Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-14

Harvard University made him a master
of arts at twenty-six. and since then he
has received doctors degrees at several
big institutions. | believe he got one OF
more this year.
Mr.. Houston has also had big positions
as teacher. He has served as profess
sor Of political science at the I'n'verstfr
Of Texas, has been president Ok T inc
and chancellor Of Washington University
at st. Louis. He has also been president
of the University Of Texas, and he was
at the head Of Washington UNIVERSITY
when he came here. During the greater
part Of his life he has specialized in the
study and teaching Of economics. and his
present mission. so many men think, Is
that Of applying the latest discoveries in
modern economics to the uplift OF the
farmer.
The new Secretary OF Agriculture does
not think that the farmer has a monop-
oily Of the good things Of this earth. He
believes that the city man has many
advantages over him. and that his condi-
tons should be SO improved that the
two will be upon nearly the same plane
as to health. education, business and
credit. Said Mr.. Houston
Il want to see the methods OF santa
ton which prevail in the cities extended
should have a well paid expert physician.
and should be under the charge Of the
state board of health. More. attention
should be paid to the eradication of
elimination Of bad water and milk. A
war should be waged upon the mos
quito and the fly, and the country schools
should be under medical inspection, and
advantages that the children In our
most advanced cities have now. We
have been spending great deal to de-
velop our soil. We spend millions Of dol
lars annually to keep fever away from
our cattle and cholera away from our
hogs We spend other millions on the
gypsy moth, but we let the health OF the
community take care OF itself. l tnink
the development Of the people ana n,.ins
them to do their work In the world Is
quite as important as increasing the
crops and protecting the hog. Take
the fight against the mosquito, the ny
and the hookworm. They are the most
destructive animals on earth, and the
money spent in their control Will bring
more dividends than that laid out on the
boil weevil or the Texas tick.
..But are we not doing a great deal as
to the hookwor,n. Mr.. Secretary" I
asked.
state from Maryland to Texas and from
Florida to northern Kansas; The pest
Is prevalent In all that region 1t at
tacks the rich and the poor but 1t is
Especially dangerous to the bare-footed
boy, for the worm usually goes In
through the bare feet Nearly all coun-
try boys of the south go barefooted ,. and
nearly all are infected. In one county
1900 school children were recently ex-
amined, and of these it was found that
as per cent Of the whites and 81 per cent
of the negroes had hookworm. In an
other school 50 per cent Of the children
were infected. The doctors in Porto Rico
saw that a man with the hookworm is
only half a man, and the verdict OF the
teachers of the south Is that the scholar
with the hookworm is only half a
scholar Indeed. I doubt whether any
man or woman who has the hookworm
Is half a man In his or her efficiency l
think our development along such lines "
quite as important as crop development.
ct do not think the importance of rural
health can be overestimated." continued
Secretary Houston. 1T should be ad-
vanced in every possible way and that
especially az related to the schools. We
have now 100000 pupils In the schools
of the United States, and 9 large per-
csptaOa ~ them fall tn DaSae each year,