma’s 6-year-old brother. Siblings always tease each other but, with more than a 9-year age difference, it’s a little surprising that Grandma and her brother apparently routinely annoy each other so much that their mother feels a need to get involved.

—————

It sounds like Grandma believes that someone else is reading her diary. Was it her sister Ruth? . . . her mother?

Home by Daylight

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Friday, March 3, 1911:  I was invited to a dance tonight, but didn’t go because I didn’t have any one to go with. Ruthie went to Helen Wesner’s party. I would have liked to have gone too, but I wasn’t invited. I guess I am not out yet. I’ll have to sleep alone tonight for it isn’t very likely that Ruthie will get home before daylight. She’ll be lazy tomorrow.

1911 Algebra Problems: The Lusitania and Molasses

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Thursday, March 2, 1911:  Dear me, what shall I write? Mrs. Hester was out this afternoon. I intended to work thirty-one algebra problems this evening or rather tonight but instead of that I only worked one. Perhaps I may get the remaining thirty tomorrow, but it is only perhaps.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: 

Sometimes I have a vague idea about what I might say about a diary entry—and then I discover something interesting that sends my post in a totally different direction. Today is one of those days—

I found a high school algebra textbook published in 1911 at the library and idly flipped through the pages while pondering—Should I include some example problems from the chapter on Simple Equations  . . . or from the chapter on Quadratic Equations? And then I saw the problem on the Lusitania:

4. One ton of coal will make 8.7 tons of steam. If the Lusitania requires 1200 tons of coal a day for this purpose, how many tons of steam are required for an hour?

First Year Algebra (1911, page 157) by William J. Milne

Lusitania

Wait—Isn’t the Lusitania famous because it was sunk  during World War I by the Germans  in 1915? Why was the Lusitania in a textbook published in 1911?

And, as I sought answers, this post  headed in a totally different direction.

The Lusitania was a British ship that made its first trans-Atlantic trip in 1907—and it periodically held the world record as the fastest ship to make the crossing. For example, in October 1907, it held the record for an eastbound trip with a time of 4 days, 19 hours, and 53 minutes. The average speed was 24 knots/hr. (27.6 miles/hr.).

(Cruise ships today don’t cross the Atlantic as quickly as they did a hundred years ago. It now takes at least 6-7 days to make the crossing. I guess that if  someone wants to cross quickly they just fly.)

In the early 1900s there were several very fast ships that held the record at one time or another. They informally competed with one each other and the newspapers regularly reported on when the ships entered the New York harbor –or  the harbors in England on eastward trips– since there was the potential with every trans-Atlantic voyage that the world record would be broken.

A hundred years ago the general public across the US knew about the Lusitania and were following its story even before it was sunk by a German torpedo. (And, the Lusitania was apparently considered a good topic for an algebra problem since it was a timely, high-interest topic that might motivate students ).

Algebra problems provide lots of hints about what was common knowledge a hundred years ago. For example, would you ever find a problem about molasses pumps and tubing in a text today? Well, it provided the context for the word problem that followed the Lusitania problem in the 1911 textbook:

5. A grocer paid $8.50 for a molasses pump and 5 feet of tubing. He paid 12 times as much for the pump as for each foot of tubing. How much did the pump cost? the tubing?

First Year Algebra (1911, page 157) by William J. Milne

Flinch

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Wednesday, March 1, 1911: 

Blustering March, month of spring,

We bid you welcome here.

You bring the sunshine and the flowers.

Hurrah for the third month of the year.

I was invited to dine out this evening and accepted the invitation. It was up at Gauger’s. My beauteous or rather vain sister was up also. It was, as I supposed in honor of the senior class. I had quite a pleasant evening. I played Flinch part of the time. My partner and I winning two games.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: 

A hundred years ago Flinch as a popular card game.  According to Amazon’s website the game is still available– though I’m not familiar with it.

Flinch is played with a deck of 150 cards. The cards go from 1 to 15.  It is kind of  a cross between double solitaire and “go fish.”  It can be played with partners—though partners are not necessary.

Each player receives a stack of face down cards. The first player turns over a card. If it is a “1” it is put in the center of the table. Otherwise the player puts it face up on the table in front of him- or herself. 

Once the first person is finished the next player turns over a card. If the card is one higher than the top card in the center of the table, it can be placed there–or if the card is one above or below a card in front of another player it can be placed on top of that card. If the card doesn’t go anywhere, it is placed face up on the table.  Play continues until a player goes out.

If a player fails to notice that a card can be put on a previously placed card, the other players yell, “flinch.”

—————-

Grandma’s sister Ruth and Bill Gauger were both senior’s at McEwensville High School They will marry several years later.