The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-01-15

among the school children in the Eastern
cities. | can not on this occasion discuss
that -sghtedness Is due to school
work The results make IL thoroughly safe
and reliable to say that even more than
90 per cent of the trouble In this line
among the children IL directly traccablc
to our school systems, inadequate lighting
and improperly printed hooks,
WHO rs TO BLAME
In looking over some school hooks the
other day among them was a primer type
fairly good for little children, but under
the different exercises we're lines In the
thin italics which were trying even 10
my own eyes. You may ask who IL to
blame for this difficulty: not tho board
of education; they are busy men or the
world and OF course have no knowledge
OF the safe requirements of the eye; not
the publisher who makes books TO sell.
and viii make whatever the school All
tboriiies viii buy. NOT the principal or
teacher, for until recently they have had
no Instructions on this subject and knew
no better Are the normal and draining
schools TO blame? They are supposed 10
teach all things ncccssary for school
work, hui. they are apparently ignorant on
this subject, II the plea OF Ignorance Is
allowed. then who is to tamef This may
puzzle many nf YOU. but arc we who have
children MOTTO blame. ut ,eost, in . small
way for not investigating the reason which
causes 10 many OF our school children OF
today to wear glasses.
You ask what is the cause Of short {
sightedncss2 II is tho amount Of work or
reading Nhleh IN done AT close range, done
in early life; this Ii amone school work.
The child's eye Us very soft. The Htruiu of
The near work causes tho eYe 10 lcnathen
II Is fact perhaps not generally known
that in certain districts in London and in
many factory towns where children are
pvt to work spinning or weaving in fac
tories at an early age that near sighted
negs ia almost universal. which is only
one Of many things that 70 to prove that
this defect is manufactured and not an
inherited defect, To be sure, parents who
are near sighted are apt to transmit this
defect, but somewhere in the line OF our
antecedents this defect has been acquired
ACQUIRED EYESIGHT
Many comparisons have been made to
the American indian. He scans the prairies
and discerns small objects at long dis
lance, which the average person would be
unable 10 see, This acuteness of vision of
the Indian for long distance "a acquired
from many generations. But the writer
happens to know from personal investiga-
zion that tho eyes of the American Indian
are as rule defective when 1t comes to
reading, studying or close application,
which is due to the fact that for many
generations the Indian has not been a
student and the muscles brought into play
10 focus the eyes at a near point Of vision
undeyeloped. ] do not mean to infer by
what have said about the neglect Of our
children's eyes that the average parent of
today is not giving this matter more NJ :
tention than ever before, but do wish
10 say most emphatically that our parents
and school authorities are hardly keeping
pare with the wonderful improvements in
means and methods of obvating large
per cent of the difficulties experienced by
children with poor eyes. II is not many
years since children complaining of head
ache, dizziness, etc were subjected to
long courses of treatment aud many bitter
doses OF medicine for these ailments
whereas the average physician OF today
when consulted on these matters will al
most invariably advise the parents to have
the child's eyes examined by some COM
pctent optioian to learn whether the sim
pie adjustment OF glasses will not obviate
tho entire trouble.