The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-06-02
PUBLIC HEALTH.
Fairgrounds the Best Single Means Of
Preserving" Life.
Good Food, Pure Air, Sunshine, and Health
full Exercise the Basis Of all Health.

and less Objectionable. but 80 long as 1t re
mains a schoolroom 1t can not escape the Inn
perative need Of the playground as a factor In
school h%ygiene'
AS ia we'll known, Mr.. johnson goes on to
say, 1t is not only the lack OF oxygen but also
the presence or organic poison In exbaled air
that makes ventilation so important. All
animal life excretes a poison destructive to
Itself. Bacteria may die poisoned by their
own excretions. A child's body is anaccumu
lation ofcells, each OF which excretes products
50 poisonous to itself that accumulation may
result In death. Nature here gives US no un-
certain hint. Playground activities not only
purify the blood through the activity OF the
iungsi the pure air, but also stimulate the
excretory organs, preserving Il we'll balanced
system. To quote further:
s'Sunshine. Where the sun does not 60,
the doctor does Is an italian proverb quoted
by koeteImann: Try as we may, we o"nnot
get the sun sufficiently into all our school
rooms, and II We could We would shut II out
again as soon as we let the children in TO
slndy, because we say 1t hurts their eyes.
Where then shall the children bathe in the
sunshine as they should. but IN the play
ground? We do we'll to debar contagious dis
eases from the schools, but let myriads OF bac-
Iii fly over our children's clothing and the
most malignant perish In q short time l1the
10y and the sunshine OF the playground.
Few di.ease germs have been discovered that
can survive ev en- for one hour the streaming
sun on the face OF a laughing child.
Bring 10 these little ones medical inspec-
tIon, examine their eyes, remove their ade-
noids, protect them from measles and all the
rest, but shall we not also provide a play
battle IN the sun as God Almighty has said
they must. II they are to live!
EXERCISE. l have just examined the in
deXes Of Two famous books on school hygiene
and In them was no such word as exercise.
But exercise Is life, and the absence OF 1t is
the sure sign Of death. By exercise came evo-
lutlon. Exercise shaped the body. determined
the vital organs, built the brain. BY, exeI-
oiuo tho ohtI1 70 a nnlaaclinn nf hin inhart-
lance from the race. To him 1t Ia the past,
the present, and the promise OF the future.
But that exercise no man can dictate, no
leac Ter devise, no scholar fully define. 1t
c comes forth unbidden from the child, de-
clares bis nature, discovers him to himself,
defines his relation TO mis- mates, shows him
the world. II Is bis play, 1t Is himself. Can
the school alone do this. be this? In the lone
process in which exercise shaped the body
aud built the brain, there was determined
Tor all .time the path by which the child
must come Into his W In that shortened
process we call childhood. every faculty every
power, every organ that falls to receive its
due exercise shrivels, and health by so much
suffers and by 30 much the man becomes Less
a man. 1t would require q book to lepeak In
full OF the exercises OF the playground that
meet the needs OF health physical. mental
moral. esthetic, social health; for all these are
elements In the health OF the body, as we all
have come to understand. But In many re-
spects, in the very nature Of the lcase. these
exercises are impossible in the school: they
are possible only on the playground.
In the State where 1 had the privilege o.
acquiring most OF my experience in edu'
c%ational work, a child 10 obtain The best edu'
cational advantage must be blind, deaf
feeble-minded, lncorrlgible, or a truant
Then he Is given exercise, Fairgrounds, gym
nasia, baths, fresh air In abundance, gardens,
and playshops. The great majority OF norma
children get along the best they can without
them. And now In Pittsburg they have an
open air school for children with a tendency
to tuberculosis. So consumption %seelnslto bt
another Of the list OF ills, one OF which
child must have in order 10 enjoy the best
educational advantages. | am not disap
proving Of this care for the weak. l behave
in 1t with all my heart, but this I'VE shoulC
have done and not left the other undone
There are thousands and thousands OF child
rem in the regular schools of Plttsburg wht
have no place 10 play, no recess, no reall.
fresh air to breathe, little sunshine, and les
genuine life. giving exercise.
I'VE have reversed the order OF importance
In education as 1t was observed by the Greeks
The Greek education was essentially q play
ground :education and the education mos
nearly approaching 1t today Is that supplied
by the Fairgrounds Of America. OF the $lC