A Wonderful Engine

: Keep-well Stories For Little Folks

We all have seen a steam engine, have we not? There are engines that

pull trains on the railroad, and there are engines that make factories,

gins, and saw-mills work. Then there are engines that run great ships on

the water. How many know what must be done to one of these engines

before it can do all this work? "It must have coal, or wood, or gasoline

put into it." That is right.



Now this coal or wood or asoline, when it is used in an engine to make

it work, is called fuel. Would we put rotten or green wood into the

engine? No. We must always put in the kind of thing that will burn

best, and make the most heat and do the most work.



Let us see how this wood or coal we call fuel makes the engine work.

First, we must burn the fuel. Second, when the fuel burns, it heats the

water in the boiler. Third, the water changes into steam, and this steam

gives the engine the power to work.



Now we see how an engine is made to move and do work, such as hauling

great trains of cars, and pulling great ships across the wide ocean. But

we must remember that the engine will not do this work unless there is a

man near-by to put the fuel into the engine.



I want to tell you of another engine that is very like the steam engine.

It too must have fuel before it can run or work. It is unlike the steam

engine in as much as it grows all the time, and it does not need to have

an extra man to put the fuel into it. You must think of your body as an

engine and remember that it needs fuel to run it. The fuel that makes

the body-engine move and work is the food you eat.



You have learned that you must put into the steam engine the fuel that

will burn best and make the most heat and work. The same thing is true

of your body-engine. You must put in the fuel that will best make heat

and the power to work. Have you sometimes eaten something which made you

sick? It must have been that that was the wrong kind of fuel for the

little body-engine. This is the reason our mothers are so very careful

in preparing our food. They want the little engines to have the right

kind of fuel so that they will not run off the track.



Now what fuel must you use in your body-engine? In the first place you

must put in fuel that will make the engine grow so that it can do a

great deal of work. This fuel you get when you eat lean meat, eggs,

milk, and many other things.



If you want your engine to keep warm, you must use fuel that will make

heat. You get this fuel by eating plenty of fats, such as nice butter

and some sweet things. Potatoes, rice and syrup help to run your engine.



You need some fuel that will make you plump and round and healthy

looking, so you must put into your engine fruits, nuts, a little candy,

and a lot of vegetables. You need to eat things that have color, such

as: tomatoes, lettuce, greens, and beets,--not because they look pretty,

but because they have iron in them and help to make your engine strong.



You must remember that you eat food for three reasons: to make you grow,

keep warm, and able to work. You must be careful that you do not eat too

much of any one kind of food, but remember to eat a little of many

kinds. Your engine can use only a little of each at one time.



Wood is chopped into short pieces, and coal is broken up before it will

do good work in the engine, so the fuel must be prepared before it will

suit your engine. It must be well cooked and then chewed thoroughly

before it will do its best work in your body-engine. You should be

careful not to swallow any food until it has been chewed as fine as it

can be.



If you put into your engine the right amount of food, and the right kind

of well-prepared food, you will have an engine more wonderful than any

steam engine that ever pulled a train, or carried a big ship across the

wide ocean.



The engineer sees that his engine is kept clean and bright, in order

that it may run smoothly. Since you are the engineer of your

body-engine, you must keep it neat and clean that it may work well.








QUESTIONS



1. What is it that causes the big steam engine to

do its work, draw long trains, or big ships, or

turn great factory wheels?



2. What must happen to this fuel--wood, coal, or

gasoline--before it can make the engine do its

work?



3. Did you ever wonder why it is that your body is

always warm? It is very much like the engine.



4. What do you call this fuel that your

body-engine uses? Just as the fuel for the steam

engine must be burned if it is to make heat, even

so must the food be burned in your body if it is

to keep it warm and able to work. Of course the

food in your body does not burn exactly as the

wood and coal burn in the steam engine. It burns

much more slowly--so slowly that you would not

know that it burns at all if it were not that it

always keeps your body warm.



Just as the steam engine needs the fuel if it is

to do its work well, your body needs the best of

food if it is to be healthy and do the best work.

You have learned that all foods do not serve the

same purpose equally well. For instance, some

foods such as lean meat, eggs, and milk build up

more muscle than other foods do; while others,

such as fats, syrup, sugar and potatoes, give more

heat than other foods.



5. What do all colored vegetables contain?



6. What kinds of foods do people living in the

very cold climates need a great deal of?



7. What kinds of foods do people living in very

warm climates need a great deal of?