Evening times-Republican., 1913-06-30
BLACK PLAGUE PERIL
e1AHI HEALTH BOARD DECLARES
% PER CENT or MALES
BECOME VICTIMS.
UNITED EFFORTS URGED
TO COMBAT DISEASE SPREAD
False Dsiieaey Said to Be Responsible
For Prevalence-lowa Death Statist-
ice a. CLEANED From State Health
Report for Year-Alarm,na Mortality
Among infants.

Des Moines. June 30.-Social hygiene
is given a place of great Importance
in the sixteenth annual report of the
state board of health, issued yesterday.
To educate the youth of the state in
proper morals the board reprints from
the report of the Indiana state board q
leng thly treatise on Social Hygiene
VS.. the Sexual Plaques"
Eighty per cent of males between
the ages OF IS and 80 years contract
the black plague, according to the re-
port. A majority of the abdominal
and pelvic operations on women are
the result Of the plaques infection.
Shielded Because Of Prudery.
THE social diseases, shielded by
what has been termed the Angle Saxon
sense of prudery, are doing enormous
damage to the race" the report says.
The lack of correct information
among the masses Of the people as TO
their extent and danger. constitutes
one of the most menacing problems of
American civilization. Has not the
time come for parents, and in fact for
all thoughtful citizens, to abandon the
false delicacy, the prudery, which by
surrounding sex nature with absurd
mystery, invites the destruction of ma
tional health"
The report goes on to discuss frank
ly the actual condition with respect to
the prevalence Of the black plague in
all its forms. 1t gives the lie 70 nuIaer
fol- iroo tha Ioiy
portance of the plague and attacks
persons who have taken advantage of
sex mysteries to terrorize the ignorant
and profit financially.
Requiring nearly 400 pages Of print
the report includes numerous tables of
statistics for the years 1910 and 1911.
which will be of assistance to the
medical profession Of the state in its
attack upon disease.
Iowa Death Statistics.
The number Of deaths during 1911
from the various disease was as fol-
follows: Typhoid fever. 81; malarial
fever. 8; smallpox 8; measles. 1876;
scarlet fever. 80; whooping cough. SO:
diphtheria and Group. 176; influenza,
276; erysipelas, IS; cholera infantun,
$40; septicaenia and pyaemia, 252; tu-
berculosis Of the lungs. 1922; other
forms Of tuberculosis, 12s: cancer and
other malignant tumors, 1,479; acute
articular rheumatism, 220 diabetes,
275; anaemia, leukemia- 210; other
general diseases, 5s5; alcoholism, 10;
meningitis. 2S6; poliomyelitis, 40; cere-
bral hemorrhage, apoplexy and soften
ing fthe brain. 1.494; paralysis, 5ss;
epilepsy. "a: convulsions Of infants,
151; other diseases Of nervous system.
1875 organic diseases of the heart,
2,o19: angina pectoris. 1913: arterio-
schlerosis. 392; er11bolism and throm-
bosis. ia: hemorrhage 1873; bronchitis,
315: broncho pneumonia. 352: pneu-
monia, 1852; pulmonary congestion,
81: asthma 104: diseases of stomach.
26e; diarrhoea and enteritis. 215: ap-
pendicitis, 205: hernia, 270: cirrhosis OF
liver, 1853; other diseases Of liver, 1873;
peritonitis, 317; acute nephritis and
Bright's disease, 1881; other diseases
Of the kidneys, 80: diseases of senito
urinary system, 12; puerperal septic
aemta. 102: other puerperal diseases,
131: gangrene. So: malformations and
injuries at birth, 253: premature birth,
536: inanition, 537; senlity, 1855; rail-
road injuries. 1s4: injuries in mines,
81: other accidents, SO; effects Of heat.
al: violence. 8; lightning, IL; homicide.
SO: venereal diseases. 90 iil-def7ned
causes 81: unknown causes, IA. The
total number of deaths for the year
was 22,571 as compared to 21,65S in
3910.
Alarming Infant Mortality.
One of the most startling revelations
Of the statistics is that nearly as many
batbies dhe before reaching 1 year Of
Il he tn "a Of
those who have passed 10 years. The
first year in life is shown to be the
most prolific in death of any. The total
number Of infant deaths in 1911 was
for the state 3.257. This number was
greater than that in 1910 when only
3.103 children under ! year old died.
That the efforts Of Des Moines at
baby saving are proving worth while is
shown s1,, a decrease in -he nuirrbar 0!
infant death from 232 in 1909 to 204 in
1911. This number is still greater than
the number Of deaths at any other per-
iod Of life.
tuberculosis, despite the campaign
that has been wage6 against it, showed
a Iain in its toll of death for 1911 over
1910. The totals were respectively 1.4s4
and 1850. In his foreword to the re-
port, DR.. g. III. Sumner. secretary of
the board Of health. gives credit to DR..
A. e. Kepford, state tuberculosis lee
turer. The keeping Of vital statistics
il still bampered, according to DR..
s5gunSnet's ,Horeword, by failure of doc
tors and undertakers to report births
and Deaths More adets1ate. enforce
1nent Of the law is recommended.
The report is dedicated to the mem
ory Of Mrs. Isabel c. Sumner deceased
wife Of the secretary. She was for
merly in charge Of the vital statistics
OF the state. Marked tribute IS paid
her memory by the husband in the
1oreword to the report.