The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-11-03
THE HAsKIN LETTER
The Keep Well Movement
By Frederick J. Haskin.

\ THE National Society of Keep
Well" is anew organization launch
ed In the national capital this fall for
the express purpose OF lettering the
health conditions OF the entire coun-
try. 1t will do this chiefly through
the cooperation Of leading medical
specialists who will give Of their
knowledge freely In order that the
public may know best how to protect
itself against disease. The knowledge
will be given In the form Of free lee
lures under the auspices Of the So
ciety. These lectures will be given
the widest publicity in order that the
knowledge may be spread among all
classes Of people. IS
The idea Of national keep Well"
movement originated with Mrs. Mar
garet Porterfeld Macdonald, who is
It's president. Other prominent Wash.
ington women are affiliated with 1t
and, although SO recently established,
It seems certain that the Keep
Wells" are likely to exert great in
fiuence upon public health conditions
in the near future. Mrs. Macdonald
Is the wide OF DR.. Arthur MacDon-
aid, the psychologist, whose work in
criminology and anthropology has
won him international recognition.
The society Of Keep Wells iD a wo-
mans organization which has SO far
held its meetings in the lecture rooms
of several churches, but permanent
headquarters are to be secured later.
At each meeting physician delivers
la lecture upon some special subject
relative to the health Of the human
body. Only physicians Of tie highest
standing will be enrolled as lectur-
ers and arrangements are being made
to have each lecture printed so that
copies can be distributed. The CO.
Il,operation Of the newspapers is being
secured in order that generous re-
ports may be given to the public
through this means. Each lecturer il
a recognized authority upon his spec
ial subject and the knowledge he en-
bodies in his lecture will deal chiefly
with that speciality. The lectures sc
far given, copies OF which will be
obtainable by any one interested, In
clude: Women from Gynecologist's
Viewpoint: "The Proper Environ
ment of the Child in the Home;
"The Nose and Throat as Highways
for Disease; "Food and Drink as
Disease Preventives"; 1.-THE Relation
of Adencids and the Tonsils to So
called Colds: "The Sanitary Needs
OF the Home" and several others.
1t is hoped that the keep Wells
Will speedily grow into large or
ganization with branches in every
city, and Washington as the center
It Is planndh to have the lectures SC
arranged that they can be exchanged
among different cities and within q
few months every subject pertaining
tn the human body will have been put
into a form readily understood by the
\ laity.
The work Of the Keep Well society,
as outlined by Mrs. Macdonald, is SO
directly In line with the efforts OF the
American Medical Association and
other organizations of physicians
throughout the country that 1t is
bound to meet with their unqualified
assistance. The keep we'll movement
is really an effort in behalf of pre-
ventive medicine which will material
4 ly lessen the work Of physicians in
the next generation. Yet physicians
are giving their heartiest support
towards forwarding a campaign
which will tend, according to a
fspeaker at a recent medical conven-
ton, "to put good many doctors out
Of their jobs" All notable examples
OF advancement in the conservation
Of public health have been brought
about by the members of the profess
sion which deprives its support from
human illness.
The "Code Of Ethics" adopted as
far back as 1S47 by the American
Medical Association recognizes physi-
clans as ''conservators Of public
health" and, individually and collec-
lively, the really competent phys1-
clans Of the world have always CIV
en- their best efforts towards keeping
people we'll, despite many charges to
the contrary Within recent years or
ganized public health campaigns have
been continually in progress in every
part of the civilized world. The lead
ers of every movement of this kind
, are the members of the medical pro-
fession.
The economic advantage Of keeping
we'll has never been so generally
recognized as now. One of the new
er efforts in this direction is the es-
tablishment OF a public haelth day
throughout the country. Upon this
day every effort calculated to improve
the health of the community, both In
dividually and collectively, is to be
brought forward. New Hampshire
has the honor Of having the first
Health Day by state authority. Gov.
ernor Robert P. Bass issued procla.
nation in 1912, setting apart Feb
ruary 9, as Public Health Day ant
recommending that 1t receive specia
attention in the public schools. Physi.
clans co-operated with the teachers
in arranging the school programs
Parents were invited to atten lecture:
given to the schools by physician!
who gave definite directions as t
means Of preventing minor illnesse!
and keeping the body in good genera
health. The newspapers in Concord
and Manchester give their from
pages on Health Day almost exclu
sively to news Of the movement. Tit