The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-22

We must combat the false idea only
too prevalent among our people thai
Il Is safe and proper to rear children
ON artificial foods, whether cows milk
or proprietary foods. We must dis
seminate the knowledge universally ae-
eepted by students of the subject in the
full confidence that the unselfishness
| of motherhood will apply this knowl-
edge once 1t Is accepted.
Let us spread the knowledge, accept
ed by students of the subject, that In
case of disorder, in. nursing child. the
last thing to be suspected, instead of the
first, is too often the case, is the
mothers milk.
Ceased to He Mammalian
."Under civilization, small proportion
of women have ceased to be mammalian
they are not able to furnish sufficient
nourishment for their children-and aru-
fetal feeding becomes a necessity. Then,
too. after weaving. children must be fed,
and hence the Importance OF pure mix
in the prevention of infant mortality in
the first two years Wherever the public
milk supply has been bettered there the
death rate has been lowered, and In
Alabama the death rate can be lowered
materially IL the people get educated TO
the point of seconding the efforts of the
health authorities, In securing pure milk
to the point of demanding pure milk, get
educated 10 the point OF keeping lhe hiiin
pure and In clean receptacles once IL
has been delivered by the dealer.
There Is another barrier and most
serious one In the prevention of infant
mortality. A barrier furnished by ira
dtional opinion, very generally held
among our people.
This traditional opinion holds that all
bowel disturbances in infants from the
age of month to two years are due to
|
tends to disregard the true cause-im-
proper food or infection and loses valu-
able time.
Traditional opinions die hard but It Is
the province of public health officials,
and others interested in lowering mortal
ity rates In infancy, to disseminate the
true doctrine, that not the teeth but i'm
proper food or infection with diseased
germs. should be suspected when baby
bowels become diaordered.
lastly, we should combat one other
common opinion-that fresh air is in
furious to children and replace 1t with
the opinion, based on knowledge, that not
only Is fresh air essential in the proven
ton of disease, but life-giving in the
treatment of diseased conditions. Sir
Samuel Baker, in one of his books, tell
ing of an expedition into Equatorial
Africa, relates how the children were
made to crawl into mud huts at night
and the entrance holes covered. lie re-
marks that it is little wonder the NOR
tality among the children was frightful
We do not huddle children In mud huts
but the all too common practice of tight
ly closing windows and doors at night
dangerously approximates it.
Problem of Typhoid
Another public health problem TO
which very briefly your attention Is in
yited is that of typhoid fever and the
role of the house fly in its dissemination
This disease, like tuberculosis, has been
| with us for so long that we nave gotten
accustomed to II IN a measure IL II ap-
peared among us at long intervals our
people would adopt vigorous measures
would occupy very different attitude.
The Investigations made by a commits
sion of experts following the Spanish war
definitely established the important role
PLAYED bv the house fly in spreading ty-
phoid contagion. This advance Oh our
knowledge showed two things. First, that
the discharges from typhoid FEVER pau
ents should be destroyed. so mat mes
may not get access and convey the germs
of the disease to other people, and, sec
ond that the pest of files should be
combated by preventing their multiplied
ton on horse manure. Our water supply
has been bettered in most and all the
cities of the state. 1t now becomes es-
sential-fn-- fight fias-v1' az 'ractofa ehe
several communities of the state in
spreading a knowledge and acceptance
of this fly crusade. Not only must we
endeavor to kill the flies which gain en-
trance in spite of screens, but we must
see to Ii that our neighbors do not breed
| them for us.
| Public health authorities do not pre-
sumo to decide what remedy shall be em-
ployed by the citizens, nor what reme-
/ II. u.I
| but having regard for the public veal, do
hold most positive ideas concerning the
viciousness of advertisements holding out
| tho promise of impossible cures, of adj
| Vertisements based on fraud. Obtaining
money under false promises Is punishable
| by law, but long custom has decreed, till
recently, that it is legitimate to thus OBJ
| tain the money of the ignorant and the
unfortunate. Custom has decreed, until
recently, that 1t is legitimate for the
| press to be accessory to the crime, but
as the knowledge of the essential and in
hefent wickedness of the whole nefarious
| business has spread, more and more of
the newspapers and periodicals of the
country have refused advertisements of
| this class.
1.-The expose of this great American,
| fraud, made by Samuel Adams for Col
hers Weekly, has most conyincingly DEM
oilstrated the danger and the meanness
| Of this colossal branch of business. A
business that feeds on ignorance, that
| dies of starvation in the presence of
| knowledge, a conference devoted to the
amelioration of the ills of society. can
| Tender signal service by disseminating
| knowledge and thereby forming public
| opinion which will put a stop to this in
Gefensible traffic
Newspapers that refuse whisky adj
vertisements, in response to a prohibit
ton public sentiment, cannot much longer
afford to admit this far more vicious, far
more dishonest class of advertisement.
government, and for integrity in the
much longer afford to share in the prof.
its of this shameless traffic.
Profit by Their Misfortune
I'VE citizens of Alabama, however are
in no position to be too harsh in our crit
icisms of the newspapers for profiting
ny long -estab lished partnership in the
great American fraud, when we profit SO
largely by the misfortune of the ignor-
ant, the misguided and the depraved,
found in our penal institutions - state,
county and municipal.
I'VE, like the people of all the other
commonwealth of the country have de-
cided that every citizen must support his
family, and If he refuses this support,
our courts force him TO comply with this
obligation.
when we incarcerate citizen in our
penal institutions we forget our theory
and our practice OF having his depend
ents cared for. but ruthlessly appropriate
for our collective use all the profits &C.
q f0r htc ctf zanfe NOR thof