The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-12
EDUCATORS WORK ABOUT COMPLETED Salt Lake City Will Prob ably Get Next Teachers
 Convention


 Chicago, July 11--George B. Cook, state superintendent of public instruction of Arkansas, was made director and James Y. Joyner of Raleigh, N. C., a trustee and delegates showed their preference for Salt Lake City for the 1913 convention at the gathering of the National Education as- sociation here today. This practically con- cluded the work of the fiftieth annual ses- sion of the organization. The selection of Salt Lake City has yet to be ratified by the executive committee.
 Two general sessions of the convention tomorrow are to be devoted to educational subjects with adjournment to follow in the evening.
 Baroness Bertha yon Suttner of Vienna, in an address on the movement for inter- national peace. today praised President Taft, saying his work was influencing peace promoters in Europe to speak against the enlargement or armies and navies.
 Tonight David Starr Jordan. president of Leland Stanford, Jr., university, and Dr. Harvey Wiley were the chief speakers OH Itdlln III TtldllOn to puDllC StiiOOic.
 pr. Wiley said in part:
 '.One great object in education should be the development of assound intellectual training in connection with a sound phys ical body. The increasing tendency to insanity, neurasthenia and kindred dis eases, is awakening a marked interest among all those who are laboring for the .1t ,f.,,, ton in certain contagious and infectious diseases, such as yellow fever, smallpox, typhoid fever and tuberculosis, there seems to be an increasing number of so- called nervous diseases. including men tai irritability, physical weakness, and general inability to perform the duties of life, whether of mental or a physical character
 Teachers should have their attention called to some of the prevailing condi- tions which tend to produce this increase in nervous troubles. It is not my pur- pose here to speak of the necessity of the ordinary principles of sanitation. pure air, good food, abundant exercise and freedom from oyer-eXertion of the intel lectual faculties. Rather I would call att tention to some of the factors which are little talked about, much neglected, and not generally understood.
 'I wish to confine myself specifically to the prevalence of the drug habit among school children. Either through neglect carelessness, or consent of parents and teachers, thousands of school children are becoming addicted to drug habits. There is no nation under earth in which the children take something as often as they do in this country. Beginning almost with birth. there seems to be an incessant craving to fill the baby's stomach with drugs instead of foods. This tendency, established in early life, is not percepti- ply diminished during the ages of child hood and early maturity. Every house. hold has it's cupboard with so-called household remedies, consisting mostly of synthetic preparations of quack medi- cines. Each of these is advertised to be good for almost every disease which may befall the child. No matter what ails him. the all-potent bottle or pill box contains the sovereign remedy.
 Very often these are dangerous drugs, habit-forming drugs, depressing drugs. The age of opium and its compounds, acetanilid, phenacetin. antipyrine and chloroform has not passed by in the realm of infant preparations. The country is still flooded with these deadly prepara- tions, none of which should ever be given to children except in rare cases. and then only under the personal supervision of competent physician.
 ''In addition to these drugs, many chill dren are allowed to drink tea and coffee, and thus take into their systems an aka Ibid, caffein, which has the tendency to take away the sense of fatigue, stimulate the hearts action, and. in general, to urge the child forward to greater physical and mental activity than he should be called upon to endure. In the normal child the m ha od eyfv rf fatigue; in the abnormal child. fed partly on tea and coffee, these danger signals are struck down, and the child has no sense either of physical or mental fatigue. Thus she keeps on working when, if na- ture had her way. he should be resting. Physicians and teachers should combine to urge upon parents the desira bility of not allowing school children to use tea or coffee.
 Tn addition to these drugs containing caffein, there are about a hundred so- called soft drinks on the markets of the country. sold under different names, and to which caffein has been added so as to make the beverage, when consumed, have about the same quantity of caffein that tea and coffee contain. Cocoa cola is a type of these beverages, and it is sold right around school houses in all the cities of this country. To what extent the tilluit ell pdiIOiiiZt tItot drinks cannot be determined accurately, but that they do patronize them. is well understood. Teachers and parents should join in their efforts to prevent children of school age and attending school. from in- dulging in these very threatening bev- erages They are of a character, as the phrase runs to get on your nerves, and should be rigidly excluded.
 ''ft is hardly necessary to call attention ... .1,x tI, 4ol<r as a rule. in school do not acquire it. but many boys early acquire the habit of smoking cigarettes, which is a habit that cannot fail to do immense injury. The school room is the place where these anti drug habits should be taught Let us bring up the next generation without ruining its health by drugging.'