News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1911-04-26
PROPER WINDOW VENTILATION.

tEave plenty of window space and so
arrange your rooms that they are thor
oughly ventilated and we'll lighted.l
of course and variousy ascribed to
"acts of God" or 1.-The evil one" &C.
cording to the point of view.
We do not read in the sprightly ro-
mances of Dumas and others who
have thrown a glamour over history
that itch" was common, not to say
general. affection at the court of
France and that the great Napoleon
suffered from this trouble because no
one knew its cause or simple treat
ment. 1t seems difficult to realize that
IN the old days Il person "a was not
pockmarked from smallpox was con
SpicuouS in the streets of London
The custom of sleeping in hunks in
the wall. of using rushpS or straw for
door covering. in the mpsheS Of which
refuse scraps from the table and other
9th were allowed to accumulate, was
regarded in the old days as natural
and healthful mode of existence. The
custom of dipping germ infected fin
gers into large dishes of food contain
jng the general supply for the family
was followed by the -Four Hundred
during the middle ages. when the
F'black death" and other scourgeS
spread a desoation of which it is diff
cult to form any conception in these
days of comparative sweetness and
light"
But we must not lay too much fat
Jering JUNCTION to our souls. Taking
unto account the advances in science
and knowledge of the causation of dis
ease. we are today relatively just as
ueglectful as our forefathers. Reck-
less and careless habits in defiance of
disease risks are still common enough
and are responsible for a tremendous
waste Of life.
The Fall In the Death Rate.
In the registration area of the Unit
ed States the death rate has fallen
from 1876 per 1000 in 1890 to 1914 in
1908. In Massachusetts the death rate
has fallen from 1914 in 1890 to 1I.5 in
1907 In England and Wales it has
fallen from 1915 in 1890 to 14.7 in
1903: in Sweden from Ill in 1890 to
a49 in 1908. and in France from 22.S |
in 1890 to 149 in 1905
This is a splendid showing. but when |
we analyZe the material from which ,
these figures are derived we find that /
the death rate among young people |
has fallen more than 80 per cent, while |
the death rate among the middle aged |
and elderly has either been slightly af-
Elected or markedly increased. accord |
ing TO the locality investigated.
In Massachusetts the increase in the
death rate at advanced ages is really !,
startling and doubtless reflects a con-
tIition general throughout the country. |
We know that the degenerative dis
eases affecting middle life and old age
heart disease, Bright's dis |
creased 105 per cent during the past
thirty years in the registration area,
and an increase in the mortality at the
Fges affected would naturally follow,
such as is exhibited in the Massachu-
s5etts statistics.
But the limit of prevention and i'm
Drovement among the infectious dis
eases that affect young lives has not
yet been reached These diseases, such
Is typhoid, cholera infantum. tubercu-
Iosis, ETC., should be absolutely eradi-
-ated.
Proper sanitation. especially in the
rural districts. is greatly needed and a
more thorough observance of the pre-