Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1904-07-29
GERM FEAR Is A CRAZE.
PUBLIC FRANTicALLY DEMAND
ING DEVICES FOR PRO-
LECTION.

The Antlseptic Fad Is a Feature ct
the Twentieth century--MlIlions Of
Germs Destroyed Daily, but Sci
ence Finds New Millions.
Germ fear is feature of the goth
century, declares the New York Tri-
bune. There is an antiseptic or germ
destroying craze. The public, or
part of it awakened, at last, to the ex-
istence and the peril of germs, de-
mands--a little too frantically, per-
haps--germ protection.
In response to this demand there are
offered to the public many strange and
| ingenious devices The object of
these devices is the prevention of all
such diseases as arise from the swal-
| lowing of germs, or their touch, or
their inhalation. Thus:
There are on the market money
scoops-silver instruments of pocket
size-wherewith to handle unsterilized
coins.
There are germicide doormats
These, being stepped upon in the right
spot, emit spray of highly volatile
fluid that is supposed to render harm
less the millions of disease germs
gathered on the shoes amid the dust
and mud of the cities
There are wind wells, for men no less
than women to be worn over the
mouth and nose as a preventive of the
| inhalation of germs.
There are fumigating attachments
for letter boxes. These, on being COM
pressed, are guaranteed to steriliZe the
recipients mail before he touches it.
There are hanging tabular baths for
Railways. The ends of canes and UNI
brellas, dipped in these baths, come
forth clean of germs.
There are aseptic communion cups,
with tiny rotating brushes that wash
the cups edges as they pass from one
communicate to another.
There are generators that sterilize
carpets, walls, clothing, books, etc.
There are pocket lamps that emit
germ killing vapor. These are for the
cleansing of cups at public drinking
| fountains and for other such pur-
poses.
1t may be doubted if so great fear
! of germs as all these devices indicate
is altogether sane. But it is at any
rate. fear that does more good than
harm. Between the general sanitary
| conditions of the present and the past
the contrast is amazing, and in the
bringing about of that contrast the
public fear of germs plays it's part.
In one of the London hospitals they
still preserve as a relic bed IA or Is
feet wide In that bed in the past
dozen patients would lie side by side,
| one with consumption, another with
smallpox, third with typhoid fever,
! and so on. 1t is different today. To-
day contagion and infection are
| guarded against as thoroughly as
| thieves are guarded against by misers.
And still these precautions increase.
Every month, every week, some new
preventive of the spread of disease is
devised
And there has sprung up the germ
hunter-the health faddist-who hunts
| germs as a sportsman hunts game. In
Vulnerable are the weapons wherewith
the germ hunter seeks his prey. A
| good pdace to examine these weapons
is a surgical instrument shop.
A surgical instrument dealer, on be-
ing asked to exhibit his various germ
destroyers, pointed to doormat. 1t
was like any other doormat of rubber,
only lemon shaped rubber bulb was
attached to it.
What" said the visitor, 'is that
bulb for?"
"I'll show you," the dealer answered.
He stood upon the mat and he COM
pressed the bulb with his toe. Imme
diately silver colored mist arose. For
an instant he stood in this mist ankle
deep. Then, as quickly as it had arisen
the mist disappeared, leaving the
mans shoes and the bottoms of his
trousers quite dry.
Did you notice that spray of vola-
tile fiuid?" he said. well, that was
a spray of germicide, or disinfectant
This is a patent germicide doormat.
This mat cleans your feet when you
come in Of the disease germs gathered
in the mud and dust"
"a remarkable mat" said the visit
or. Does it SELF"
at sells WELL" the other answered.
Gall germ killing devices sell we'll in
this age This is the age of germ
fear"
He took from a case an armful of
glittering objects. They were of glass
and silver, and their shapes were
strange"
"All these instruments" he said,
'tkill germs or ward off germs. will
explain them to you"
He pointed to small silver scoop.
THAT is a money SCOOP" he said.
| "a number of health faddists carry
scoops in their pockets. They know
that the average coin has on it about
a million germs-germs of consump-
ton, of smallpox, of typhoid, of diph-
theria-and therefore they will not
touch a coin with their fingers until it
has been sterilized. When you give
them change they receive it in their
scoops instead of in their hands.
Thence it goes into their sterilized
purses, to be thoroughly fumigated at
home. | know three men and two
women who use these money scoops.
1.-THE scoops are made of silver and
they cost a dollar apiece"
He took up tiny Tampa lamp
with two wicks that rose out of cake
of sulphur. In the middle of the cake
of sulphur there was a vial of trans
parent fluid.
This is a pocket fumigator," he
said. "You take the stopper from the
vial and light the two wicks, and
thereupon a vapor deadly to every
kind of germs arises. The pocket fu-
migator is applied by the germ hunt
er to the public drinking cups in rail-
way stations, to plates and goblets in
dubious restaurants, to towels in