Gilpin observer., 1908-04-09
CONGRESS ON TUBERCULOSIS.
Great International Gathering to Be
Held at Washington Next Fall.

Held at Washington Next Fall.
The meeting in Washington next
September of the Fifth International
Congress on tuberculosis is an event
of more than passing interest to this
country.
Very gradually science has extended
its sway over the ailments that vex
the human body until even the worst
OF the contagious diseases have been
brought under control, while others,
like the once-dreaded smallpox, has
been all hut eradicated. tuberculosis
is the last of the infectious diseases in
which 1t has been been possible to dem
onstrate a cure as possible. No specific
has been found, but the application of
the healing virtues of rest, good food,
and life in the open air day and night
in suitable climate, have proven eff
fective in restoring to health many per-
sons for whom formerly there would
have been considered no possible hope
of a cure. The development of the
sanatorium idea is a logical outcome
and this was followed by the forma-
ton of a national association for the
study and prevention OF tuberculosis;
lastly there have been formed state or
ganizations, subsidiary to the national
and international associations, all
working toward the one end, the pre-
vention and control of tuberculosis.
One hundred and fifty thousand per-
sons die each year in the United States
frf. 1t -1 Is
400 each day. If we were in the midst
of war that sacrificed that many men
in battle there would go up from all
over this land a protest to terminate
the fearful carnage so emphatic that
those in authority could not do other
wise than heed. But, we nave grown
accustomed to this exacting toll of life
and its train of attendant human mis-
cry, even when it's victims fall at the
age of their greatest usefulness to the
state, when their earning power is the
highest, when they mean the most to
their family and to the community at
large. and when they have the most
to live for themselves.
The withdrawal from the ranks of
industry by invalidism and death due
to tuberculosis represents money loss
to the United States of over 100000
600 per annum; an approximate loss OF
s. per year for every man, woman and
child in the nation, or s25 per annum
for the average family. From an eco
nomic point of view We educate chill
dren at Public expense that they may
be of greater value to the state when
they attain to manhood and woman
hood. and may be the better fitted to
succeed in whatever line of industry
they choose to take up. And yet, after
all the years spent in the public school.
the time spent on each one by trained
instructors, and the money spent in
perfecting this system of education, we
neglect to take the precautions that
will insure an adequate return for this
time and money spent, by our neglect
of protective sanitary and hygienic
measures, the ignorance and careless
ness that makes easy the contracting
of an insidious. infectious disease like
tuberculosis. A business proposition
permitting such. an annual waste either
in human life or money would not be
tolerated for day. and prompt, effect
i've steps would be taken to correct the
condition that permitted such waste
fulnes3. The state is all of us. and the
oretically We strive to secure the great
est good to the greatest number. This
needless loss of life and economic
waste is preventible, but the prevention
is not the work of any one individual,
nor even ali association composed of
few it is the work of the state, of the
nation. Universal knowledge of the
existence of these conditions, of the abb
solute fact that three-fourths of the
deaths from tuberculosis are prevent
able. with resultant saving of millions
of dollars. must become general knowl-
edge throughout the country in order
to insure success.
The spread of tuberculosis is through
either contaminated food supply, or
the inhalation of the germs of the dis
ease TO be found floating in the air, at
tachcd to minute particles of dust.
In the lungs of most consumptives
there is process OF destruction taking
place all the time; the tissue broken
down by the action of che tubercle ba-
cilli finds its way into the bronchi of
the lungs, and is there coughed up and
spit out. This broken down, waste ma
terial is loaded with millions of the
germs of tuberculosis. Most perish on
exposure 10 light, air and sunshine, but
a large number on drying become at
tached to particles of dust and float
in the air. subject to gusts Of wind and
the disturbance created by traffic,
ready to be inhaled by the passerby.
Breathed into the lungs they lodge in
air cells little used and here multiply
rapidly and begin their work of de-
struction that gradually spreads
throughout the whole body.
Some municipalities have laws that
prohibit splitting on sidewalks, in the
corridors Of public buildings. public
conveyances and the like. In many in
stances these laws are but poorly en-
forced, II at all. Due to the indiffer-
ence of officials and ignorance of the
infectious nature of the disease, that
is almost criminal.
Associations. local, state and ma