The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1875-05-22
rHE FTRGsrDE.
kissing and Killing the Baby.
The promiscuous kissing Of children

Tho promiscuous kissing of children i
a pestilcnt practice. We use the wore
advisedly, and it is mild for the occasion
AlurderoGs would be the proper word, die
the kisscrs know the mischief they do
Ics, madam, murderous; and We arc
speaking to you. Do you remember call
ing oil your dear friend Mrs. Drown Tho
other day, with n strip of flannel round
your ncck7 And when little Flora came
dancing into the room, didn't you pnuncc
upon her demonstratively, cali her a pre-.
cious little pet, and kiss herr Then YOU
scrcncly proceeded to describe the dread
ful sore throat ,;hat 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 as if you had fed her with
strychninc or arsenic. Your carcsscs
were fatal.
Two or three days after, the little net
began to complain Of sore throat too.
Inc symptoms grew rapidly alarming;
and when the doctor came, the single
word dipthcriG sufliccd to explain them
all. To-day Il little mound in Greenwood
IS the sole memcnto of your visit. .
or course the mother docs not suspect,
and would not dare to suspect, you of AM
instrumcntality in her bereavement. The
doctor says nothing to disturb the dciu-
sion; that would be impolitic, ifnOt cruel
but to an outsider he is free to say that
the child's death was due directly to your
Internal stupidity. Those are precisely
his words, more forcible than elegant it
is truei but who shall say under the ci--
cumstanccs that they arc not iustifiab!c2
Remember d.
Evil Is wrought by want OF thought
AS well as by want Of heart"
1t would be hard to tell how much of
the prevalent sickness and mortality from
dipthcrin is due to such want Of thought.
as rule, ADULTS have the disease in SO
mild form that they mistake it for q
simple cold; and rs cold is not conta-
glous, they think nothing of exposing
others to their breath or 10 the greater
danger Of labial contact. Taking into
consideration the wcll-cstablishcd fnct
tnat diptheria is usually if not always
communicated by the direct transplanting
Of the malignant vegetation which causes
the disease, the fact that there can be no
more certain means of bringing tho con-
tagi0n to its fav0ritc soil than tllo act of
kissing, and the further fact that the Gus
tom Of kissing children Oh all occasions
Is all but universal, it is not surprising
that, when the disease is once imported
into community, it is very likely to be-
come epidemic. =.
II would he absurd to charge :hc spread
OF dipthcria entirely to the practice of
child-kissing. There arc other modes of
propagation, though it is hard to con-
ccivc of any more directly suited to the
spread of the infection or more gencralin
its operation. 1t stands to dipihcria in
about the same relation that prnmiscuous
hand-shaking formerly did to the itch.
1t were better to avoid the practice.
The children will not suffer if they 20
unkisscd; and their friends ought for their
sake to foregu the luxury for season. 4
single kiss has been known to infect n
family; and the most careful may be in
condition TO communicate the disease
without knowing it. Beware, then, of
playing Judas, and let the babies alone
Scientific american.