The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-06-22
SHOES AND THE HOOKWORAI
retired Army Surgeon la, Theory
AbOmt the I.nZy DiSn;Isr

Or. W. +. Arnold, retired sur
Seoh OF the United States navy, sub
hlltS 10 the medical profession the
proposal to reduce too a minimum
the danger of hOokworm infection
by inducing those likely to be eX-
posed to it to wear footgear diff
lercnt from the ordinary machine
made shoes. His theory is that
lfookworm larVare will penetrate
anything that will permit the en-
trance OF water, and American sew
tight.
Wooden soled shoes, DR.. Arnold
asserts, TO which the uppers are
nailed are water tight, and these
prevent certain classes of workers
IN southern Europe from becoming
injected with hookworm.
! desire to direct attention. =" he
SAYS in an article in the Medical
he1urd, TO the fact that has been
repeated noted that hoUkworm in
lection in Europe is principally 4
problem dealing with certain occu-
pauons, rather than mounds uDon
the whole that population-as ap-
p"arS now to be the case is our
southern States; also 70 put upon
:ecord the conviction that this diff
-erence OF conditions here and in
southern Continental EuroDe is
MANI! due to the peaSantry there.
The machine made shoes of
Ar!erica are famous alike for their
attractive appearance and for their
relatively small cost: but al of the
recent studies of the condition of
our working classes agree in putting
the cost OF shoes as one of the Drin-
opal items of wage earnerS' eXpen-
ultures for apparel. This is obvi-
oCSiy due to the poor wearing
quality. which are ascribable to
the ughtness of their construction
aud 20 various devices in the man
uiacture of leather tending to
shorten the time OF its production
and to improve its working quail
ties"
The writer goes to explain that
II Is practically impossible to make
shoes with Sewed weltS that are
water tight. Then he says that the
slices with thick wooden soles, to
which the uppers are nailed, such
/ aS the European peasants wear. are
llhperNlouS to hOOkwOrm larvae
me southern European peasan-
Try, he continues, ''and many do
mestics and cognate laborers of
"oth sexes use these wooden soled
shoes. They do not in the least re-
semDle the Holland nor the German
clogs. They are indiStinguishable
from ordinary shoes. especially
those for women, at glance: and
! the only modification in use is that
they are large enough to accom-
| modate a sort of slipper, made usu-
ally or soft kid, to prevent excess
I'VE wear upon the stockings from
I the unDending wooden sole. They
/ cost about the same as the shoes
usually worn by working people. in
spite of the duty now levied upon
/ them on imp0rtatio". Should they
prove too noisy for use i'm school
/ by pupils, this foult could be over
come by adding sheet rubber soles
and heals.
! IF it is possible to popularize
the use of such shoes in this coun-
/ try, | do not hesitate to predict
more efficient protection from the
aoomworm infection. Every up-to-
! date practitioner in the South can
illustrate from his own experiences
I instances in which newcomers eth
er have suffered hookworm infec-
/ tlon, and in the absence of direct
proof of infection by ingestion of
ho0kWorm larvae, which has failed
so far as tried with the hookworm
OF the dog, defective footwear must
be blamed for such infection, espec-
lai!y in bankers, druggists. and like
Sedentary folk, notwithstanding
their indoor occupation and town
lives.