The Washington herald., 1912-09-03
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

Soon the boys and girls win 80 troop
ling back to school-75 per cent of them
defective in one way or another, accord
ling to the finding Of DR.. Thomas D.
Wood, professor Of physical education
| in Columbia University. At the time he
made the statement 1t was quite widely
circulated. but the children were at play
then, with school not near at hand. and
the figures slipped away without leaving
much Individual impression.
Not Fair to Children.
But now school doors are about to
open, and II In not fair TO the children
&c send them out without making GER
tain that they are physically as nearly
rerfsct as nature, science. and care will
let them be. For DIR. Wood says that
these defects In health. which are 80 de-
structive Of good work. good temper. and
childish happiness are remediable. par
TALLY or completely.
And there's the pity Of letting them
go without making sure.
Nature sends out little warnings, II
We are wise enough to read them, and
parents who are properly watchful over
the health Of their boys and girls, over
their work and their play. know when
They know that something II wrong
when a child is unduly nervous or irrita-
bic, without apparent cause. They know
that II his school work falls below his
usual possibilities there Is q tax some
where that Is drawing from his reserve
force and making him Ineffective.
They may not know what the drain.
what the cause or what the remedy. but
they ought to try to find out. for many
child has struggled under the odium
Of stupidity, slowness or lack of appli-
cation when his only weakness was some
slight physical defect that might have
been easily remedied had 1t been sus-
pected.
Million with Defective Hearing.
There are about 100000 school chill
dren in the United States. and when we
read that of that number, 100000 have
defective vision. another million defect
I've hearing. We realize that II Is time
to take care, and to look after little
eyes and ears that may cause lot Of
trouble 4 left to grow weaker and
weakea
One may look at a stranger-child suf-
fering from the consequences OF eye
strain or other physical disturbance, call
1t pity and go on: but when 1t comes
nearer home 1t is not so lightly dis
missed. Very often 1t does come nearer
home, and the child Is left handicapped.
simply through failure to recognize the
signs. And that is why physicians are
urging the Importance of noting any fall.
ing of In health or any lapse In the
quality OF work later on, because when
the physical self is wrong everything
goes to pieces.
We read much about the dangers OF
neglecting the teeth: schools have their
tooth brush campaigns. one young
woman enthusiast goes about in her big
automobile distributing brushes and ad-
vice. and II is all in the name OF cleanli-
ness and health. But. after all. the aver
age person thinks rather OF the comfort
and the beauty OF perfect teeth than Of
the resultant health. 1t Is a surgeon in
the United States army who declares his
belief that. failure to give proper care to
the teeth and the mouth is .'the direct
cause of more disease in the human
family than any other single cause"
Cause of Many Ills.
Crooked teeth. jaws that do not proper
ly meet, lack of cleanliness-there are
nhysicoI Ills In THAR uake ills that