New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-09
Newspapers Greatest Aid
to Sanitation, Con
ference Told.
NEED TO CHANGE
PEOPLES HABITS
Cities Must Educate TO Better
Standards, Says DR..
w. A. Evans.
BY SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS.

BY SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS.
Rochester, ~ y. Sept. s.-Printer's
ink was welcomed to the pharmacopeia
Of public health at the symposium on
public health education in which the
conference Of New York State sanitary
officers Joined with the American Pub
lie Health Association this morning.
The first paper was by Professor c. f.
a. WlnSlCw, director of the division of
publicity and education of the New
York State Health Department, who
made a plea for readable and interest
ing health news.
Half q page read Is more valuable
than ten pages unread" said he. "We
are constantly put to it in our educa-
tonal press matter to turn out matter
that has the quality of reliability and
yet IS scientifically sound. We must
not be too solemn or stilted, we cannot
afford to be TOO light and frivolous
Our regular service health hints goes
10 more than three hundred daily and
| weekly newspapers in this state, and
now that we have learned to make par
aGraphs brief and pointed we find the
newspapers glad to use them"
The New York State Department,
Professor Winslow said, conducted its
educational campaign also through mo-
tion pictures, lectures, women's clubs,
the Changers and labor unions.
Dr. Charles F. Boldun, director of
the Bureau of Public Health Education
Of the New York City Health Depart
ment, outlined the work of his bureau
in the use of newspaper articles, lect-
ures, motion pictures and leaflets. The
distinctive feature of the local work
as he described 1t is the publishing of a
series of neighborhood chronicles, each
of particular interest to some partic-
ular portion of New York City,
such as Greenwich Village, pip's Bay,
Yorkville and so on, and each consti-
tuting a sort of local health news
paper.
Death Rate at Lowest.
Speaking on the subject, "The Role
of the Newspaper in the Dissemination
OF Public Health News" DR.. W. A.
Evans, health editor of "The Chicago
Tribune" pointed out the significant
fact that the cutting down of the
death rate Of adults in the larger cities
had practically come to a halt.
There is no material decrease now
in this category" said he. Presently
we shall have reached the end of our
rope in the matter of the common pre-
Ventable diseases; then, If we are to
cut the death rate further, it must be
by educating the individual 70 better
standards of living.
This means that eventually we must
aim at changing the habits of life of a
large part of the people. Think what
that implies along the line of popular
education! Much as we have needed
the newspaper in the past as an aid to
public health work, We shall need it far
more IN the future"
"'Printer's ink should be included In
the pharmacop9ia," said +. A. Moree,
assistant secretary of the New YORK
State Charities Aid Association, "or
il should be generally useful In the
treatment Of human ills. Wisely used
1t prevents tuberculosis and builds
hospitals TO cure it. Thousands of
babies are saved every year by its ed
vocational force. 1t is the only univers-
ally useful agency for the treatment of
diseases in the community at large.
You may cure the individual in the
sickroom, you must treat the cOmmuni-
~ through the newspapers.
Cities Should Advertise.
"There is no reason why a city or
state should not advertise its health
work and pay for it just as merchan-
disc is advertised.
when a hostile lobby representing
private interests which were threat
ened by the new state health law tried
to emasculate the law we who were
fighting for it started in up a campaign
of paid advertising, some Of it in papers
that were against US, and We beat the
lobby by that method Of course we
were branded as professional agita-
tors.
Remember this. As soon as you
begin to use print for any public or ed
vocational purpose your opponents Will
dub you an agtatOr. It's good
thing 10 be. Every advertiser is an
agitator whether he agitates the public
mind in favor of pickles or public
health. Don't let the term bother you,
it's really a compliment. Use Print
er's ink in large quantities, end don't
be afraid to pay for it,"