Evening star., 1915-06-06

| Tne men, the young people ana tne
women of the rural districts have in
| turn come in for some de-
Country gree Of special attention
from Uncle Sam, and at
oaoleS. last he 10 beginning a work
for what many people consider the
most important rural citizen Of all
the country baby. Led to the conclu-
sion that country babies, like their
mothers. have received less than their
share of consideration from the fed
eraI government the children's bureau
has begun an active campaign. with
| the approach of warm weather, to place
in the hands of as many rural mothers
as possible detailed information as to
the proper care of infants.
dren's bureau has been engaging
| in work wholly new among federal gov
ernmental activities, and naturally be-
gan operations with studies OF condi-
tions and methods In cities where child
veloped. With the gaining OF valuable
experience and a knowledge OF needs,
however the bureau officials felt that
the time had come for taking king Up RoT rura, a.
launched the new work
The rural work will extend through
the summer the period which in coun,
try az well as city is is the Teaps ACTIVITIES
will be confined to an educational cam
paign, and on it's results and the ex- @
perience gained will be based plans FOR
the future Efforts 'ssst w nc not distrfblae hs
| literature directly to country mothers
but through cooperation with publish
ers of farm journals, county papers
weekly articles on the care of infants
will be taken into tens of thousands OF
| country and village homes.
The articles, which will undoubtedly
furnish the first accurate information
to be gained by some country mothers
of how to safeguard the health OF IN
fants, and which will contribute val
liable additions to the infant lore OF
most rural homes, will be prepared by
specialists on the feeding and care OF
babies. The information will be
scientifically correct. but will be pre-
sented in simple, non-technical Ian
guage. in a form that will make 1t
available for all who read 1t. whether
their educations be good or poor.
1t has become evident from recent
studies that there is urgent need Tor
the rural work being taken up by the
children's bureau. Although external
surroundings are such as to give the
country child plenty Of sunlight and
refrigeration facilities, sewers and the
services of health oflcials. the pres
ence of stable manure and the failure
to screen against flies are sufficiently
parent advantages. 1t is even indi-
Gated by survey of the state OF New
York by a special state health COM
mission in 1912 and 1913 that the In
fant mortality rate Is lower In cities
and towns of more than 5000 inhab-
itants than in the rest Of the state.
This showing for communities where
congestion and other adverse condi-
tions are at their worst is taken by
many students of health conditions as
health departments and voluntary or
ganizations for child welfare in cities
and as indicating the extremely I'M
portant results in the conservation OF
child life that can be brought about
when all communities. rural and urban.
are made to see the importance of
working for better health conditions.
At the risk Of being hfppant it might
be said that Uncle Sam is an unusu-
ally good mixer"
Uncle Sam,a Not that he has a
c.,r., special knack at
0ood MlXef. being a good fell
low with the other nations Of the
world The term. however, is used liter
ally for Uncle Sam is recognized
throughout the country by his citi-
zens who own and manage industries,
great and small, as about the Anal
authority on Just what materials in
| just what proportions should be mixed
together to produce a desired sub
stance.
AS a result of this recognition scores
| of letters reach the bureau Of stand
ards which includes the governments
| big industrial laboratories. requesting
| information as to formulas and specifi-
cations of all sorts from the correct
| the proper ingredients for concrete to
| be exposed to sea water.
An indication of the wide scope OF
| this single phase Of the work of the
government bureau of standards may
be had from glimpse of the variety
Of questions answered in the space
Of a few weeks recently. The in
formation given out in this brief period
related. among other things, to the
industrial uses Of liquid air, the melt
compositions of bodies and glazes for
the manufacture of chemical porcelain,
drawings for a porcelain kiln, formu
| las for designing special lenses free
from astigmatism, the heating values
of various gases. facts about carbon
| withstood by fire bricks. the heat con-
Quoting properties Of insulating ma
| terials and reports on tests of a score
or more of substances from paper and
| rubber bands to gun metal.
| The origins Of the requests were about
as varied as the requests themselves.
They came from manufacturers and
dealers. technical specialists in many
| lines, industrial research laboratories.
| scientific institutions, public utility
corporations and commissions, students
and inventors and from municipalities,
| states and departments OF the national
| government Neither the national gov
ernment nor the state governments are
| required to pay for these services. but
| a reasonable fee is charged others who
| pass their problems up to the bureau 5
| experts.
Every ship with radio equipment,
whatever her nationality. that plies
the north Atlantic at this
Iceberg season of the year is de-
pending on Uncle Sam TO
1dtIoI. steer her clear OF the deadly
| icebergs that summer winds and cur
rents have brought south into the
steamer lanes. Each ship as 1t nears
the danger zone speaks" the little un-
seen coast guard cutter that is on pa
| troll beyond the horizon. dogging the
heels of the frozen menace. and. finding
| in lust what latitude and longitude
the danger turks, steers accordingly.
| Many times since the establishment
of the patrol following the Titanic 5
| fateful collision with an iceberg the
ship on duty has been able to guide