The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1910-09-08

I Engineer DeLeSSupS, started the
r construction of the Panama Cana
they first built large hospital, ample
I in equipment and commodius in size.
: II was always crowded and the death
I rate was so large and so much sick
l ness was encountered that the project
: had to be abandoned. When the
. government of the United States took
/ over the Canal instead of sending an
; engineer they sent doctor. Gorgas
, went, he studied the mosquito, the
: culex the house kind or yellow fever
bearer, the anophele, or malaria mos
quito. He had all standing water
drained away where possible and
where not possible he covered the
surface with crude petroleum, there
by sealing up its dangers. All bitches
were treated with petroleum, allbrush
and underground were cut away and
removed that were within three
hundred feet of any habitation, which
is as far as the mosquito flies from
the place of Matching. All grass was
cut and removed or burned allowing
the heat of the sun to dry and warm
the soil. The houses were all
screened against the house fly and
cleaned up and made free from filth
of any kind. No one was permitted
to have even bucket of stagnant
water on their premises. The Canal
is being rapidly constructed with a
death rate scarcely larger than that
of the state of New Jersey and not
much more sickness than is found in
the commonwealth of Missouri.
There was a time when Memphis,
Vicksburg, Yazoo City, New Orleans,
Lake Charles, Shreveport were visited
almost every year by yellow fever
and the cost in lives and money was
enormous. Under proper sewage, a
rigid system of cleanliness, careful
inspection of water and food supply,
it has almost passed from the men,
DRY of man.
During the Civil War twelve men
died of disease where one was killed
in battle. During the Spanish-Ameri-
can War eight men died of disease
where one was killed in battle. Dur
ing the war between Russia and ia
pan the Japanese lost four killed in
battle to only one lost by disease.
Now why? Because the surgeon in
the Japanese Army bears a different
relation. He travels ahead of the
army, choosing their camping ground,
testing the water for infection, laying
out the camp for best drainage, To-
eating the cesspools and examining
their food supply and on the eve Of
battle they saw that each soldier
changed clothing and bathed their
bodies so that in case of wounds they
would not be infected before the
surgeon reached them-all this points
to one thing, cleanliness and right
living.
See that all underbrush, weeds and
grass within three-hundred feet of
your school are removed. See that
your school room is clean and kept
clean, see that all dark closets are
opened to the light, see that the cess
pool is at least one-hundred feet from
the cistern and that your water sup
ply is not veteated and always re-
member that it is cheaper for the
school board to heat pure fresh air by
burning coal than it is to heat stale
air with the bodies and breath of
children. Keep your windows open
and watch your thermometers and |
don't think the temperature of a
school room should ever be allowed
to 60 above seventy-five degrees.
When your physician tells you
that crooked eyes will grow straight,
that adnoids will absorb, that tuber-
culosis is incurable and that it is
hereditary and right living and n.y.
giene will do no good or that cancer
will be cured by Osteopathy or any
other method than exterpation he is
an undesirable citizen and unsafe