The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1909-05-20
0SLER URGES WAR
ON TUBERCULOSIS
Noted Physician Says Public
Must Awaken.
BATTLE or HOPE, He SAYS
Ambassador Bryce Praises Work Of
Scientists and Speaker Cannon
Favors Fairgrounds as Means
Of Checking Disease.

Washington, May 15.-That tuber-
culosis is no longer a problem of the
doctors, that it probably will take two
or three generations to reduce its raw
ages to the rate at which typhoid
fever has been regulated, and that the
public must be awakened to a greater
sense of it's responsibility in combat
ing the disease, is the substance of an
address by DR.. William Osler, the
noted physician of Baltimore and Ok
ford, England, before public meeting
of the National Association for the
Study and Prevention OF tuberculosis
Other distinguished men who spoke
were Ambassador James Bryce and
Speaker Cannon of the house of repre-
sentatives, both of whom urged the
fostering of the idea of children's
Fairgrounds as means of keeping
them in the open air as much as pos
sible. ~.
osler CongratuIates Association.
DR.. Osler congratulated the associa-
ton on the work it had done, the
three principal things accomplished
having been, he said, the awakening
of the public, the loosening up of the
money bags of the legislatures and Of
philanthropic, persons, and the enlist
ment of men and women who are
thoroughly in earnest in the cam
paign. He dwelt at length upon the
need of money to carry on the work,
70 crh nj
ing from a dollar to ten cents.
1t was essential. he declared, that
the citizens should get in the habit
of contributing for a cause so great.
One of the most important problems
in dealing with the disease, he said,
was in improving the social condition
of the poor.
Three things remained to be done,
said DR.. Osler. The first was to keep
the public awake, the second to OBJ
tain more money and the third to
arouse the interest Of more men and
women. because the campaign was no
longer one entirely for the doctors.
Whether tuberculosis will be final
ly eradicated," he declared, lis even
an open question. 1t is foe that is
very deeply intrenched in the human
race. Very hard it will be to eradicate
completely. but when we think OF
what has been done in one genera.
ton, how the mortality in many places
las been reduced mare than fifty per
cent, indeed in some places 100 per
cent, it is a battle of hope. and so
long as we arc fighting with hope the
victory is in sight"
Bryce Praises Scientists.
Ambassador Bryce praised the men
of science because, he said, they be.
longed to all the people. They were
more of link and bond of union be-
tween peoples than even men of let.
tors, because, he said, there are some
men of letters who use their pen not
for the purpose of promoting friend.
ship, but rather of promoting sus-
picion and distrust between different
nations" He declared that no man
of science ever used his results for
any such unworthy purpose.
There is no man of science" he
duty is to truth and to humanity and
who does not feel inspired with the
thought that it is for all humanity that
he is laborihg." He gave numerous
statistics regarding the campaign in
Scotland and Ireland against the white
plague. showing that the death rate
had been enormously reduced. He
mol hfoh trfh - h. -
ficcrs of the United States in stamp.
ing ont yellow fever from Cuba and
characterized it as one of the greatest
OF scientific achievements. '
Cannon "Defes" osIer.
Speaker Cannon made characters.
tic talk and aroused the audience to
laughter when. turning to DR.. Osler.
he said: "Dr. Osler, have reached
the age of 81 and shake my fist in
your face" DR.. Osler laughed hearth.
ly at this def of his old age theory.
Speaking seriously. the speaker
hardened back to the days of his child
hood, when the science OF medicine
was in it's infancy, when bathtubs
were almost unheard OF, and when
the snow would sift through the
cracks of the clapboards of the coun.
try home and cover those lying in bed
before the time for rising.
1--WE had plenty of fresh air then
on the Waba.h and everywhere on.
the frontier before the railroads, and
we didn't have to construct open
porches," he said. He babe Godspeed
to the medical profession for attempt.
ing to prevent disease. He favored
more Fairgrounds for children. but
urged that the legislator be dealt with
gently If he did not do everything that
was wanted of him when you con-
slider that much Of his time must be
used in making an assortment of the
truth from the pretense."
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