The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1910-01-19
h00KW0RM,F0E
OF S0UTHERNERS
Disease to Be Fought by Rock
efe|Ier's Million.
DESCRIBED BY OISCOvERER.

~N "oS .so~
cate MaIady, Says Dr.. stiIss-crip.
pies Its Victims Bodily and Mentally.
Can Be Cured Easily.
According to DR.. Charles w. Stiles,
the discoverer Of the hookworm dis
ease, to eradicate which John d. Rock
efeller has given 100000. the NAL
ady is confined almost exclusively to
the southern s~tates-chiefy to the rural
districts. 1t car be easily cured and
easily prevented. Yet thousands of
southern country school children are
dwarfed both physically and mentally
by this malady.
Children who attend rural schools
in the south are in many Instances so
enfeebled by the disease that they die
before coming Of age" says DR.. Stiles.
'The south is educating rural children
between the ages of six and twelve
and burying them before they are
twenty-one. thus putting their educa-
ton into the grave.
Cause Of Poverty and Distress.
"Hookworm disease is n of the
principal causes-by far the most i'm
portant single %cause-of the wretched
physical, mental and financial condi-
ton Of the tenant whites of the
south. 1t is not their fault that they
are lazy. shiftless and lacking in am
bition.
by reason of their lack of decent
sanitary conveniences many of the
country schools and country churches
in the south r breeding places for
this malady. Whatever they may do
for education and religion, they are in
their present condition a menace to
public health.
The Real "Negro Problem"
"The real acute negro problem in
the south at the present moment is
the problem of the hookworm, for
the negro is the principal scatterer of
the parasite, propagating and dissent
mating it wherever he goes. The white
people are the sufferers, particularly
the tenant whites.
"The south does not need a higher
birth rate. but a lower death rate. In
cidentally, if the hookworm mischief
were wiped out the labor problem OF
the south would be solved by saving
the children.
'"The| leaders in southern thought are
showing an acute interest in this sub
ject and are cooperating in a move
ment to better the conditions of their
much misunderstood, misinterpreted
and misrepresented neighbors who are
in less favorable financial circum-
stances. Southern physicians. espe-
cially the state boards of health, are
alive to the subject. and many physi-
clans are giving free treatment for
this disease. The better class of south
ern newspapers are taking a live in
terest IN the matter and are spreading
the doctrine of proper sanitation.
Will Take Years to Eradicate It.
"The difficulties of the situation
should not, however, be underestimate
ed. 1t will take twenty years to Grad
icate the disease, but results should
begin to show themselves in about five
years."
Medical research in recent years has
shown that cases apparently hopeless
can be cured easily and quickly; that
a couple of simple drugs will relieve a
victim and ordinary sanitation will
eradicate the hookworm in a neighbor-
hood.
All needed for a successful battle
against the disease. according to skill
ed investigators. were money and prop
erly applied energy. Both are now at
hand, thanks to Mr.. Rockefeller. A
recent article on the hookworm dis.
ease stated that 100000 would wipe
out every vestige Of it in America.
Those who heard Of Mr.. Rockefeller's
gift confidently believed that il his
100000 proved as e~ficacious as was
expected he would give the other mil
lion readily.
The hookworm (uncinaria is it's med.
ical name and uncinariasis that Of the
disease) Is a parasite, which may be
roughly described as about the thick
ness of a hair and the length of a
pin. 1t is plainly visible without the
aid Of a microscope. Doctors believe
that 1t was imported to this country
by the slaves from Africa.
The worm fastens itself to the walls
OF the intestines. There it justiAes its
name OF vampire" for it lives upon
blood which it draws from the delicate
membrane. which it punctures. One
end Of 1.-THE hook end-holds it SO fast
that considerable effort is needed for
Its dislodgment. Sometimes hundreds
of these worms afiict a victim. In an
autopsy 1853 were found.
Affects Body and Mind.
Not only do they draw away the life
giving blood. but they fill the intes-
final wall so full of holes that it's
functions are interfered with, and they
withdraw so much blood that the vic.
TINS mind and body alike are affected.
A gnawing is produced. which is re-
l1eved by the eating Of common clay.