The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-09-09

6ght against the mosquito, the nv and
the hookworm. They are the most
destructive aniuaai or earth. ana the
spent in their control WIZ
bring more dividends than thai aid
ont on thu boil ueevil or the Texas
tick.
But are We not doing a great cal
as To the hookworul. Mr. S~ecretary" -
I asked
Yes. the work Is going on in
every State from Maryland To Texas
and from Florida TO northern KANSAS
,fhc psst is prevalent in al that re-
sfon. II attacks the rich and the
poor, but it is especially dangerous to
the bare-footed boy, for the ~.-n
usually goes in through the bare feet
Nearly all country Toys Of h south
go barefoeted and nearly all are III
fected. In one county 1900 school
children were recently examined. and
of these it was found that IS per cent
OF the whites and 81 per cent or n
negroes had hoOkworm. In another
school IS per cen Of the children
were Infected. The doctors ia Porto
Rico say that a man with the hook
worm is only half a man. and the
verdict of the teachers If the South
is that the scholar with the hook
worm ie only half a scholar. Indeed,
| doubt whether any man or woman
who has the hOokWorm Is half d man
in his or her efficiency. | think our
development along such lines is quite
as important as crop Development
Il do not think the Importance Of
rural health car be oserestlmated,
continued Secretary Houston. 1T
should be advanced in every possible
way and that especially as related
10 the schools. We have now II ,00D.-
900 pupils in the schools of the Unit
ed States. and a large percentage OF
them fail to pass each year. not be-
canse hey are mental detectives, but
on account Of their health. DR. Gu
lick has been investigating the matter.
Out OF ESQ .0e0 failures he found that
Is per cent had not been able to pass
oa account of Ill health. About 9
per cent Of these failures had bad
teeth, adennidS. defective vision, and
other things which kept them back
He found that the children who had
bad teeth were on the average siz
months behind those with good teeth
Indeed. DR.. Osler says that more dam
age is done to our health by bad
teeth than by alcohol. Il hin every
child should be examined as to Such
matters, whether his parents wish il
or not. and hat he should be put or
the read TO health
In another investigation, the Sec
rotary continued, s .00e chihdrex
were examined and OF these over
oS,9p0 proved defective either as tt
their breathing. sight. tonsils. teetf
OF As to the working of h Skin
Thirty-three Thousand out of the 81.
900 had bad teeth. This condition
prevailed largely throughout TIT
country schools. 1t is being invest
gated and remedied to some extent il
the cities. The work should be ex
tended to every school in the land
But how about the rural schop
from an educational standpoint -
sAad J. Il thought ore OF the proud
est things of which America, cou}s
, boast was the ountr schOolhOuse
? That may be SO ia widely separat
z ed individual instances" replied tn.
! Secretary Of Agriculture. TT is NO
so of the Int school generally
. Indeed. l beheve oar rural school
s a national failure The largest par
1 OF n money spent Oh edu cation j,
e this country goes to the cities.
sounds well when we say that TIA
United States has Yniaaio,
a school children, that it has eight hun
e dred million dollars invested ia schon
: property, and that we spend NOR
l than a milan dollars a day for ever
1 a OF the school yea upon trainan;
. cur children. but when you come t
the details as To the country com
e mundtles our voices sink and our fAce
n blush The country school enroll
r ment Is more than 81 per cent q
the whole, but its annual
are Less than 40 per cent. 1t heas sir
n ttJ-seven out OF every hundred schot
children, and It receives only thirty
o three deIar out Of every hundre
appropriated. The cost Of teachine
ehnd in the cities averages thirty
three dollar a year. The money spes
3 upon him in the country ayenr o.
Is only thirteen dollars. In other ward
the city child gets almost threa tjme
a as much for his education IA ~
l. country child.
Il have before me some 6ear.
r. as to this matter Of our city and rar.
ed 0cafion.' continued Mr.. Hous4c,
T. Here are a haH-dozen States whe,
the city children are annually ree>i,