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An Olive Oil StoryI have never been sick a day in my life, and have never missed a meal except through inability of access, I neither overeat nor under breathe. Consequently, I do not enjoy poor health. One of the secrets of my perfect health for fifty-odd years lies in the fact that, so far as Olive Oil is concerned, I am a consumer. I do not claim that Olive Oil is a cure-all-a panacea, if you please, for anything and everything you have, or think you have. Nothing can take the place of cheerfulness and industry, fresh air and wholesome thoughts. But I am convinced that the use of Olive Oil as an article of diet is not as universal as it should be. If you argue that the taste for Olive Oil is an acquired taste, I rebut thusly: So are the ills that flesh is heir to, acquired. The patriarchs of Bible times were well acquainted with the uses of Olive Oil. The Good Book is full of references to the "Oil of Gladness". When a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, some passed him by on the other side, but the Good Samaritan "went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine". The wound was washed with wine. The oil acted as a healing agent. Coming down the centuries we find the Greeks very partial to the delicate flavor of Olive Oil. There was a Greek proverb to this effect: "A long and pleasant life depends on wine within and oil without". The Greeks used Olive Oil also as an article of food. When the Spanish padres came to California, in the wake of the mailed conquistadores, and set the mission bells a-jingling, they used wine in place of milk and Olive Oil in place of butter. Olive Oil is a lubricant. Also, it is a condiment, making rich the salad. A tiptop aid to a healthy digestion, a builder of tissues and a renovator of sluggish blood and nerves on edge. The elements contained in pure Olive Oil are needed in the body. Use it as an unguent and you can laugh at Rheumatism, and it is just as excellent taken internally. A pint of Olive Oil a week will biff the doctor on the beak, and reduce him to the neutral position of a delightful social factor. Take a little before each meal, and a three-finger swig just before the taps. It's the best bedtime tonic. If every bottle of
patent medicine were dumped in the deep, and Olive Oil put in its place,
think of he universal good that would result.
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