The Weston Democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1875-current, 1875-01-11
pon,t KISS thc Baby.

The promiscuous kissing of children
is pestilent practice, the Scientific
american says. We use the word I'd
visedly, and It is mild for the occasion.
Murderots would be the proper word,
did the kissers know the mischief they
do. Yes, madam, murderous and We
are speaking to you. Do you remember
calling on your dear friend Mrs. Brown
the other day, with strip Of flannel
round your neckl And when little
Flon came dancing into the room, didn't
you pounce upon her demonstratiyely,
call her precious little pct, and kiss
her I Then you serenely proceeded to
describe the dreadful sore throat TINT
kept you from prayer meeting the night
before. You had no designs on the dear
child's life, we know; nevertheless you
killed her Killed her rs surely rs il
you had fed her with shyehnine or mr.
ssnic. Your caresses wero fatal. ..
Two or three days after, tho little pet
began to complain Of q sore throat too.
The symphonic grew rapidly alarming;
and when the doctor came, tho single
word diphtheria sufficed to explain thOm
all. To-day "a little mound in Green
wood is tho solo memento Of your visit.
OF course the mother does not sus;
poet, and would not dare to suspect, you
Of any instruinentality in her bereaye-
ment. She charges il to q mysterious
Providence. The doctor says nothing to
disturb the delusion; that would be i'm
polite, II not cruel; but to IN outsider
he is free to say that the child's death
was due directly to your Internal stupid.
ty. Those are PRECISELY his words: more
forciblc than elegant, it is true; but who
shall say, under the circumstances, that
they ore not iustiRSblel Remember
Evil is wrought by want Of thought 91
cl As well a. by want OF heart. ,,ru
1t would be hard to tell how much OF
tho prevalent sickness and mortality from
iiphtheria Is due to such want Of
thought. Asar1ile, adults have the dis
case in 40 mild form that they mistake
It for simple cold: and rs n cold is not
contagious, they think nothing Of ex.
posing others to their breath or to the
greater danger Of labial contact, Taking
into consideration tic well established
fact TINT diphtheria is usually, ifnot al-
ways, communicated by the direct trans
planting Of tho malignant. vegetation
which causes the disease, tho fact that
there can be no more certain pnieaIis OF
bringing the contagiOn to its iavorite
soil than the act Of kissing, and tho fur
ther flct that the custom Of kissing chill
tlrcn on all occasions Is oil but universal,
it Is not surprising tint, when the dis
ease Is once imported into d community,
M is very likely to become epidemic.
II would be absurd to charge tho
spread Of diphtheria entirely to tho prac-
tice OF child.Hssing. There arc other
modes OF propagation, thought is hard
10 conceive OF any more directly suited
10 the spread Of tho infection or more
general ii its operation. 1t stands to
diphtheria about the same relation that
promiscuous llnnd.shaling formerly did
10 the itch, ,.i iaisr-ut 'l ,N
1t were better to avoid the practice.
The children will not suffer il they go
nnkissed; aud their friends ought for
their sake to forego the luxury for u sea-
son. a single lis. Inns been known to
infect fainily; and the most careful
may be in condition 10 communicate tho
disease without knowing it. Beware,
then, Of playing Judas, and let the ba-
bies alone, .dit .t, ,t"