Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-03-17
PRUDENT CAPON
A BIT OF FICTION
Yet One That Has Foundation IN Fact
and That illustrates the Strenuous
Life of One Who Goes up Against
HYgienein All It's Originality

My friend, President Capon, was a
man of rare circumspection. Short,
fullblooded welllpreserved in spite
Of his so years, good-natured, bach.
elor and possessed Of fair means, he
had everything necessary to make
him happy; but-must tell it?-my
friend was much to be pltied-Pru.
dent Capon was much afraid of death.
This man, with some knowledge OF
science and great reader, was con-
stantly tormented by the vision of
the Specter with the Scythe. Only too
ready to give credence to any new
theory, he was constantly pursued by
the idea of personal danger, was
haunted by the fear of contagion, and
lived in terror Of the microbe.
My friend, Prudent, enjoyed the
best of health-but the poor man was
very sick The study of some enor-
nous volumes had made him ac.
Quainted with the innumerable germs
of the air unhealthy and poisonous,
toadstools mistaken for mushrooms
fostering sea weeds, the sources OF
all our disease. He knew their his
tory, their special breeding places,
the evil they worked, as we'll as their
names; and those Of their families.
AS a result of filling his head with
all the minute details Of this nature
of studying corpuscles, poisons, inoc.
ulations, cultures in soup, Of losing
himself in the contemplation OF
germs, bacteria, vibriones, spirals,
rods and the like, Prudent Capon
came finally TO believe the earth, the
sky over II, the water under It, and,
indeed, all things and all beings in
and upon them invaded, poisoned and
surcharged by an army OF microbes.
The life OF this trembler became a
veritable anguish. His head filled with
these morbid ideas cleaned from vari-
Gus books, he saw flying about him in
a fantastic whirlpool millions and bill.
lions of microbes-short, spiral, dot.
like, in rods, wads, groups.
They surrounded and impregnated
him. He heard their noise, felt them
pursue him, swarm about him. dive
into the pores of his skin, steal into
his eyes and ears and nose, invade
in droves his lungs, his bowels, his
liver his spleen, his brain, hide be-
hind and about each organ-oh, this
terrible nightmarel
Fortunately, Prudent, who knew the
enemy, knew also how to defend him
self Oh, Pasteur! Oh, Jenner! Oh,
Roux! How often he blessed your
names and chanted your praisesl II
he had had his own way, he would
have erected a statue to Corrosive
Sublimate and have cannonized Car
bolic Acid.
Our wise friend caused to be built
for himself alone. far from the poison
ed city air, beautiful house. For a
long time he studied the plans, con.
sidering which way It should front;
patiently he had calculated the proper
number of cubic feet of air for each
chamber.
In it's whitewashed rooms, behind
his double windows that prevented
murderous draft. Prudent Capon could
as If In an invulnerable fortress, defy
and jeer at the deadly bacilli. The
water he drank was filtered and boiled
his food was carefully sterllized and
weighed and was taken in exact doses
Although he had a weakness for rare
beefsteaks and fried potatoes these
two dangerspots OF contagion were
scrupulously avoided.
Prudent had almost determined TO
erect a vast steam sterilizer capable
of $50 degrees Cent, In which he
would each week disinfect all Of HIS