Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-04-12
Dr.. j. N. Mccormack, Americans
Medical Representative,
Gives Address
ENTERTAINING AND EDucATlvE
Or. Mccormack's Address, Which Was
Listened to by an Audience of $50,
Was Exceedingly Instructivc-He Is
Engaged in Campaign of Prevention
Of Disease-Taiked of Sanitation.

and carelessness which causes much
disease. was brought home by the lee
ture delivered before an audience Of
$50 people at the Methodist church
Thursday evening by DR.. j. N. Nc
Cormack, Of Bowling Green. Ky. DR..
Mccormack is one Of the representa-
tives OF the association
Contrary, perhaps, to the expecta
lions OF some outside the medical pro-
fession, DIR. McCormack's lecture. was
so exceedingly plain and forceful in
the elemental truths with which he
dealt, that his meaning was carried to
all his hearers. He touched on the
educational campaign the association
has under way. the sanitation and the
prevention of disease in the home,
schools and city. He took up the pa
tent medicines and pointed out the
frauds this great industry is perpe-
trating on the public.
Turnout his lecture was the best and
most practical. exposition Of It's kind
ever delivered in this city.
DIR. Mccormack said in part as fol-
lows:
"One-third of the people sick in this
state last year and every year, and
one-third of those you took to your
cemeteries, were sick and died of dis
eases which your medical profession
could and would have prevented IL they
could have had the intelligent co-op-
Grafton OF your people. You had in thai
year 1000 deaths from consumption.
which means That you have about 49,
900 cases of this disease in your state
constantly. The common impression
is that this Is an inherited malady, but
this Is an error. No matter what your
mother and father died OF you can no
more have consumption except by get
ting into your body the germs from a
previous case than you can raise corn
or wheat on one of your rich prairie
torated matter and the other infectious
discharges from every case of this dis
ease now in your state could be coll
lected and destroyed until they recover
or die. there need never be another
case within your borders unless it be
an important one.
You had 1900 deaths from the dis
eases of children caused by using dir
ty, adulterated or spoiled milk We Of
ten speak of the slaughter of the in
nocents by Herod, but he was a novice
in the business as compared with our
modern cities. You shudder with nor
ror over the loss of life on the Larch-
mont and in the New York Central
wreck the other day. and properly so,
but more babies die needlessly every
week in your state during the hot sea-
son than there We're people killed in
both of these disasters. and it goes oni
almost without comment. And it would
be cheaper for you to inspect tneI
dairies, or sterilize the milk. and savel
these babies than it would to bury
them. You had 1000 deaths from
tinctly preventable. You had 15eol
deaths from typhoid fever during that
year. This means. according to the best
estimate, that you have about 16,0O0i
cases of this disease during each year
Typhoid fever is typical filthy dis
ease. No one can have it except byt
getting into their mouth and stomach
some of the discharges from bowels,
or kidneys of some one who has it,
This is not nice thing to think about
But nice people ought to think about
it and stop doing it. In cities it often
comes from use Of infected water, as in
the epidemic now at Scranton, less fire.
quently in the milk. sometimes on the
hands, cooking utensils or food In
small towns and country districts ty-
phoid fever is usually carried by the
ordinary house fly, as it was at Chica-
manga and the other military
camps during the war with
Spain. In short, during this one year.
you had 10000 deaths from preventabe
diseases. How a state has no more
you had practically 10000 deaths from
diseases. Now a state has
no more valuable asset than that rep
resented in its healthy population.
'Your profession has tried for years
to secure the legislation which would
prevent these diseases. but the aver
age legislator honestly believed that
they sought it for their own benefit
not stopping to consider that in so far
as doctors prevent sickness they di-
minish their own income. In fact it
has often seemed to me that we have
been misunderstood largely because
the work is SO purely altruistic. IL is
not remembered to their credit that
they do more real Christian charity
every day and every year than all of
the other people put together. OveS
a third of your people never paid a
doctors bill in their lives. and never
intend to. and yet no one of them ever
suffers from the want of attention,
either city. town or country districts.
All other citizens may profit by in
vention but if doctor makes dis
covery he is forced by his VOWS to give
the benefit of it without
price In spite of all this doctors are
because away back in
the dim past our forbears spoke I'M
kindly about each other. The clergy
and all of the other segregated call
ngs did the same thing and have been
forgiven. but it is still held against US.
"ro meet conditions so grave. woven
into our laws and what is far more
important. into the habits Of thought
and life of the people, is no ordinary
problem. Legislation. however com
plete. unless supported by an educated
professional and public sentiment,
would have only an educational value.
ultimately this means the same