The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-13
TALKED TO THE WOMEN.
hrs. Washington spoke Freely of
Errors and Shortcomings


the serious defects upon the part OF its
women, which must be remedied if the
race is~to make further progress.
Inc following is a partial report OF Mrs.
Washington's address:
IN consenting to come before YOU wo-
men to-day, l am influenced by this fact
more than anything else-we need as a
race. good. strong public sentiment in
faVor of a sounder, healthier body and a
cleaner and highet-toned morality There
Is no use arguing; we do not think enough
OF these two conditions; we are too in
different, too ready to say l keep well,
my boys and girls behave themselves,
and / have nothing TO do with the rest
OF the race. No nation or race has ever
come up by entirely overlooking its mem
bers who are less fortunate, less ambi-
tious, less sound in body and hence in
SOUL and we cannot do il. We must not
do ii. There are too many of us down.
The condition of our race, brought about
by slavery ignorance, poverty. intemper-
ance, ought to make us know that in half
century we cannot afford 20 lose sight
of the large majority OF the race who have
not as vet thrown off the badge of the
evils which l have mentioned
TO be a strong race physically. we
have got TO be more moral one We do
u
cuss these conditions either. Now that as
women, we may be able to make a move
i 4 the direction Of impr " ng the race, we
have got to face cert ain facts regarding
our health and morals. They are not all
from the standpoint of the Southern white
man, nor are they all from the Northern
white reople with Southern inclinations.
You know that we often feel that every
man and woman South of the Mason and
1t is pretty bad down here I will admit,
but there are many fine. noble Southern
white people, women we'll men. 1t
Is Southern man, an Alabama man at
that, who in part, al least, makes it pos
sible for us to be here tcgeiher to-day, to
study our own shortcomings and 10 try
to find way cut Of them. | say ii is not
Southern whites alone who have felt that
we should make a move upward, who feel
that we are weak in these directions, nor
IS it the white man alone at all; but our
own medical men, our own educators, who
also feel and know that there is too great
a laXity in the Sc mauers among us.
Il wish you to note these facts: For five
OF our large Southern cities, these figures
relate especially TO the death rate of col
ored people in excess of whites. Rate per
thousand in city No. |, colored. 20; white.
10; city No ,. colored, &c. white. %; city
colored. 80; white, IS; city No. 5. coiored.
81. white. H. According to your Mayors
last report there were in '9S 102S deaths
amongst the coored population, and 557
amongst the whites. There were 10
births for colored, and 5s2 for whites
The death rate Of our. children is some
thing to make us tremble AS long as it
is so high We cannot hope for much Num-
bers count up for a great deal in this
in sc he
largest Southern cities alone the
excess in the death rate of
colored children alone under five
years of age was 1853 per cent. while that
of the whites was only 50 and a fraction
over. We are very often inclined to treat
this subject lightly by saying that we are
a great producing race, but I have no pa
thence with this Indifference for il is sim
ply impossible for any race 10 balance
such loss as this.
In every city in the country where YOU
observe it. you find that we are losing
more by death than We are gaining by
birth; immortality as well as poverty and
ignorance bears its share of the blame
for this low state of vitality. 1t makes
us susceptible to all forms of diseases
and DEATH We must have a cleaner So
cial morality. A man who has given
thought to the moral life of the race
claims that over % per cent. of the col
ored children in one city alone are admit
tedly illegitmate."
Discussing the causes for these things,
Mrs Washington said:
mot only are poverty, ignorance and
incompetence the cause of all this mis-
cry, but downright negligence, too,
plays large part in these
matters. Colored men drive,
cut wood, unload ships, etc.
all day in the pouring rain. at night they
throw themselves onto a bed and sleep
without removing their wet clothing.
Our women are little or no better. What
is a better feeder for pneumonia and all
forms of tuberculosis? The men Glenn
streets sweep and dust great buildings
with no effort to keep the throat clear of
dust and dirt. The majority of cases OF
consumption are not inherent. but con-
tracted through lack of thought. and in
terest in ones own self.
How many of our women during their
pregnancy, make nothing of lifting from
| one bench to another heavy tubs of cloth
| ing, drawing big buckets of water, lift
| ing great sticks of wood. running up and
down stairs, and a dozen other similar
things entirely against them. They do
| not know the laws Of health, and they
will not learn them. No, / do not say
| do not work during these months; work
even hard work is good for one. but the
manner IN which labor is performed is
| what l Criticee.
AS women, can we not do something to
correct our condition physically and NOR,
| ally? | think we can.
1.-THE average colored person dislikes wa
ter. He will not keep himself clean. He
bathes if at all, once a week-Saturday
highland changes his clothes I'm the same
| Indifferent way. He uses tooth brush
| irregularly. He often even neglects to
| comb his hair except on Sundays. There
| is no excuse for this. The least exacting
| low OF cleanliness is TO battle AT least
twice a week. changing the clothing as
| often, remembering to clean the teeth a..
least once n day. and to comb the hair
also at least once each day.
I'VE eat too little or too poor food.
| We ore ready to buy SNOWY
clothing. and we stint our stomachs to do
this They call us gr;at eaters. Let US
! cat more and better food. There Is very
lNtle vitality in grts and gravy. Get
fresh fruit fresh eggs, etc. These things
give strength not only to women, but to
their offspring.
keep regular hours. DO not stay in
| church until II and o'clock at night. Go
10 bed at TO- especially II you labor
! through the day. When you get up in the
| mornings air the bedding, open up the
house for awhile and let the sunshine in
! Ivhen the little child &C mes do not have
an ignorant granny secure good physi-
! rian I'm addition to a clean nurse, Apply
| vour lessons of bathing feeding, sleeping
| =. .h1sa iittie ones remembering their