The Red Cloud chief., 1911-10-26

WNlNM cased in red bulb. Six times
plkllluH mnute-7.6i0 times a day-the
E'NW$9 iight went out; and, every time
~J 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 If babies kept dares last summer
would 60 down In the annals of the survivors
an the bIack summer Of 1910" In the single
city OF New York, S73 died in n single week
Every little poor street had its little white hearse
worse still. durin gthe course of the summer.
s,ooo children died that ought to have lived that
" 10 say. tney died from preventable causes.
Chiidren die from two kinds OF causes; those
that are preventable and those that are not. This
is news. Your grandmother and. possibly, your
motner believed that every child that died could
NOT nave been saved. Everybody thought 60
Preventable causes Of deaths were not Recognized
1t was taken as a matter OF course that women
snouid pear twice as many children as were re-
CURED to maintain the population, because half
OF them were bound to die
We still let half Of the children die but wa
knt better We know they need not die. We
know they were born to live We know that
they do not have q chance to live We have even
exploded the old supposition that the children or
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
statement to be true. However. let
some eminent physician stand for It, ~
Caleb w. Saleeby, one of the most emf. S
nent physicians in England. is such an y
an authority. Read what he says on the II
subject In "Parenthood and Race Cui. "
ture':
Most Of the babies born in the clums
are splendid little specimens of humanity-so far
as physique Is concerned-bearing no marks OF
deseneration to correspond with the deterioration
OF tneir parents. In word, hereditory works
start" e''" ee'' "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
lie does not exceed ten per cent; and he attrt-
buted the weakness Of these to the effects OF alco.
hol and certain impote 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 an answer to the ques-
ton, "Why are children permitted to die from
preventable 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 killed
by the community-by you and by me- If we help
to keep things they are. and by everybody
else who helps to keep things as they are.
We will first consider the mothers who kill
their CnlIdren. every mOtner Kills or tenuS 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 are Indifferent to
their chdren's welfare. They are simply ig.
norant. Some OF them are STEPPED in ignorance.
Some Of them are half-steeped. But they are all
ignorant They don't know that fies by carrying
the germs of diseases, kill more children than all
the elephants. tigers, lions, automobiles and street
cars in the world. Therefore. flies are considered
mere inconveniences. They are regarded as un-
ornamental in the soup. but as not detrimental to
the health They swarm In the kitchen. the
pantry and the dining room. painstakingly 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 1t is. But no such
ignorant mother ever connects In her mind the
going Of her baby with the coming OF the flies.
Nor does any such ignorant mother have any
conception OF the care with which she should
feed. not only her baby. but her half-grown chill
dren. II she doesn't nurse her baby she doesn't
realize that any milk she Is likely to dnd 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.r Such mothers usually buy their milk
from the nearest grocery store. The number OF
bacteria In milk. when It exceeds 100000 to tho
cubic centimeter, makes the milk unit for use.
Yet, some analyses of New York store milk. the
other day. showed bacteria as high as SS'O0O.000.
What wonder that every summer is "black sum.
mer" for the babies OF New York's poor?
In many other ways. the ignorant mother kills
her children with the food she gives them Many
q baby six months old ia nibbling 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 q child is weaned 1t should be given
solid food only In accordance with the instruc.
tions of an intelligent physician; that meat and
fruit Except orange juice) are like so much
poison, even II they do not produce death a.
quickly strychnine would; and that all during
childhood, the food should be simple with cereals.
milk and vegetables as q basis and little meat
not oftener than once week.
But. as a chid.killer. the community exceeds