The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-04-17
Dirty People and Dirty Towns.

The following is reproduced from
Florida Health Notes issued by our
State Board of Health of which Hon
F. j. Fearnside of this city is presi-
dent. The article originally appear.
ed in the Bulletin of the Indiana State
Board of Health. 1t is commended to
every person interested in lettering
health conditions:
The reason we have so many dirty
towns is because there are so many
dirty people. Some towns stink, but
IN such the inhabitants stink first
No town is in itself bad; it is the peo-
pie who are bad. The town is mir
ror. 1t reflects the people. A man
who is clean in mind will be clean in
person; he will have a clean from
yard and clean back yard.
"A Uttered dooryard and a dilapi-
dated house reflect a Uttered and d.
lapidated mind.
IF an overrunning clubhouse bord-
ers the alley, it is because the instinct
OF decency and cleanliness is woeful-
ly absent in the owner or tenant, or
both. The old proverb, Cleanliness
is next to godliness,' was changed by
Governor Thomas Marshall to Clean
illness is essential to godliness.' No
cleanliness, then, of course, no godli-
ness. A dirty town is an ungodly
town.
Some towns, yes, many towns,
have flies on them. They have flies
on them because they are dirty. They
are ungodly for that very reason.
"a town may have several church.
es and many church-going people,
but if it is dirty and stinks it is un-
cody. BY their works We shall
know them Of course; how else
can they be known? l sat on the
porch of house in certain town
one summer evening. 1t was hot and
sultry. Every once in a while a gen.
tie movement of the air would bear
foul odors to my nose. 1t was the
nearby outhouses I smelled. What
kind of people are they who have
such surroundings Are they strong
minded and clean? Think of people
so disposing of their sewage as to
poison the air and also make it pos
sible for flies to transport unspeaka-
BILE filth to their food. Why shouldn't
such people have typhoid fever?
They invite, don't they? Surely,
every man is the architect of his own
Foul outhouses and
flies spell typhoid. Why have them?
The answer is simple. They who
have them are not of high order OF
mentality. They are weak in right
eousnes sand impractical.
"Shall the dirty be compelled by
law to be clean? No, indeed; not I'M
less their dirtiness threatens the
health and comfort of others. The
Scripture says: He who is filthy let
him be filthy STILL Of course; what
is the use to do otherwise? Compell-
ing he who is filthy to be clean in
person and premises will not make
him clean in mind and soul. He'll be
filthy still. We must teach cleanli-
ness to the umlean. Then if they
become clean and stay clean, it is be-
cause cleanliness is in their nature.
If they stay dirty, it is because they
are inherently dirty. Force won't
change them. The reason we can not
make silk purse out of a sow's ear
is because it is sow's ear. 1t is not |
silk. A naturally dirty man can not |
be made into clean man. 1t is be-
cause he is a dirty man. 1t is ali
iron law of nature that only those
may be saved who can accomplish |
their own salvation. Dirty towns
will exist just as long as dirty people |
exist. Dirty towns will disappear
when clean people predominant. A
slow town will always have flies on
it."