The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-12-06
PUT ~ }. !! zoe. CRIME me-.
.AkE FOLK HEAR
,,aeme OF the Paper Read BY DR..
i'll. James Last Night.
MEDICAL SOCIETY IN SESSION
Association President Calls Attention 10
Peoples Needs; Conserve Health
And the Mind.

President, Dr.. A. o. Stewart Of
Owatonna.
First vice president, Or. A. G.
LiedIoff of Mankato.
Second vice president, Dr.. Rich.
ardson of Fairmont.
Secretary, Or. A. T. Adams of e.
Treasurer, Or. c. F. Merritt of st.
Peter.
Physicians and surgeons to the
number of forty from points i'm
Southern Minnesota came to Man.
kato last evening to attend the
meeting of the Southern Minnesota
Medical association. The meeting
opened with banquet at the Saul
paugh at eight o'clock, and the for
NAL program followed.
DIR. j. III. James of Mankato, presi.
dent of the association, presided over
the meeting, which was opened by
Rev. T. Ross Paden, who pronounced
the invocation. The committee re-
ports were deferred until this morn
ing and when the place of the mid
summer meeting was brought up DR..
A. B. Stewart of Owatonna extended
an invitation to the association to
come to his town. The invitation
was accepted.
In the report of the secretary and
treasurer it was found that the asso-
citation had about thirty dollars in
it's treasury There are about zoe
members in the association, but dur
ing the past year only about seventy
have paid their dues.
DR.. J. w. Andrews moved that the
association vote DR.. E. ]. Davis, for.
merly of this city, but now of Cali
fornia, an honorary member of the
association. The motion carried. DIR.
Davis practiced in Mankato for many
years and was a member of the old
association until his removal from
here. At the present time he has
retired from active work in his pro-
fession and is living In California.
The Presidents Address.
The real program of the evening
was opened by the presidents adj
dress. DR.. James read a splendid
paper dealing with two of his ia
vorite themes. Prevention of Crime
and Criminals and Prevention of
Deafness"
| He said i'm part while ] was
president of the Minnesota Valley
| Medical association in 1906 l urged
that the organization take some ac-
ton in the matter of pushing the
prevention of crime and criminals.
But nothing came of it. The move
ment has spread widely since that
time and eight states have incor-
porated like suggestions in their
statutes But Minnesota has as yet
taken no action in the matter The
matter is of serious Importance and
the medical profession should do
something to push it.
while the government Is spend
ing millions for the conservation of
it's resources it Is spending nothing
| for the conservation of the people
| themselves I advocate expenditure
for the conservation of the people.
The people of the country are really
the country's greatest resource. The
conservation of hearing should be
considered and should be provided
for.
There are at the present time
100000 deaf people in the United
States. A large number of these
are deaf nuts, which condition Is
to limited extent preventable. 1t
| is the general practitioner who
| first meets these cases. He should
be able to save the hearing or, where
the hearing is permanently impaired,
to offer suggestions as to the edu-
cation of such cases.
Deafness Could Be Lessened.
Deafness, as well as other dis
ease in children, could be lessened
by the repeal of some Of our mar
riage laws. Fifty per cent of the
deaf mutes in the United States are
/ deaf because of congenital inf1u-
ence. A certificate of good health
should be required before the mar
riage is allowed. Seventy per cent
of the children in the public schools
are defective in one way or another
"The practitioner should be quick
to recognize ear troubles in other
diseases. Adenoids so often result
in deafness that they should not be
treated indifferently. Forty per
cent of deafness is preventable so
we must be up and doing. Removal
of adenoids is not enough, the nose
and throat must be examined Many
of the operations performed are not
of the proper kind, they are per-
formed on the chance that they may
help.
"The social aspect of the deaf
mute is important Blindness has a
better chance for restoration than
deafness, glasses can be fitted TO
the partially blind, but the partially
deaf can be made to hear only by
wearing telephone on their heads.
Helen Keller said that deafness is
worse than blindness because 1t
keeps people from intellectual asso-
citation with people.
Deafness Leads to Unhappiness.
"The deaf person drops out of the
social world. The individual becomes
retrospective and seif-absorbed. He
loses interest in outside affairs. The
deaf become suspicious, which leads
to unhappiness. The deaf child is
so often morose, wilful and disobedi-
Continued on Page Two.