Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-12-23

kNM thing or the past. In IacC,
AMy2M the eminent eye specialists
of New York say that there
- y is a bright outlook for the
human eye by reason of the great
progress made in the treatment Of eye
diseases.
Medical regulations making the care
of the eyes in babies and the constant
inspection of the eyes of school chill
dren obligatory by law are rapidly
diminishing the causes which. In
years gone by, resulted In blindness,
says the New York Herald.
Nevertheless experts are agreed
that the distinctive feature of the
American eye is hyperopic astigmatism,
or farsightedness, due to the nervous
strain of American life, which causes
a shortness of the eyeball, as a result
of arrested development, as differenti-
.ating from Germans, among whom
myiopia, or near-sightedness, is most
prevalent.
Hyperopia, or farsightedness, is,
however, not IN eye disease but mere
Iy a condition which causes headaches,
nausea and nervous ailments peculiar
to the nervous tension of American
life. There is another cause, how
ever. that has much to do with the
strain on American eyes, and that is
the habit of reading badly printed
newspapers, books and magazines on
railway trains and street cars.
Too Close Print to Blame.
Even in the home the reading OF
close print is acknowledged to be a
prolific cause of eye weakness. There
fore the action Of the Herald in using
larger type in it's news columns has
been widely commended.
So eminent an authority as DR.. ]
Herbert Claiborne in the treatment Of
and reasonable thing to do in view Of
the existing conditions. | have for {
long time been preaching in favor o.
having all newspapers and books
especially those devoted to educationa
purposes, printed in large type
M k0DdCES DGlWGGH HlGllCl6 LII UStWCCl
printed lines should be wider in orde,
to give ease to the eyes when reading
This fact has been at last recog
nized by the board of education. whicl
is now taking care that all schoo
books shall be printed in larger type
DIR. William HI. Maxwell. city superin
tendent Of schools, in speaking on thi
subject said: II have read q grea
many things written by doctors on tn
subject Of the effect of illegible typ
on the eyesight. The board of educa
ton adopted a new list of books las
June, and in doing so care was take
that all the books accepted wer
printed in large type"
Furthermore, one of the chief care
of the department Of health Of Ne
York city is to see that the Eyes (
the school children shall be in perfet
condition. Mr.. Thomas Darlington
commissioner OF health, says: "Th
child of to-day will be the man of t,
morrow, and the hope and outcome (
our existence as a people rests upo
that assurance of physical virilit
which We can offer to the future.
Service Of Patriotism.
THE world is awake as never b
fore to the import Of this danger th'
threatens. Saving the babies ar
keeping the children healthy Is ~
merely humanitarian impulse. It
civic and national service and u
highest type Of patriotic duty.
"In considering the health OF u
hahv and it's chance for life, we mu
tal.p into account the conditions ST.
rounding its birth, For this purpo
the division Of child hygiene w
formed. This year five differe
agencies have volunteered the servic
Of nurses who have worked under o
direction. The department has had
stafY OF its own, numbering AL. Dt
ing the period between April u a.
September 1. a total OF 57,Ol5 NJ
visits were made. OF these 1871
visits we're made to births report
~ midwives. There were report
e2 cases Of sore eyes and a confirm
tory diagnosis Of ophthalmia neonai
rum BY the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Of 7
department. was made In % cases
tended BY midwives. This renal
able result is undoubtedly due 70 I
facs that the department insists up
the Use Of a one per cent. solution
silvef nitrate dropped into the ey
Of ali new born infants. In 9th