CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1902-03-20
TO PREVENT SPREAD
OF CONSUMPTION

lie places: and still more recently the
authorities of New York have issued
positive orders to the police to arrest
offenders of this kind as the nuisance
must be stopped. To my knowledge
no effort has been made iii Canon
City to lessen this evil and its preva-
lence is witnessed on every hand.
Since the discovery by Koch of the
tubercle bacillus and its positive de-
monstration as being the only cause
If consumption, much has been done
by sanitarians toward the control of
this scourge of civilized man. In a
number of cities. notably London,
New York. and Philadelphia, societies
for the Prevention of tuberculosis
have been formed by prominent citi-
zens who endeavor to educate the
masses on the dangers of tuberculosis
and the means of preventing it.
These efforts have born golden
fruits, for the mortality records of
these cities show a decrease of 10
to 25 per cent in the deaths due to
this disease.
We now know that the exDectora-
tion of the consumptive is laden with
these germs, and that when dry are
scattered broadcast by the slightest
breeze.
Everybody breathes them, the con-
sumptive from whom they came as
well as all others. On those who are
well and have sufficient resistance in
their lung cells the germs make no
impression, but on the weak and deli
cate or the predisposed they plant
the disease which sooner or later
manifests itself.
There is no one to whom these
germs are more dangerous than the
consumptive himself for he is doubly
susceptible to them. He should be
scrupulously clean for his own sake
if for none other; but alas, too often
we see the opposite. Men, believe,
are more careless in this respect than
women. They think that to dispose
of their expectoration when they are
in the house in any other manner
than to spit it into an ordinary cuspi-
dor or jar which contains at the most
only little water; or on the ground
about where they are sitting; or in
the gutter when they are on the
streets, would be to mark them and
call attention to their infrmity, to
which they are naturally sensitive.
To use a handkerchief is almost as
for if it is not thoroughly
boiled for not less than 20 minutes it
may infect all other clothing that is
washed with it. A good many women
use cloths which they burn. This is
good if great care is observe d in chang
ing them frequently and not allowing
sputa to come in contact with the
hands, the pocket or folds of the
dress where it drys and becomes a
source of danger. The Germans have
come nearest solving the problem
with their "husten flaschen," or pocket
sputum flask, which is used in all Euro
pean sanitariums and is rapidly COM
ing into general use in this country.
1t is of size that can readily be
carried in the pocket or concealed in
the folds of dress, is less conspicu-
GUS when in use than handkerchief,
is absolutely clean and safe as by its
arrangement it can be easily and
quickly cleaned. One of these spu-
tum TASKS may be seen at the Palace
drug store.
The conditions in Canon City would
hardly warrant the making of an ordi-
nance prohibiting expectorationc on the
streets, but we can do a great deal by
individual effort. Let the proprietors
of our hotels and boarding houses see
that good germiscide such as corro-
sive sublimate is placed in all the
cuspidors.
See that the consumptive invalid
who sits out of doors has a proper