Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-06-27
SCOURGE OF PHTHLSIS.
APPALLING DEATH RATE IN PRiS-
ONS AND THE CAUSE.
DR.. Won Zfenssen Says That There Ought
to Be More Air and Exercise for Prison
ers and Healthful Recreation for School
Children.

to Be More Air and Exercise for Prison
ers and Healthful Recreation for School
Children.
s'The effect of lack Of fresh air and INSULT
cheney of outdoor muscular exercise can be
best studied in prisons, asylums, converts
and similar institutions" This Professor DR..
H. Won Ziemssen declares. 1.-The curtail-
ment of freedom and the priyation OF open
air entail row of factors" declares the
learned doctor, ''the potency OF which IN in
dividuals is not easy to estimate. The air N
the closed rooms, and especially in the dor
mitories, is not pure; it contains dust and
fungi, is poor in oxygen, but rich In carbon
dioxide and bad odors. On account of the
sedeutary life, respiration is not deep enough
and the lungs are not well expanded. The
absence of outdoor movement and OF vlgor-
Gus muscular work diminishes assimilation
and reduces the need of nourisbment, while
the monotonous diet impairs the appetite"
Staying PRISONERS.
Continuing, the writer charges that the
diet is often poor, and that in jails there is
penitence and longing for homes; in peniten-
tiaries contact with the dregs OF mankind,
and in cellular prisons there IS sohtariness
and absence of all Indictment. Under such
weakening faculties the organism sinks into
depraved condition, and wide door is opened
for tubercle bacilI, which are ubiquitous In
prisons.
DR.. Won Ziemssen declarge that the huge
proportions in which inmates of prisons sue
cuunb to consumption are not sufficiently
known. He quotes from Baer to show that
mortality from that disease in prisons is three
or four times what it is on the outside. In
the race generally it is computed at IA to 40
per cent, while in prisons from 40 to % per
cent. of all deaths is due to consumption.
This rate varies greatly, however. In Aus
trian prisons during four years the mortality
from consumption was 81 per cent. In the
prisons of Bavaria it was but SO per cent. The
death rate seems to vary with the conditions
of the buildings and of discipline. In Ameri-
can prisons Dr. Won Ziemssens statements
are fully borne out
After somewhat extended consideration Of
destructive tendencies of prison life, the doc
tor asks: why are not prisoners putat out
door work2 Why are they packed together
in close working rooms and impure atmos,
pheres2 1t has been found practical to put
the insane at rural employnentsandt to watch
over them; why should it not be possible in
the case Of prisonersa Why not allow prison
ers to indulge in athletic and other exercises
Surely it is not the intention of the law that
the criminal, whose removal from society is
necessary for its.safety, shall become sick end
die? The penal code aims to punish and i'm
prove, not TO make sick and slay."
He points out that while the condition of
prisons has been immeasurably improved,
and that in consequence those terrible cpl
denies of typhus, scorbutus, dysentery, ETC..
which once decimated them have disappeared,
tuberculosis remains veritable scourge, be-
ing three or four times greater than that
among the general population.
SAVE THE CHILDREN.
DR.. Won Ziemssen especially condemns the
cellular system, where he says the highest
mortality from tuberculosis is found He as
serts that in collective prisons and houses Of
correction where the deteriorated atmosphere
of working roous and dorInitories is breathed
in common by the prisoners, although the
volume Of air furnished is less than in the
cellular system, and the healthy prisoners
are associated with the diseased ones, still the
mortality from consumption is less This
fact he ascribes to the ubiquitous nature OF
the tubercle bacilli and to the deprivation Of
outside air and outdoor work. Under the
cellular system, as we'll as to psychical causes,
such as ennui, lOnesomeneSs, repentance, long
ing after freedom, etc. He insists that the
considerations cited deserve the attention of
law makers. The alarming evil, he repeats.
cannot be got rid of without changing the
manner of working and increasing the sup
ply Of fresh air.
By DR.. DUhsrty confession is made that the
criminal classes are moro liable on account
of their dissipated and vagabond lives to con-
sumption and other diseases, but, he adds,
that regard for the welfare of society, if not
for the health of the convicts, should compel,
since consumption is contagious, an earnest
effort to diminish or destroy the danger from
such prolific breeding places of the disease.
he also treats at length of the health of
pupils in the public schools, suggests reform
and points out the need of it, declaring that
the case of cloister like Summaries, orphan
ages and educational institutions is similar to
that of all trades and avocations which bring
together q number of persons in crowded, I'M
healthy rooms and deprive them of fresh air
and freedom, and that what has been said of
the prison applies mutatis nutandis 30 an of
these. He suggests a state supervision Of
hygiene IN seminaries and similar institutions,
especially in girls boarding schools.
He declares that it is shown in all cases that
the more the free exercise OF youth is limited
IN such institutions the more frequent is tu-
berculosis present. He highly commends the
practice in English schools of the pupils de-
voting all their time out Of school to outdoor
exercises, and equally condemns the German
curriculum, which compels too protracted
hours of study, leaving but little time for ex-
ercises f any kind The advantage is, he as
serts, with the English children, who show
differences for the better in color of skin,
bright chances and active movements. He
thinks it Is high time that school children
should have a sufiiciency of recreation, and
that regular investigation, at least once
quarter. should be made into each pupils vi
tai capacity, a systematic noting of his
weight in relation to size, TO mis- muscular
power, and also into the choice and super
vision of games. Such regular Investigations,
made at least quarterly, would, III his iudg-
ment, furnish valuable Information for the
training of youth. Every catarrh, every
swollen gland, every skin affection, every
trouble though apparently unimportant and
hardly worthy of notice in child free from
a hereditary disposition, should receive care
full attention and Observation-Disclosures Her
aid
he Was Mistaken.
4 man with fire in his eyes and his fists
doubled up was prancing around on Monroe
avenue yesterday when a policeman hailed
him with: