Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
OVERRIDING A GOOD THING
One Brave Physician Points Out the
Dangers Of Fresh Air.
EARNEST PLEA FOR MODERATION
Importance 49, n Cure-An Overesti-
mated, BndAnEerins Man Lives
-Characteristics of the
Fresh Air Fad.

what It IL. II seems to be the fate Of all
good things that they no sooner appear
than they are at once pushed beyond tho
limit OF common sense. Al English phys
ician, DIR. John II. Clarke, now comes for
ward in the London Chronicle and protests
against our abuse of fresh air. Says he:
In these days of open air cures for con-
sumption and nature cures for nerves, the
Importance of fresh air is in little danger
OF being underestimated. Whereas our fore
fathers were won't to take every possible
precaution 10 shield all who were troubled
with coughs from the assaults of fresh air,
We now insist on open windows night and
day, and, whenever II is possible, we send
our c~onsumptives to mountain tops and
keep them in sheds without windows OF any
kind, and leave them exposed. winter and
summer, TO every breeze that blows.
And, not content with fresh air cures for
consumption. in which the air Ii breathed,
the patients bodies being protected with
abundance Of clothing, we have learned
that fresh air IL good for something more
than breathing, and that fresh air baths
are Just as good as fresh air douches for
the lungs. Hence the establishments now
springing up in various parts. where condl-
tions are favorable. enabling the WORKOUT
victims Of modern life to recuperats their
forces by a return to natural conditions Of
a life in the open air. freed from the en-
barassments and membranes Of clothes.
So forth they marched In this goodly sort,
To take the solace of the open air.
-as Spencer has it. Fresh air to breathe,
fresh aid to battle in, with sunlight added
when sunlight can be had-this is the new
est panacea for the numberless Ills Of mod
ern life.
Many elements in the Air.
Truly, there Is more in the air We live In
and live on than anybody hitherto has had
a conception Of. Our scientific authorities
have found out q few Of them. In the days
Of our youth we knew very well that with
every breath inhaled we took in a certin
amount OF oxygen, a certain amount Of
nitrogen and an uncertain amount OF car
homie acid gas-and that was all. Now
with our every breath, we take in all OF
these, with arRon. helium and goodness
knows how many other elements besides
not to mention germs, morbific and benefit
cent, without end. II Is always safe to
conclude in reference to any science that
the unknown UNNECESSARILY exceeds the
known, and we may therefore be quite GER
tain that there Is a vast deal more in the
air we breathe than the scientists have yet
revealed or even limited to us. For any
thing we may actually know, there may be
IN the air we breathe vitality enough to
feed us ~ we could only learn how to APP
propriate It,. But granting all that, / am
not at all certain that we are not in danger
Of overriding the fresh air business at the
present time. We are not all the victims OF
the tubarche bacillus or of nerve exhaustion
For the majority an average amount OF
fresh air is sufficient to Keep the bodily
machinery in. going order. But it is the
49, l. -wA.I1 81 $3.50 aNEAE nA.v fna
or new fashions. and as the fresh air cure
has, be~en-rightly enough-very much
hoomed OF late years, a large number Of
persons have oome to the conclusion that
fresh air is the proper remedy for any
thing and everything, regardless OF ciroum
stances and conditions, and that it is i'm
possible to have too much Of IL.
The Fresh AIR Maniac.
One result OF this has been the evolution
of what may term the fresh-air maniac
Many of us are acquainted WITH him. r
ell outward appearance he is a perfect,
sane and harmless p~aterfspiias, bu
watch him carefully and you will observ
several things. lie is always opening win
doWs which everybody else in the hous
wishes kept closed. He insists on his child
ren being kept out II doors for hours to
gother when they are quite unfit for &
Tue result btlnk NndA mater iAA 70 iNN'
without a nursing Job on her hands. Bu
this in nowIse turns him from his obsesSior
whenever he can possibly make other pee
ple uncomfortable or I'll by the way h
administers to them doses OF fresh air h
will not fail to do It. The more fresh al
people have, he argues. the less sensitiv
they will be TO chills, Salvation by fires
air Il the gospel Of his mission, and he
fully convinced that he is embarked on
wholesale life-saving effort.
Not long ago a well meaning and b'
n~evolent fresh-air maniac gave a gratuitou
piece OF advice TO a friend who had jus
recovered from influenza. Now be sure
he said. IN his impressive way. on partin
from his friend, be sure to get plenty.
fresh air. The friend, duly impresse,
took the advice. II was in the cheerf'
spring weather Of our climate. Too wes
20 walk. he hired a taximeter cab an
went for a drive 10 Hampstead Heath.
fresh east wind caught him, pneumon
followed, and in a few days ne was carrie
off into an untimely fresh-sir grave.
IL Harmful Advice.
Nov. / contend that advice given In IN
wsy almost amounts to a breach Of Il
liberty OF the subject. This is especial
the case when the adviser Is in 2 poslti'
Of patron to the advised and the advi
cannot be refused without glNlnB oiIens
However well intentioned the advice, q
consequences are none the less deplorabl
There are numbers OF innocent metho
Of shufrIng off this mortal coil. and smoi
them each Individual has a well recogniz
range OF choice. II A likes 10 contract
mortal disease by excluding fresh air fro
his dwelling. II is not rs business to sa
his life by forcibly OF surrspitiously ope
ing his windows. There Is an old sayin
You should always let a man 20 20 I
devil in his own way II you try TO Int
fere or TO substitute your way, he will
all likelihood get there much more quick
and Will be much less likely to find !
way back again. In the same way, in Il
free country, I hold to the maxim ct
and let die" II any one chooses the IRE
air method OF departing this life, by
msGns let him take It, but let him resps
the right OF other people 20 choose tn
own method for themselves.
Fresh air has its victims no less tn
foul. The tubercle bacillus does not emf
fresh air. II is true. but there are plenty
other bacili which rejoice in It. IL &C
sumptives thrive out of doors. the subje,
Of bronchitis are generally only safe VIII
they stay in. Many elderly people "
1890 Haa=s- -EsE. sk= z=-Hl--ra - aasai