July 3, 1915 
LAND AND WATER 
IT is a rare thing these days to live in a restful atmosphere. 
Many people indeed seem to banish the very idea of 
rest from their thresholds, and live in a state of rush 
from morning to night, attempting quite five times 
as much as they can reasonably do, and suffering the 
natural consequences. For it is impossible habitually to 
overwork both body and brain without reaping a full harvest 
of strain. 
Someone the other day was talking about the difference 
in the conditions prevailing at the time of the Napoleonic 
Wars and these of the present time. It was someone who 
does not pretend to be a profound thinker, but who from 
time to time most certainly has the knack of hitting the right 
nail well and truly on the head. " I think," said she, " that 
it must have been a much more restful atmosphere to return 
to a hundred years ago, and ever so much better for those 
who had been away fighting." which remark gave one 
furiously to think. Are we creating quite the wrong atmos- 
phere for those who have come back from the Front on a 
few days' leave, or have returned wounded for a weary con- 
valescence ? It is quite probable that in scores of cases 
we are, and that they must inevitably suffer for it. Rest of 
mind, rest of body, are matters much in the hands of the 
patient himself, but a restful environment is a different thing, 
and under the control of those round about him. It is not 
a case of talking in low hushed voices, closing each door 
with irritating quiet, walking everywhere on metaphorical 
if not actual tiptoe. Such a proceeding would drive any 
ordinary' man distracted in two minutes, no matter how ill 
he might be. But it is quite a different matter to ehminate 
all unnecessary tear, hurry, and bustle, and to convey the 
impression that there is plenty of time for everything and 
everybody. Some houses that.one enters give instantaneously 
an impression of peace and order, others an imprint of a hurly- 
burly. Everybody has felt the experience, subtle and 
intangible though it is, and it is not necessary to add which 
of the two is the better atmosphere for a war-worn man. 
All Sorts and Conditions 
Of course it is true that there are restful people and restless 
people, and will be so to the end of the chapter. If only 
the latter could get it into their heads that at present they 
are nothing short of a national drawback the gain would 
be great. We all know the jumpy folk who never sit still 
for a moment, until their Jack-in-the-Box propensities are 
a positive vice. At all times they are hard to bear, but in 
these days, when everybody's nerves are never far from 
breaking point, they are well nigh intolerable. Restlessness 
is assuredly a habit. It might perhaps be pardonable if 
restless people got through a vast amount of work, and left 
a bright streak of accomplished deeds in their wake. But 
as a matter of fact it is the quiet people, who never seem to 
be doing anything, who accomplish the most. Just in the same 
way that it is always the busy person who finds time for 
extra things, though every minute of his day seems already 
occupied, to outsiders. 
There is unrest enough in aU conscience just across the 
Channel, and in many other quarters of the world. It is 
our business to see that as far as is humanly possible we 
counteract this influence at home. It need not mean, for 
one moment, that we abandon any of the activities that are 
helping so many women to pass away their days just now. 
A restful atmosphere docs not mean sloth or idleness or any- 
thing else of the same family. It only means the sense of 
order and peace that must be of inexpressible importance 
to those home from the Front, and a veritable tonic for body 
as well as brain. At any rate it helps them to enjoy a respite 
from the actualities of war, that is a respite in fact as well 
as name and worth untold gold in consequence. 
Rest in Clothes and Colour 
One could write pages on the subject of restful clothes. 
And this not from the obvious point of view of the rest gown, 
wrapper, and other garments of that genre. It goes without 
saying that these are ends to that purpose. I have seen 
many a grande toilette that gave one the impression of a 
cyclone or a hurricane storm, and others that conveyed a 
feeling of restful pleasure in every line of their beautiful 
folds. At the present, strident, blatant colouring is a mistake, 
by every standard of good taste, but its error does not begin 
and end there. It is a mistake from the mental standpoint 
also. 
Some while ago a brilliant writer wrote a brilliant article 
on the mentality of clothes, That, if I remember right, was 
the very title he gave. It was written from a mascuhne 
point of view at a time when a certain famous Paris house 
was making a great effort to launch fantastically patterned 
fabrics, and some misguided mortals seemed inclined to 
follow its sway. Like many other innovations, however, 
it was killed by ridicule, in which the article in question 
probably bore a part. Apart from this, however, the writer 
urged with some intrepidity the point that every woman was 
influenced, sometimes quite unconsciously, by the clothes 
she wore. If she put on a simple frock she gained simplicity, 
if she wore vivid colourings she absorbed their influence, and so 
on and so forth through a gamut of other tendencies. This, of 
course, is tinged with a flavour of exaggeration ; but it is true, 
with no shadow of doubt, that clothes, thoroughly restful 
in design and colouring, convey an inevitable feeling of repose 
to their wearer. It is why their importance is doubly enhanced 
just now. It is a nice point, the question of repose in colour. 
By no manner of means does it indicate a dolorous tone 
in fixed and inflexible fashion. There are bright shades 
that are yet restful to the eye, darker tones that jar, and it is 
matter for expert discrimination. . 
Things We Could Lose " 
In the meanwhile, there is much that could surely be 
done to insure additional rest to the days in which we live. 
Why in the name of fortune are motorists permitted to make 
the day and often the night hideous by sounding horns, 
which are the last word in discord ? Some of these inventions 
are like nothing so much as machinery falling out of a loco- 
motive, only even more startling and nerve-destructive to 
the unwary passer-by. Yapping dogs and noisy street 
vendors are additional strains upon the nervous system. 
The hand of authority has already been laid upon the news- 
paper boy, and suppressed the shrieking of passing events ; 
it might surely wander farther afield with advantage. 
Like a delightful character in one of the Gilbert and 
Sullivan operas we have most of us a little list of those who 
never would be missed. On this many a daily annoyance 
would find its allotted place. It is all very well to complain 
of the nervous tension of the times. Much of the complaint 
is justified with no shadow of doubt, the causes being far 
beyond our control. But in other directions it is a matter 
of our own making, and one we can obviate the moment we 
see the error of our ways. 
To live in a restful atmosphere is at all times important, 
but it has never been so vital as now, when its attainment 
has become a matter of vastly increased difficulty. To people, 
however, with a good fighting spirit difficulty but enhances 
satisfaction at its ultimate gain. The world is upside down 
enough without us contributing still further to the tilt. If 
we study rest in our ways, our garments, and everyone of our 
actions, we shall be doing ourselves and everbody else yeoman 
service, and last, but not least, helping the man from the 
Front. 
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