The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-12-01
Old american Stock Rapidly Dying Oft
Becauseof Race Suicide, Says Expert
Desire for Ease for Mortality Rate-Who r
Are Bad Insurance Risks.

and causes them to throw. on the high
gear in their stores, mills and Offices.
The man who starts out In life saying:
Pn mako million by the time I am
Nifty may get the million, but die OF
heart disease. Maladies of the heart are
becoming ominous In this country. Cir
rhosis of the liver Is almost epidemic in
the milIionaires' colony.
But" Mr.. Phelps went on to say.
''the early death Of the man who under
takes to make the million Is the least
Of the losses and the tragedies. though.
his family and his comrades at the club,
of course, will think differently. II he
owns great factory, you win under
stand my philosophy. A crazy engineer
puts In jeopardy whole train-load OF
passengers. The man battling for mil!
lion parts with some OF his ethics and
his brotherly feeling. and those whom
he employs are injured to that extent.
Such is my outline of his case. You
can I'll II In with discomfort and strikes
among his workmen and get a social
picture that is not unusual in this cen
fury. Moreover, the suppositional man
whom am using as an illustration must
also be considered with respect 10. the
influence he has on other men OF his
class. He leads; they follow. An entire
community, therefore, may feel the i'm
pulse Of his ambition and energy. And
all makes for broken bodies, weary
minds and premature death.
Another Crane that Kills.
I'VE see the Titanic driven through the
icebergs at night. II was a cold busi-
ness proposition. Its owners sought the
patronage of the rich and those who have
become mad about speed. Railway man.
ayers would. prefer to strike the fastest
Of their trains from their schedules but
they are out for money, as is every one
else. found from the Interstate Conn
merce Commissions figures for 1SSS-ls07
that during that period of twenty years,
6,l4 passengers, 55.O46 employees and S.
906 other persons were killed on the rail-
roads of the United States. Besidess
more than 100000 human beings were
injured. Even freight trains hauling
dry goods and merchandise that is not
perishable are steaming across the con-
tinent as IL tomorrow were to be the
Day OF Judgment and all markets are to
be permanently closed. Stand in the
weeds at the side of a country road and
watch an automobile go tearing past and
leaving a long ribbon OF yellow dust be-
hind. An expression Of maniacaI Joy
is on the faces of the driver and his pas
sengers.
This then, is the age of thrills as
well as the age of money. Quiet and
sensible persons often get the contagion
and those who do not must work for
those who do and, soberly going into the
street, are compelled to run for their
lives to escape the onrush of delivery
wagons. electric cars and automobiles.
Why, even undertakers now trot their
hearses to the cemeteries. We are lit
orally being galloped toward the tomb.
Insane asylums are full to the doors.
Jails are crowded with embezzlers and
forgsrs. Men dragging their feet with |
can be seen every. time one 1
in number. A great French |
man has said that self-slaughter is most |
common where education Is most diffused; |
that suicides and scholars increase in !
the same ratio. l give his opinion for I
what it Is worth. suggesting, however. /
that he could have bettered his state |
ment, perhaps. had he added something /
about the craze for thrills and money |
to his observation pertaining to educa-
ton.
The cancer death rate is steadily in !
creasing, and cancer now kills almost !
one-half as many human beings in the |
United States as does tuberculosis, the |
so-called white plague Of civilization. As
to the general proposition concerning
disease and death. Prof. Irving Fisher. |
Of Yale, the distinguished authority on
health. estimates that nearly 40 per cent
Of our annual mortality is preventable
FrfEhtfuI Slaughter of Infants.
Against the matters l have men
toned, however, must be placed as a
mighty offset the increased knowledge
we have of sanitary science, the i'm
proved conditions of our homes, alleys,
and streets, the wonderful discoveries Of
nd ha vanishing habit
Of flying to the medicine bottle or pill
BOX every time we think we are sick.
Thus the things which tend to shorten
Dne's days are more than balanced by
The things which tend to lengthen them.
But in considering the subject OF
the base of the question must
be taken up first. Man begins as an
infant, and the waste Of infant life as
-rightful. 1 have found that in twenty