The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1911-11-11
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fcTHlM room was an electric light. en-
WVHI)M cased In red bulb. Six times
EAllnM minute-7,640 times a day-the
ENXf1 light went out; and, every time
G. 81 i the light faded from the bulb.
somewhere In the world the light
faded from mothers eyes. So fast do our chill
dren die
Sometimes they die faster They died faster
last summer II babies kept DIARIES last summer
woaid go down In the annals of the survivors
as the black summer OF 1910" In the single
city OF New York, 1913 died in single week.
Every little poor street had its little white hearse.
worse still. durin gthe course OF the summer.
5000 children died that ought to have lived that
Is TO say. they died from preventable causes.
children die from two kinds OF causes: those
that are preyentable and those that are not. This
Is news. Your grandmother and, possibly, your
mother believed that every child that died could
not nave been saved. Everybody thought So
Preventable causes of deaths were not recognized
1t was taken as matter OF course that women
should bear twice as many children as were re-
Qusred to maintain the population, because half
OF them were bound to die
We still let half of the children die but we
know better We know they need not die We
know they born to live We know thar
they do not have chance to live. We have even
expfDded the old supposition that the children OF
the physically weak must of necessity be physical
~ weak. We now know that the children OF the
physically weak are born almost as strong as
the Child of the strongest
Every intelligent physician knows this
statement to be true However. let
sonae eminent physician stand for It,
Caleb w. Saieeby. one Of the most emf
nent physicians in England. is such an =
an authority. Read what he says on the n
subject In "Parenthood and Race Gull W
ture":
Most OF the babies born in the clums
are splendid little specimens of humanity--so far
as physique Is notwithstanding no marks OF
degeneration to correspond with the deterioration
OF their parents. In word. hereditory works
start" avn sets ''esn
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-
bufed the weakness of these to the effects of alco
hoi and certain impolite diseases upon one or
, both of their parents
Having now some fundamental facts that meet
with general acceptance among the enlightened
We may proceed to seek answer to the ques-
ton. why are children permitted to die from
preventabe 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 preventabe are killed
by the community-by you and by me- II we help
to keep things as they are. and by everybody
else who helps to keep thugs they are.
We will first consider the mothers who kill
their children. Every mother kills or tends to
kill her children who does not take the trouble
to inform herself concerning the proper methods
OF child rearing 1t is not that such mothers
are lazy. 1t is not that they Indifferent to
their childrens welfare They simply g-
norant Some of them are STEPPED In ignorance
Some of them are halfsteeped But they are all
ignorant They don't know that fes by carrying
the germs OF diseases kill more children than all
the elephants tigers lions. automobiles and street
cars in the world Therefore, flies considered
mere Inconvenience They are regarded
ornamental in the soup. but as not detrimental to
the health They swarm in the Kitchen the
pantry and the dining room. painstakingly deposit
sng their filth upon particle of food that the
family, including the children. eat Some OF this
filth Is not deadly: some OF 1t Is. But no such
Ignorant mother connects In her mind the
going of her baby with the coming of the flies
Nor does any such ignorant mother any
couception OF the care with which she should
feed. not only her baby. but her naIfgrown chill
dren II she doesn't nurse her baby she doesn't
reaHze that any milk she is likely to find tor
sale is more likely to be poison than food Nor.
does she realize that such milk Will be precisely
as poisonous for her baby after 1t has been
weaned Such mothers usually buy their milk
from the nearest grocery store. The number or
bacteria In milk, when 1t exceeds 100000 to the
cubic centimeter makes the milk unit for use
Yet. some analyses of New York store milk the
other day. showed bacteria as high as 3Y.000OO0
What wonder that every summer is black sum-
mer" for the babies of New yorks poor?
In many other ways the ignorant mother kills
her children with the food she gives them. Many
a raby six months old is nibbing crackers.
bananas and pickles. while putting in the rest OF
its time at an "allday sucker" or stick OF candy
Mothers who want their children to live should
know that the premature giving OF any kind OF
solid food to a baby is exceedingly dangerous
that after child is weaned 1t should be given
; solid food only In accordance with the instruc-
lions OF an intelligent physician: that meat ana
fruit (except orange juice) are like so much
poison. even If they do not produce death as
quickly as strychnine would: and that all during
childhood the food should be simple. with cereals.
milk and vegetables as basis and little meat
not oftener than once week