The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-04-18

amazing prOpOTtlOn OF tne deStltutlOn
that they were called upon to remove
was due to the ravages of one disease
Reports year after year dwelt upon
this fact, and gradually there came
into the minds of the workers and
thinkers of the society the suggestion
that to supply food and fuel and cloth
ing to the victims Of that disease was
but to temporize with it, and that the
larger duty of the organization was to
combat the disease itself.
Out of that suggestion came the for
nation of the Committee on the Pre-
vention of tuberculosis, and the be-
ginning, in September last, of a cam
paign against the disease. 1t Is an ex-
pertinent of much more than passing
or local interest, and an undertaking
Of magnitude that was scarcely per-
ceived at once even by the men to
whom its inception is due. Statistics
in piteous accumulation show how
consumption has crept insidiously
through the tenement districts, and
left trail of desolation such as ill be-
comes these latter days of light.
There is house in Chinatown where
in three years 81 persons have died
of consumption. Let that item suffice
for the statistical element in this ac-
count Of the new charity.
In attacking this blight-a kind OF
recrudescence of some horror of the
dark ages, an absurd anachronism in
this era of scientific defance-the
committee on tuberculosis has divided
it's work into three branches. These are
research, education and relief. To ex-
plain them briefly:
The relief is the least difficult part
Of the undertaking. If man be sick,
he must have medicine; if he cannot
work, he and his family must be fed.
Through the regular agencies of the
society food and the services of physi-
clans are provided.
Research involves a study of the
conditions that have made possible
SO fatal progress of the disease. The
investigators purpose to learn why
such and such houses have been pc
culiarly liable to outbreaks of con-
sumption among their tenants; why
certain districts have suffered more
than others; to what degree careless
ness in sanitation has been response
BILE for this sickness; whether the fire.
quency of tuberculosis among tailors,
for example, is due to their sitting
much in cramped position or to the
fact that their workrooms are often
damp and illventilated; and what fig
ure nationality plays in the general re-
suit.
Curious facts already ascertained are
that, in the districts of the city with
which the society has particularly to
deal, more males than females die of
the disease, and more colored persons
than whites fall victim to it. In the
year 1900 there were in New York City
8162 deaths from consumption.
By far the most interesting, if not
absolutely the most vital part of this
work, is that devoted as educational. 1t
is, moreover, the most delicate, the
most difficult. Nothing in the world is
more trying than ignorance, particu-
larly that ignorance that lands at Ell
lis island in company with suspicion,
and chooses rather to die Of an uncom-
pretended malady in garret than to
be advised.
For another reason, too, this task is
It is not designed that
there shall be spread through the tene-
ments any overpowering dread OF con-
so that men and women
shall quail and quake as if in the pres |
ence of a new-risen destroyer. The |
message which will be delivered will
be one of hope rather than of fear. The /
tenement folk will be told that the di-
sease is durable if the doctors but be
given a chance; that it is commune
cable, but not contagious; that all that
Is required of them is to take care Of
and have a thought for
heir kindred.
Specifically, these people will be in
structed in elementary hygiene. SO that
hey may, by proper diet. cleanliness
md exercise, keep their bodies in
condition to combat the disease, and
n the disposition of excretions so that
he germs of tuberculosis may have no
chance to propagate in other persons
han those already afflicted.-New
York Post