Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-10-30

The great white plague costs the peo'
PIE Of the United States over q billion
dollars ach year. This statement was
made by Prof. Irving Fisher of Yale
before one of the sections of the tuber-
culosis congress-. He estimates that
consumption kills 1850 every year in
the United States. This is equal to the
deaths from typhoid fever, scarlet fever,
diphtheria, appendicitis, meningitis,
diabetes, smallpox and cancer all put
together. Then again, it generally axes
three years to die. during which time
the poor victim can earn little or moth
ing. Finally the ScOurge picks out It's
victims when they are young men and
young women, at the very time they are
beginning to earl money. The mini
mum cost of such items as doctors bllls,
medicines, nursing and loss of earnings
before death amounts to over S2,4Oo IN
each case, while the earning power
which might have been" if death had
not come, brings the total cost to at
least $4,000. If this is multiplied by
the $4,000 deaths, we find the cost is
bigger thar the almost i~ncalculable sum
of $1,000, 600, 600. Prof. Fisher eSu-
mates that over half of this cost gener-
ally falls on the lurklrSS victim him.
self, but the cost to others is over $40
OOO 1000 Il year. AS n matter of self
defense it would be worth while to the
community. he shows. in order to save
merely a quarter of the lives now lost
by consumption, to invest $3,1Oo,Ooo, 900.
At present only a fraction or l per cent
Of this money is being used to fight the
disease. Five million people now Nv
ing in the United States are doomed TO
fill consunptivcs' graves unless some
thing Is done to prevent it. AS each
death means anxiety and grief for a
whole family, he estimated that there
will be over 20,OOO,OOO persons rendered
miserable by these deaths.
It has been reported that District
Attorney jerome Of New York had
been asked by William Nelson Crom-
well, organizer of big trusts and coun-
sci for the government in the purchase
Of Panama Canal rights, to investigate
charges of blackmail against one Alex
andcr E. Bacon, who claims to nave
found evidence that q part at least OF
the $40 900, 600 paid for those rights by
the United States went to Cromwell
Indirectly. The story told was to the
effect that American tinanciers had
bought largely the stock of the French
company prior to the purchase by the
American government. 1t was sald
that the Cromwell syndicate had net
ted S3G. 5OO,G eco in the deal. By order
of the SECRETARY of War an investiga-
ton has been begun at New York of
charges brought by presidnt Brothers
of the Balanced Gable Crane Company
of Baltimore. who claims that he was
deprived of q contract for Panama Ca
nal work, although he was the lowest
bidder.
Ever since the passage Of the pure
food law, manufacturers have COM
planned of the injustice of denying
them the use of the small amount or
pr~eservatives necessary to keep certain
kinds of food products from fermenta-
ton or other form Of deterioration.
Professor Wiley of the Bureau OF
Chemistry in the Department of Agrl-
culture has appointed a pure food COM
mittee, to represent the different States
having pure food laws, the object OF
which will be to harmonic the State
laws with the laws of he Cover nment.
The conimitte will also, without doubt,
define what is 4 safe amount of preser-
yative to be used. 1t is said that there
has been an increase Of ptomain-pol-
soning since the pure food law went
into effect, but perhaps the statement,
like some OF the food products, can
best be taken with a grain of sailor
of boracic acid.
49,
After taking observations of the
Wright trial flights at Fort Myer, the
Navy Department has set forth the re-
Ouiremcnts of aeroplanes that will be
acceptable to that department for use
IN scouting and dispatch bearing. They
must be able to float on the water and
T1Nyy