The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1907-05-02
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THE MAKING OF IDIOTS.
important Part Alcohol Plays in erea.
Human Curse.

Human Curse.
One of the saddest sights in this
world is an undeveloped, dwarfed or
sluggish intellect Statistics have
placed the number of defective chill
dren in the United States as 100000,
enough to mako a city of nearly 20O,-
900. What is the cause of this alarm
ing increase in idiocy? One eminent
authority says that 30 per cent of the
feeble-minded are the results of strong
drink. What a stumbling block this
nation is placing before the children
in the form of the licensed dramshop!
o mother, you whose arms are fold
ed about your bright, laughing, dim
pied little one, think of the thousands
of helpless infants, forced into an al
most joyless, senseless existence
through the obnoxious rum traffic.
Each mother should say, Il am but
one-but am one. l cannot do much,
but l can do something, and what l
can do, by the grace of God, l will
do"
No matter how we'll directed the ef.
fort for the idiots development, he
will always be handicapped, and never
in this world will he be what he has a
right to be.
Because of tho degradation of rum.
drinking parents in one large city,
100000 children, owing to their filthy
physical and moral inheritances and
bad environments, are prohibited from
attending the public schools. Belle
Kearney, in an address at Ann Arbor,
told of one of her experiences while
touring the South. At the close Of
one lecture little boy came running
toward her. 20 Miss Kearney," he
cried, stretching out his claws toward
her, for his thin hands were little
more; don't you think the boys and
girls ought to be protected from
strong drink?
In small village of Michigan, says
Irene Davis in the Home Herald, there
exists a family OF nine children. The
father is habitual drinker. His chill
dren are all dull and some of them
have criminal tendencies. Their one
little girl was an exception. This
little child was very pretty and ap-
peared normal up to her second year,
Later, one afternoon her mother went
away and left her in the care of the
two younger boys. In her absence the
| little girl attempted to light the gaso-
line stove Her clothing caught fire
and she was burned beyond earthly
hope when her screams brought a
passerby to her relief. Their older
boy. is now in Jail. For months the
/ children have absented themselves
from school. The teachers say they
do not want them to attend, for their
presence always starts trouble. This
family can be multiplied many times.
The boys are growing up without
Christian training, and when they are
| 21 their vote will count as much as a
minister's.
Physicians assert that in many
towns more than one-half of the WON
en- to-day are incapable of nursing
their children. This incapacity is on
the increase and has been found to
be hereditary. Their milk has to be
supplemented with cows milk. 1t
has been found that human milk, to
meet special requirements of the hui
man infant, is poorest in albumen
and richest in Tactic acid. The lat
ter component is the principle ele
ment used in building up the brain
Now, the milk of the COW is com
posed of ingredients in percentages
that meet the need of the calf, and
therefore cannot be considered proper
substitutes for human milk for the
infant. Over 100 eminent medical
men have been engaged in scientific
research to ascertain the reason for
the failure of so many mothers tc
nurse their children. Sixteen hundred
families were taken for object studies
., to investigate along this lire. The
failure in Is out o. a hundred was
found to be due to alcoholism. Only
small percentage of the daughters
: Of drinking fathers were found to be
able to nurse their children. II q
child is not we'll fed, especially in in
fancy, it is in danger of becoming &
lifelong victim of mental inaptitude
It will scarcely attain the success thai
it might have enjoyed had all of the
conditions been favorable.
If for no other reason than lovG
to these little human flowers, let us
as mothers, wives, sisters and daugh
ters, do all we can to take down the
Stars and Stripes from the licensed
saloon and wrap it around the pre-