The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-07-10
Fight Against Consumption
in the United States
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

tuberculosis may well be called the
"great white plague" More people
have died from it than were killed in
all the wars that men have fought. 1t
is appalling to think that q out OF
every nine persons in the United States
dies from this dread disease. In fact,
one death in every four that occurs be-
tween the ages of 20 and 80 is due to
tuberculosis. The number Of people
who die from this cause in the United
States is equal to the combined NOR
tally from p%eritonitis, appendicitis,
scarlet fever, typhoid fever, diphthe-
ria, grippe, cancer and smallpox.
What an awful state of affairs, now
that we learn that consumption 10 in
reality the most durable of all chronic
diseases.
After studying the study for many
years, the scientists announce that
while tube rculosis Is extremely conta.
gious, it is both preventable and cura-
Bile. DR.. Joseph Mcdowell Matthews
of Louisville goes even farther and
states: "There are two reasons why
people die from consumption-igno-
rance and laziness." Bearing all this
in mind, America has begun one OF
the greatest wars that her people will
ever know. It is the war between sci
ence, hygiene and common sense on
the one side and Ignorance, indiffer'
ence and unsanitary conditions on the
other. 1t was long believed that con-
sumption was hereditary, and when q
parent had the disease the cry went
forth that some or all of the children
must have it. Modern science and re-
search have proved that this theory Is
all fudge. 1t is true that a child may
inherit q parents physique to a certain
extent, and that it may have less pow
ers of resistance, but it is certain thai
the diseases cannot be inherited,
| When q child follows q parent to the
grave with consumption it is only be
cause of carelessness with the sputunI
from the diseased lungs of the oldel
person.
The average consumptive coughs
out millions of bacilli a day, and while
sunshine kills many of these germs,
the careless person may know thai
through his own indifference he Is in
fecting the air about him and wilfully
inocculating thousands of Others with
the disease that is rayaging him
These germs, when dry, float out OIL
the air and infect other persons in va
rious ways. Sometimes they &c
through the skin, producing a locaI
disease; again they are swallowed
with food and produce an intestinal
trouble, and finally through the air,
which, when inhaled, is likely to pro-
duce consumption,
The people of the poorer classes are
more liable to infection because they
have less sunshine and fresh air in
their homes, have less nourishine
food, and 30 have less resisting power
when the disease germs cone theil
way. There are 10000 cases among
the lower classes in New York city
One authority says: "Consumption il
more frequent among the poor, the
badly housed, the underfcd, the intern
perate and individuals debilitated by
excuses, disease or uncertain occupa'
tions. Without better housing for the
poor, the tuberculosis problem cannot
be solved" Negroes are more suscep
tible 10 The ravages of consumption
than white people, the mortality
among them being three times al
great. More married men die OF thi!
disease than those who are single
One of the greatest aids to consump
ton nowadays is found in adulterateC
foods, which offer bulk and moi sub
stance to the consumer.
The one great thing about consump
ton that the world has not yet real
ICED is that it cannot be cured by nos
trums, by patent medicines, by quacl
doctors, nor Ly widely advertised rem
edies with notwithstanding titles
Il Ia nrrad anrelu and entirely by wis!