The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-05-21
THE VALUE or HEALTH.
Abstract Of . Lecture by DR.. j. n. KellOR Z
Of the Battle Creek Sanifarlum.

Abstract Of . Lecture BY DR.. }. n. KELLOGG,
Of the Battle Creek sanitsrium.
Most people do not value health a.
they should, and its low esteem Ii one
Of the greatest obstacles which physi-
clans have to contend with. People
want to get rid Of a troublesome head
ache or neuralgia but for getting thor
oughly well, they seem to care nothing,
and often sell their lives very foolish1y
and for small equivalents Men are not
only careless of their owHlives, but also
criminally careless of the lives of their
families and their ncighbors. They dig
well and put q ccss-pool on one side
and vault on the other, and these
sources of filth filter into the drinking
water and innoculatc one or more per-
sons with typhoid fever. The doctor is
sent for, but nothing is done toward
the prevention Of further disease. How
much money do you suppose the United
States has spent during the last year in
the prevention of that dread disease,
consumption, q disease which may be
likened to a lcprosy, beginning at the
top Of the lungs and causing their de-
cay little by little. How much has been
done, too, for the prevention of typhoid
might be stamped out almost entirely?
The government has spent . larger
amount for the prevention of one dis
case among lower animals, viz, hog
cholera, than for the prevention Of all
the diseases to which human beings are
| subject A few years ago q national
board of health was established, but
they can do nothing because learned
senators have made no appropriation
for several years, not even for travel.
| ing expenses This shows how very lit
tie human life is appreciated by the
government, and the same spirit exists
among individuals ms to the value Of
their own life and the lives OF their
neighborA
a person finds himself suffering from
chronic malady, and yet he pays no
| attention to it, unless he is seriously
incommoded, but If he had sick horse,
he would send for a veterinary surgeon
to see what the matter was and why it
was becoming useless He sees himself
growing thin and weak, and by and by
he is unfit for work, and wakes up to
the fact that perhaps he has an incura-
BILE disease which might have been very
durable at the outset Instead of want
| ing the most health, we are satisfied
with just little. We goad ourselves
about and do things because we must
do them and not because we have
pleasure in them, and with many peo-
pie, life is merely tread-mill, because
they have no vivacity or energy to
| bring to their task.
In business, people manage differ
emily They are not satisfied with a
mere pittance with which they can g It
along. A man works hard for his first
thousand dollars. and when his accumu-
lations reach five thousand he uses it as
further leverage to obtain more. In
fact, it would be almost impossible to
| find man who is satisfied with his
accumulations or his income. lie is al
ways striving for more. Why should
| we not regard our health in the same
light? Why should we not husband GU
strength, and eat for strength, and do
everything that is necessary to main
tain a perfectly healthy existence, not
only for our present comfort, but for
the sake of possible years to Gomez
Reported by Helen L. Manning.