The Columbus weekly dispatch., 1908-04-09
Communicated.

The CITY OF COlum DuS must 7uE-14
congratulate the Lowndes County
Medical Society on bringing for the
occasion such a wonderfully instruc-
tive lecturer as DR.. /. y. Mccormack.
of Kentucky. The subject was
Things About Doctors Which Doc
tors and Other People Ought 10
Know" The mastery address lasted
over an hour, but 50 replete was II.
with knowledge, spiced with humOr,
that the audience showed no signs
of even physical fatigue, but there
was universal expressions OF regret
that the address had come 70 a close.
Was there ever a talk given 10 this
community so replete with helpful
suggestions? AS was anticipated the
invaluable ounce of prevention was
first dealt with. Our great national
scourge, the white plague, came first
in importance. A ray of hope must
have entered the hearts Of many in
the audience as the learned doctor
explained the cause OF the prevailabil-
ity of the, disease. Then in turn
came typhoid fever, malaria and 9th
er diseases peculiar to the summer
season. As these ailments and the
prevention came in review 1 suppose
there was not a person present so
callous as failed to see the value of
the suggestions so ably put forth
President Whitfield followed by a
most telling speech which might have
been entitled What Are You Going
to do About It?'' Surely, surely, we
are going to do much, and that i'm
mediateIy. Where the expenditure OF
money is involved we may not move
so rapidly, but improved sanitary con-
ditions can be inaugurated at once
This and mosquitoes deadly
purveyors of disease-can be elm
mated almost at no expense. Colum-
bus with her trees and flowers, her
unequaled streets and pavements,
was never so beautiful as now. 1t
would be but a step TO make it the
most beautiful and the most salubri-
Gus town in the State. I believe it
was to young Nicholas Nickleby the
old teacher gave this instruction:
Spell horse; now you know how TO
spell horses, go and see that you
know how to curry one" Let US
form a civic league at once, that Co
lumbus may become model for the
State. Let us begin in our own
homes and see that not a nuisance or
own premises. Then the individual
will have earned the right to point
out any unsanitary conditions to the
city fathers.
Stagnant water is one Of our great
est dangers and yet one of the easiest
of remedy. A drive around the city
will show some of these existing
evils. A green scum is already form
ing on the surface. Calling the at
tention of the city fathers to these
things, when done in the proper
spirit, is all that is required.
But TO return once more to the
"city beautiful" i. e., the civic
league. Who will initiate the move
ment? We saw that the doctors are
all ready; that they were willing 10
instruct, advise and help, but they
felt naturally "the people" were the
ones to launch the movement The
city council has been carefully Sc
lected from the most public spirited
citizens and it does seem that with
out question they should make the
call for a public meeting. Our hon
ored Mayor modestly declined TO
speak at the theater on the occasion
of DR.. Mccormack address, but we
know that he is man of deeds and
not of words, and from him we hope
to hear the invitation, Come over
and help US"
Once the civic beauty is started, II
spreads like the prairie fire We
find that from city beautifying We
naturally turn to intellectual and
moral development until our spiritual
outlook will be widened and height
ened and glorifed.
| Let US begin.
/ AN INTERESTED CITIZEN.