The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-22

| " thtAS etAt etSdt tuOCIClioSiS CoH coo IS holding its sessions in Washington tnere are nearly a million sufferers from the disease in the United States. So eminent an authority as pr. Osler states 1t as his belief that there are l.250.000 people In the United States each year who suffer from it. It was he, also. who stated not long ago that we know enough about the tu- 6erculosis bacillus already to encom- pass 1t If only there is nation wide movement for putting this knowledge into effect
 The bacillus which causes tubercu- iosis IS of vegetable Origin. After it gets into the system 1t develops a toxin which Is responsible for the hectic flush of the disease. There are just two things that must be done to pre- vent the spread of the disease The one is to kill the bacteria and the other Is to fortify the body against it. Af- ter all is said and done the suppress sion of tuberculosis depends upon these two things. Neither has yet been done on any scale of national scope.
 Eminent surgeons with years of ex- perience at the operating table declare that 98 out of every hundred people who come under the knife show some trace of tubercular trouble. At some time or other in the lives of the peo- pie the germ of the disease has been taken into the system and causes more or less suffering to the body. In most eases the system is strong enough to build a little internal iail around the point where the germ take hold. thus effectualIy checking the progress Of infection. Where the system Is not strong enough, well developed tubercu- losis results.
 Perhaps most people contract tuber- culosis from inhaling particles of dust carrying germs released by careless splitting. It Is everywhere admitted that the mere breath of a consumptive Is not infectious. But 1iouid particles containing the germs may be expelled during coughing, sneezing and talk ing. It has been demonstrated that these particles may remain In the ar for a distance of some twenty rect and then they will subside by gravita- tion It may be said that perhaps three-fourths of the danger of getting tuberculosis lies in expectorated mat ter. Eliminate this and the danger from milk, and the battle will be large- ly won.
 Ingestion is a frequent way of con- tracting tuberculosis. Perhaps the most frequent way in which 1t is taken into the stomach Is through the milk sup ply. In a recent investigation of the Washington milk supply 1t was found that eighteen per cent. Of the cows furnishing milk for Washington use had tuberculosis. As one or two cows having tuberculosis on each dairy farm may contaminate the whole milk sup ply of that farm. the per centage Of people who use that particular milk infected with tubercular bacilii is vast ly greater. There has been some diff ference of opinion as to whether man could get tuberculosis from the COW. At one time even the eminent pr. Koch threw the weight of his opinion in the scales against the idea But more recent and thorough experiments demonstrate conclusively that people do contract 1t from the cows.
 The tubercular infection Is spread ing to meats more rapidly under mod ern farm conditions. The neighbor- hood creameries in the rural districts are responsible, more than anything else. for this. Infected skim milk from these establishments Is fed to the hogs of the country round. and every porker that Is not in the best of health falls victim of the disease. Usually killing time arrives long before the symptoms of the disease become apparent to the unpracticed eye of the farmer. hence great deal of meat Is unconsciously tainted. Likewise, meats. vegetables and fruits kept in open market stalls or carried around by vendors, afford
  germs. and thus the disease Is carried into the homes of the people.-a worse enemy than the burglar who takes their valuables at night or the thief who steals them by day.
 The intelligent crusaders against tu- berculosis would impress the people with the danger of expectoration in public places. They would have public sentiment so aroused that it would not any more tolerate the consumptive spit ting in public than it would the op- eration of the pickpocket; for while the one takes your pocketbook, the other threatens to rob you of your health. But they would remind the people at the same time that they must not lose sight of the sense of propor- ton if the crusade Is to be effected. The Maryland Tuberculosis Commission, for instance. reminds us that ordi- nances against splitting on street cars and in public places do not reach the largest source of infection. They de- clare that only about per cent. of all patients contract the dis ease in street cars and public places, and that about 95 per cent. contract 1t in homes and other places where there is a prolonged exposure to the tnfec. tion.
 If YOU allow a baseball player to wield the bat long enough, no matter how good a pitcher there is pltted against him, he Is going to make hit. So it is with the germ. He may not get you the first time he enters your body. or the thousandth time' either. But if he keeps coming long enough he is almost sure to eaten your health off its guard sooner or Iater' Though billions of them may have to die in order to finally lay you low. they never count the cost.
 Tuberculosis germs cannot Wlthstaho pure air and sunlight, even as the uls ease which they cause cannot wtthstano the-lght of science. So they find their lurking places in dark rooms ana iil- ventilated corners. It is said that there are 36O,000 rooms in the city or New York, where these germs can live and remain dangerous for long periods, whereas they come to an untimely end in a few hours of sunshine. It Is the lack of physical, moral, and mental sunshine that is responsible for most Of the tuberculosis in the cities of the country, as 1t finds its favorite propo- gating grounds in the over-crowded tenements, the poverty stricken hovel. and the foul alley shack. It Is this that has led philanthropic men to erect model tenements and workingmen's houses And it is this that goes large ly toward making the death rate among the negroes so much higher than that among the whites
 The negro mortality from tuber- cuIosis in the United States is about 1S0 per cent greater than that of the white people. In Washington the white mortality is 15S.9 and that of death rate of the whites from tuber- o,,Ios{v 1s 1a7 and that of the blacka