The Washington times., 1910-05-20
French Army Surgeon Says
1t Prevents Spinal
Meningitis.
DRINKING OF TEA
CALLED INJURIOUS
English Officer Declares Pipe
Smoking Is Only Kind to
Indulge In.

LONDON. May 1o-The title of an old
music haH ditty, we Dunno Where We
Are" might very well be revived as a
popular wheeZe instead OF the stale
wait and see" motto Of the prime min
lister
Dent smoke; or. II you do, smoke
cigarettes instead Of the filthy pipe. was
the advice recently given by doctor in
discussing the question OF smoking as
an irritant TO cancer. Smoke and you
will be tolerably safe from cerebro-
spinal meningitis. or spotted fever. as 1t
is often called.
Surgeons Views.
This is the view Of DR.. Rene de Ker-
mabon. a French army surgeon, who
has Just published the result Of his OBJ
servations, which cover a period of two
years, during which he treated forty
three soldiers suffering from that dis
ease. of these nineteen were non
smokers, thirteen occasional smokers,
and only clever regular devotees Of to-
bacco. OF the nine men who succumbed
10 the malady. four were nOn-smOkers,
-four smoked very little, and only one
was a confirmed smoker.
Don't smoke; or. If you smoke at ali
II must be a pipe, says Cen ii. &.
Smith-DOrrien. in charge OF the Alder
shot command zone OF the largest and
most important in the kingdom. who has
put a ban UFon his men smoking cigar
cites This order IS the result Of rep
presentations made 70 the general Of the
harmful effects o. cigarette smoking by
the medical branch and by the physical
training instructors.
The gymnasium STATS have been com
planning bitterly of recent years OF the
lack Of development in young soldiers.
and they attribute most OF the harm to
cigarettes. But they may smoke pipe
when on duty.
Warning Against Tea.
Don't drink; or. If you want a stimu-
liant. drink tea, cofTee or cocoa instead
of alcohol. That is what the teetotallers
urge. because they say, with regard to
tea IN particular, that the beverage con-
tains all the stimulating powers one
wants. Tea, they contend. has done
much for the cause of peace and tenn
perance. Quarrels have been patched up
over II, Misunderstanding have been
cleared away, cheerfuIness and good
feeling have followed in its wake
But tea, according to the National
School Blue Book is now drunk 10
such an extent that il ranks before
alcohol as an enemy OF public health
This, as one commentator remarks,
IN these commercial days the most
important thing Of all is to keep
clear head we should certainly give
up tea and Introduce our great-gTand-
fathers punch bowl to the light Of
day"
Even more disquieting to teetotal-
1ers must be the conclusions arrived
at by Miss Eth2i NJ Elderton, assist
ed by DR.. Karl rearson. in inquiries
into the influence Of parental alco-
holism on the physique and ability Of
the offspring. Some Of the conclu-
sions at which she arrives are rather
startling.
Less tuberculosis.
No one, for stance, would expect
a scientific research TO reveal that
the general health Of the children of
alcoholic parents appears. on the
whole. slightly better than that of
sober parents. There are fewer deli
cate children. and in a most marked
way cases Of tuberculosis and cpl
lepsy are less frequent than among
the children of sober parents. But
Miss Elderton, In trying TO find a
reason for this. suggests that the
physically strongest in the commun-
lty probably have the greatest ca
becity and taste for alcohol"
Miss Elderton, like all other work
ers in the Cation Laboratory, ap-
preached her work without bias of
any kind, not as a social reformer,
but purely as a scientific investigator
and the material which was used for
the tables of results consisted of two
series Of statistics bearing on drink
and its effects on the children. These
were the reports of the Edinburgh
Charity Organization Society and
from the schools Of Manchester.