The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1911-10-27


l !. !: i. Il" ]. {. !. !.
OF the American Association Tor
the Study and Prevention OF In
"a t4tKR FAINT Mortality at Baltimore last
ID sNInlA November. In one corner OF the
room vas an electric light. en-
tfAAA cased in & red bulb. Six times
Ll19 minure-7.540 times a day-the
Hf,GFN light vent out and. every time
i the light faded from the bulb.
somewhere in the world the light
faded from mothers eyes So tas, DO our chill
oren die
Sometimes they die faster They died faster
last simmer. # babies kept diaries. last summer
would 90 down in the annals OF the survivors
as the black sumner OF 1910" In the single
city Of New YORK. s73 died in a single week.
Every little poor street had its little white nearse.
Worse still durin gthe course OF the sumner,
5000 children died that ought 10 have lived; that
Is TO say. they died from preventable causes
Children die from Two kinds OF causes, those
that are preventable and those that are not This
Is news. Your grandmother and. possibly. your
mother believed that every child that died could
not have been saved Everybody thought so
Preyenteble causes OF deaths were not recognized.
II wss taken as a matter OF course that women
should bear twice as many children were re-
quired TO maintain the population, because haH
OF them were bound 10 die
We still let half OF the children die but we
know better We know they need not die We
know they were born to live We know that
they Go not have chance TO live We have even
exploded the old supposi-ion that the children OF
the physically weak must OF necessity be physical
ly weak. We nov know that the children OF the
physically weak are born almost as strong a.
the child OF the strongest
Every intelligent physician knows this
statement 70 be true. However let
some eminent physician stand Tor IL ~
Caleb " Saleeby. one OF the most emf *
nent physicians in England, is such an :
an authority Read what he says on the Il
subject in ~Parenthood and Race Cul- ~
ture":
Most Of the babies born IN the cluns
are splendid little specimens OF humanity-so far
IS physique IS misunderstanding no marks OF
degeneration TO correspond with the deterioration
OF their parents In a word. hereditory works
so that each generation gets z fresh
start"
In another part OF the same book. DR.. saleeby
estimated that the number OF children who are
born so weak that they have little chance FOR
life does not exceed ten per cent and he attri-
buted the weakness Of these TO the effects OF alco-
hol and certain mpolte diseases upon one or
both Of their parents
Having now some fundamental facts that meet
with general acceptance among the enlightened.
We may proceed 10 seek an answer 10 the ques-
taa. Why are children permitted 10 die from
preyentable causes and what are those prevent
able causes?"
We need not go far. Millions OF children that
are born strong enough TO live under favorable
circumstances are killed by their mothers The
rest that die from preventable causes are killed
by the community-by you and by me- If We help
to keep things as they are. and by everybody
else who helps to keep things as they are
We will first consider the mothers who kill
their children Every mother kills or tends 20
kill her children who does not take the trouble
to inform herself concerning the proper methods
OF child rearing It is not that such mothers
are lazy It Is not that they are Indifferent to
their chndren's welfare They are simply ig-
norant- Some OF them are STEPPED in ignorance
Some Of them are haif-steeped. But they are all
ignorant They don't know that flies BY carrying
the germs Of diseases. kill more children than all
the elephants tigers. lions. automobiles and street
cars in RE world Therefore. flies are considered
mere Inconvenience. They are regarded as IN
ornamental II the soup but as not detrimental 10
the health They swarm in the Kitchen the
pantry and the dining room. painsrakingy deposit
ing their filth upon every particle Of food that the
family. including the children eat Some OF this
filth IS not deadly; some OF it Is But no such
ignorant mother ever connects in her mind the
going OF her baby with the coming OF the nies.
Nor does any such ignorant mother nave any
conception OF the care with which she should
feed not only her baby. but her haif.grown chill.
dren. II she doesn't nurse her baby she doesn't
realize that any milk she Is likely 70 ind TOR
sale IS more likely 10 be poison than food Nor.
does she realize that such milk will De precisely
as poisonous FOR her baby after il mas bean
weaned Such mothers usually buy their milk
from the nearest grocery store The number or
bacteria in milk when IT exceeds 500 600 10 the
cubic centimeter makes the milk unit Tor use
Yet some analyses OF New York store milk. the
other day. showed bacteria high as IS 900 .000
What wonder that every summer is black sum
mer" for the babies Of New iork's poor
In many other ways the ignorant mother Kills
her children with the food she gives them. Many
a baby six months old Is uiobing crackers
bananas and pickles while putting IN the rest o.
its time at "allday sucker" a stick Of candy
Mothers who want their children to i've should
know that the premature giving Of any kind OF
soid food TO baby Is exceedingly dangerous;
that after child is warned it should lie given
solid food only In accordance with the instruc
lions Of intelligent physician; that meat ana
fruit (except orange juice like SO mucn
poison. even II they do produce death as
quickly as strychnine would: and thar all during
childhood the food should BE simple with cereals
milk and vegetables a basis and little meat
not uftener than week.
But as a child-killer. the community exceeds
in destructiveness even the ignorant mother ~
this is meant that the community maintains con-
ditions that sometimes prevent even intelligent
uersons from taking proper care OF their children
The community maintains conditions that create
and sin The community even main.