The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-03-04
DREAD DISEASE
IS REPORTED
Infection Fought on All From
tiers Now Found In
Interior.
.oLLowING is the startling re-

FOLLOWING is the startling re-
- port made by the Survey, a
publication of New York:
"An enemy which the United
States has fought at ports of entry
and on It's far frontiers has suddenly
appeared in sur very midst. The dread
invader is trachoma. Its victims we
have long seen among Alaskan natives,
our own reservation Indians and the
immigrants at our gates. But now we
find that the disease has stolen a
march on us and made our own Amer
lean stock its prey. The foothold 1t
has gained puts it in a position to
menace the nation.
"Down in the beautiful mountains of
Kentucky live a people of the purest
American ancestry. Stalwart, brave,
enduring, unmixed with other blood
they show the sturdiness of the pio-
neers who followed Boone to the vir-
gin wilds beyond the ranges. The
mighty train of American development
has swept by, leaving them sidetrack
ed, forgotten, neglected in the hills of
their adoption. an unknown people in
the midst Of busy. careless nation.
"The poorer among them live for the
most part in small and sparsely scat
tered log cabins. Families number
usually ten to fifteen members, all of
whom eat, sleep and live together in
the one room of the cabin. The COM
mon wash basin outside the door is
often a large stone with a hollow in
its surface, difficult to empty or to
clean. To this each user contributes
his share of germs. Hanging next to
it is the large family towel, which is
on duty for days In succession.
Live In Windowless Cabins.
"Cabins have no windows at all or
small ones at best, and all openings
winter time. Ventilation is of the
poorest at any time. Close intermar-
riage, lack of even rudimentary sani-
tation and monotonous, Ill suited diet
predispose children to many ills, in
Guiding tuberculosis and other infec-
e'NN9 bioS"oS''' ielAiG W Vi III vi tLlC SNdlD,
uncorrected defects of vision, adenoids
and enlarged tonsils and hookworm in
fection are common. The unkempt
and neglected condition of these chill
dren is pitiable. Many are mentally
backward and defective. The typical
mountaineer however, is usually intel
ligent and wide awake even though H.
literate.
"The social and economic needs of
these mountaineers Of Kentucky, Ten
nessee, Carolina and Virginia are be-
ginning to be recognized. But 1t has
remained for DIR. John McMullen of
the federal public health service to call
attention to most serious danger now
menacing them. In a recent investlga-
ton he found trachoma present to an
alarming and unsupported degree and
the blindness and defective vision re-
sulting from it responsible for an in
calculable impairment of social, eco
nomic and intellectual efficiency.
Trachoma a Communicable Ill.
"Trachoma is a communicable dis
ease Of the eyelids which, if untreated,
usually progresses to blindness and
practically always causes interference
with vision. Among 1000 persons ex-
amined DR.. McMullen found that 800,
or 121a per cent, had trachoma. From
3 to is per cent Of the school children
were affected. One of the important
factors In the spread of the disease is
the common family towel. Most Of