The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1915-07-14
HEALTH OFFICERS COLUMN.
BY u. L. TAYLOR.

As it is only about two weeks until
the schools open, L thought it not
amiss to MAKE recapitulation of what
have been writing, so as to bring
afresh to the minds of the teachers
the most important points. l want
each school to constitute this year a
kind of health board in its immediate
vicinity, because it is matter of i'm
possibility to have a lot of sound
minds in lot of unsound bodies
While the teachers are training the
minds of the pupils, they should be
training their bodies. 1t does not re-
Quire trained physician to tell when
child is in good physical condition.
Only few years ago, it was COM
mon thing for schools to be suspend
ed on account of some little epidemic,
such as measles, or whooping cough,
and have the whole district democrat.
lied by only few cases of sickness,
when it is far better to keep the chill.
dren in school than to have them scat
tering through the community spread
ing the germs of disease where they
never would have gone, but for the
suspension of the school. If l think
at any time it is necessary to suspend
a school, l will quarantine the children
at their homes, and not have them
running at large in the community.
If the teachers will watch for these
little diseases, and call attention Of
the health officer to them, the big dis
eases will not be troublesome. Small
pox is a disease that usually gets III
the biggest scare of any thing else il
a community, and is the easiest tt
control. If you should get that il
your school. it can be stamped out in
very few days, while measles car
scarcely be stopped at all until all the
material has been used up, but it new
er gets up a panic, and yet last zeal
about four hundred children in the
State of Kent ucky died from measles
and only two from smallpox. Measle:
is a very much more severe contagiOI
than smallpox, but is is almost i'm
possible to get the people to forget
the havoc that used to be played wheI
smallpox was turned loose in any com
munity. Malaria has been one of The
most common diseases from which W,
were ever troubled, aud disease thai
can be easily prevented, and yet the
people will not take the trouble TO try
to prevent it, because it is so simple
Destroy the breeding places of mos
ouites, and the work of done. Prof
Theo. S. Bell than whom, the countr!
had no man of greater learning, spen
many of the best years of his life, try
ing to convince the world of the trutl
of his theory respecting the cause O
malaria, and secceeded in convincin,
a great many young doctors under hi
teaching IN the University of Louis
vile, but died and left them TO lear
that they did not know anything
about it, and that Prof Bell was to
tally ignorant of the cause himself
: And you teachers can confidently tel
|, your pupils, that no case of malari
=. ever has existed, or viii ever exist
that has not been caused by the bit
of mosquito. If each one of tn
teachers Of Adair county, will col
: vince the patrons of his school of tn
: truth of this proposition, the malaria
question will be settled so far as thi
question is concerned in Adair county
= IL is said by some who ought to know
= that only the female mosquito bite
but l would not have you botherin
yourselves about this proposition, bu
swat every one possible, without r,
:. gard to race, sex or previous cond
ton.
:, We have never had yellow fever
this county, and perhaps never will
but every one Of the teachers ought
:. be able to tell the cause of this awfl
1 plague. This is also caused by ii
/ bites of mosquitoes, with differer
: name, but the fact that it is mo