The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-05
He Takes Issue on the Germ Theory
with the Secretary of the State
Board of Health.
RAvAGES OF CONSUMPTION
MUCH INTEREST IN THE CAMPAIGN
OF THE HEALTH BOARD.
Letters Received ii which Tubercu-
TroubIe--Living Out of Doors.

~ tlloIlF WHICH II CldlS DOdih VI
Health is making to stop the ravages of
consumption in the State is being appre-
ciated by the people and every day brings
letters and inquiries from persons who de-
sire to know more about the "fresh-air'
cure, which the board is just now giving
publicity. Now and then a pitiful
appeal comes to the secretary from some
one who is afflicted with the disease.
Sufferers usually allude to tuberculosis as
lung trouble" disliking to admit that
the shadow of the king of destroyers is upon
them. A few days ago a letter was re-
ceived from a woman whose daughter is
afflicted. The mother implored the board
to try to do something to rescue her laugh
ter. She gave it as her conclusion hat the
young woman had worked too hard in
school, but Secretary Hurry is of opinion
that an unsanitary schoolhouse is more
likely responsible.
The following narrative has been prepared
by the secretary for the health bulletin"
which shows how eagerly people seek in
formation along this line:
"A drug clerg i'm an Indiana town writes:
L am bothered with lung trouble and L do
not believe it is healthy in the gas belt.
80 HNo
probably get WELL
SAMPLE OF LETTERS.
'This is a sample of many letters re-
ceived. Co~nsumptives, as a rule, hesitate
to call their disease by its right name;
hence this term, lung trouble Some seem
not to have the will power and fortitude
which will enable them to stand up and
face the conditions which have overtaken
them. They also think by changing local.
ity. as is the case in this instance, they
will improve. To this young man We wrote
in effect as follows: If you wish to get
well and strong you must change your oc-
cupation. Clerking in a drug store, or, in
deed, clerking in any kline OF a store, Will
make your disease worse rather than bet
ter. YoG must seek some outdoor employ
INDEPENDENTLY work on the farm. be
in the open AIR and sunshine all day, and
at night open every window in your bed
room and flood it with outside air. Ii is
fresh air you need more than anything else.
1t is free to every one and can be secured
without trouble. In addition TO furnishing
yourself fresh outside air night and day
and enjoying the sunlight all that you can
you should provide yourself with an album
dance of plain, nutritious food. Plenty OF
eggs, taken raw II you possibly can take
them in that way, beef, bacon, boiled pork,
well-baked bread, with an abundance Of
butter, milk and cream and vegetables.
Avoid pastry and deserts. also salads,
and young chicken. Lamb, however, is nu-
triti0us and easily digested and Is not OBJ
j~ectionable- Take no medicine for your
cough. 1t may be necessary to use a laxa-
tive or some simple remedy of that charac-
ter, but avoid as you would poisons cough
syrups, lung balsams and like remedies, for
they disturb the stomach and impair nutri-
tion. Also avoid morphine and all narcotics.
Secure sleep by exposure to the sunshine
and the open air. Another valuable thing
to do to aid recovery will be to take a cold
bath every morning, rubbing down with a
harsh towel. This will produce proper skin
action and induce surface circulation.
These morning baths are a very important
feature in curing lung trouble. Expect to
continue this kind of life all the rest of
your days, for If you are thoroughly cured
remember you are likely to relapse back
for you acquired it in the first place; why
not in the second. after you are cured
Consumption is induced principally by
breathing foul air.. II We would live out
of doors diseases of the air passages would
be reduced to the minimum"
EASILY TRANSMITTED.
At the health conference in Washington
a few days ago Secretary Hurry made the
statement that tuberculosis could be easily
transmitted through the medium of pas
senger coaches, by persons afflicted with
the disease travelling on trains. His decla-
ration has stirred up commen in different
parts of the country. Some physicians
agree with the secretary and others scout
the idea. Jas. s. Clarkson, a New York
physician. has written a long letter to the
Indiana Board of Health. in which he
takes violent issue with Secretary Hurry
Among other things he says:
Il read those remarks OF yours with utter
disgust and Indignation, because you are
lending yourself and your reputation to the
ropagation of a fad that has not the sha-
dow of a basis to stand on. You assume
and assert that tuberculosis is transmit
table from the sick thereof to the we'll Gs
contag ious or Infectious, If you wild, while
you know, Just as we'll as / do, that there
is no sort OF evidence whatever behind the
assertion. That II can thus be transmitted
you know is only a theory, and has no
been proved. Nor can ii be proved. 1 firmly
believe. You, and others like you. assert
that because germs are present in the sick
with tuberculosis. that therefore they are
the cause of the disease. 1t would be just
as reasonable and just as true to say that
because a song bird is here in the summer
that the song bird makes ~(causes) summer
That there are germs, microbes, bacteria
bacilli. no posted person denies. but that
they cause disease. no posted person has