Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1910-07-07
ROBINSON ExPLODEs
DOMESTIC THEORY
Not Necessary to Offer v,
Children as Sacrifice to
Diseases of Youth,
5Y DoANE ROBINSON

Pierre, S. D., July 6.-One neroo.
only died from smallpox in South ~
kota In the year 1909.
In that year there were in this sto,,
IL deaths from measles.
There were 80 deaths from whooping
cough.
There were IS deaths from ses,le,
fever.
Smallpox, even in it's benignant firm
Is more deadly and more Contagiors
than measles. Smallpox is more deasI1
and more infectious than whoonins
cough. 1t is equally as deadly anS
equally as contagious as scarlet fever
Yet in a single year u times as
many South Dakotans died from
measles. Thirty times as MANY WIN
whooping cough and Is times as manv
died from scarlet fever as died from
smallpox.
What is the reason for this? wbv
did the pestilent smallpox get but ana
victim while measles got IL. whoopnS
cough 80 and scarlet fever rs?
There is but one answer, and that
answer is the ignorance and the care.
lessness of our people. Because of Our
ignorance and our carelessness we. In
a single year, sacrificed III of our
children.
There prevails among us a foolish
and ignorant theory that all children
must suffer from certain diseases and
that the sooner they are through with
them the better. Our ancestors incud-
ed smallpox among these necessary
evils, but the awfulness of its havoc
and the very loathsomeness Of it has
taught us that it is a thing to bs
avoided, to be fought off, and when II
does come to be quarantined and kent
secluded until it is stamped out of TIN
community. The result of this treaF
ment of 1t is that only one death re.
suited in a great state in single year,
while we inundated III of our youth on
the altar Of the so-called benignant ills
of childhood.
Can there be any doubt that if We
used the same intelligence and the
same care in the treatment of measles,
whooping cough, scarlet fever and
mumps that we exercise in the matter
of smallpox that they, too, would be-
come rare occurrence and that the
deaths from them would be reduced
to q negligible number? Certainly there
is not. The existence Of these diseases
can be practically destroyed by the
same simple methods that have driven
smallpox away from us. Is it not worth
while to undertake it? Can South Da-
kota afford to continue to offer up an
nually more than a hundred Of our
loved ones whose lives may be spared
to the community II only we will use
the brains and the common sense God
has given us?
The deaths resulting from these pre-
ventable and unnecessary diseases are
after all but the smallest part Of the
evil which result from them. Count
over your acquaintance and discover
how many of them suffer from I'M
paired eyesight, or hearing, or are
famed and deformed through the effects
of scarlet fever or some other childs
disease? Few indeed come through
them without some latent injury. The
latent injuries from them can only be
surmised.
1t is doubtful If any child is ever
again as sound physically after com
ing through" the ills Of childhood Is
he might have been had he escaA1
all of them. Most burns leave theil
scars. Most persons have about them
some defect traceable to sacrlet fever
measles, mumps or whooping cough
all of which could be prevented II only
the community, as whole, would exer'
else yigilence, cleanliness and intell
gence such as is employed in the mat
ter of smallpox.
Surely the time has come in the prog
ress of the world when there shouit
be an awakening of the public con
science and an education of the popu
lar intelligence until at least deau
from measles should be as rare as
death from smallpox.
In some communities boards 0
health are doing splendid service alon
the educational lines looking to tn
eradication of these diseases. 1t ougn
to be at once impressed upon tn
mind of every parent that it is utterl
unnecessary that his child should eve
suffer from one of them. 1t ougRt
be made criminal to unnecessarily ex
pose child to any contagious dlseaS
or to allow it to go unquarantlne'
1t ought to be regarded as the sham
of South Dakota that III of our childre
were carried to their graves in one yea
| by ills we could have easily preVente'