The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-06-17
RIP VAN w1NKIE
(By a Correspondent

again-Rip or one on ms piVseH'
some dozen or more generations
down the line-and this time way
down in South Florida.
He walked up and heard the rum
BILE of the choo-choo cars. He rubbed
his eyes and looked and beheld Flor
ida's Health Train rolling into Fort
Myers. He dug his knuckles into his
eyes once more; he saw the big loco
motive wouldn't bite and by degrees
he screwed up his courage and en-
tered the big Pullman and looked at
] the exhibit. He looked and looked
and by and by he went away ana
broke into print. His impressions
were reproduced in the Estero Eagle,
and some days later his article was
copied into the Ocala Banner-May
i31. Of course this reprint was
Joke. for it would be impossible to
imagine the Grand Old Man of Flor
ida's Fourth Estate reproducing such
an article excepting in the humorous
column.
But, honestly, it is interesting to
see how much has happened, what
strides science has made, since Rip
went to sleep back somewhere in the
7O's or SOS.
Rip was very much surprised, even
disturbed, by some of the placarded
announcements he saw hanging In
the train, especially this one:
Smallpox is a voluntary disease.
No one has to have it who cares to
avoid it. =" Rip doubts this statement
because, he says, bis own father was
vaccinated and later had the dis
ease. No one has to have it who
cares to avoid it. =" Rip doubts this
statement because, he says, his own
father was vaccinated and later had
the disease. Perhaps you were mis-
| taken, Rip, perhaps not; perhaps 1t
didn't take" but that doesn't
change the fact Rip that it has TAX
en- in thousands, yes, millions of
other cases, and because of Jenner's
gift to the world millions of men and
women have escaped, millions OF
lives have been saved and the des-
TIMES of nations have been changed
thereby. It's a fact, Rip. and when
you have been awake long enough
to get into touch with men who have
been awake all these years you'll
have to change your mind.
Another carded announcement
worried Rip. 1t reads: Malaria is
carried only by the mosquito. Bad
air and miasmi have nothing to do
with it.
That's true, Mr.. Van Wrinkle, in
spite of the quotation you hurl at
us from the Encyclopedia Britannica,
which says: 1.-THE oldest and most
prevalent hypothesis of malaria is
that it is a specific poison generated
in the SOIL
Now, Van, that was all right about
the time you went to sleep. People
used to think that way and talk
that way, even the doctors didn't
know what other explanation to give
so they learnedly guessed this one
, out. But, Rip, prevalent hypothe-
sis" have given way to definite, dem.
onstrated proofs, and while you have
been sleeping your years away, the
most eminent medical scientists got
to studying over few of these prob.
lem.. and they found out that ma
laria, yellow fever, typhoid fever
bubonic plague and quite a good
many of these disagreeable diseases
are caused by the injection into the
human system of bacteria and para.
sites which develop these diseases;
that each diease has its own distinct
microbe, and that one kind of mi.
crobe cannot generate any other dis
ease than its own.
They went further and found thai
these little bugs lyou can't see them
they're too small are carried by
mosquitoes or flies or fieas, which
transfer them to other human being:
from those that have the particular
disease. And more than that, Rip
these different diseases can't possibly
be started in any way excepting BY
the particular, individual organism
that belongs to each disease. It's {
fact, Van, and the most learned
scientific men in the world, mer
who know lot more about it thar
YOU or |, agree that it is a fact. Il
makes it lot easier, Rip, knowing
the cause of any disease, to get busy
and head it on.
Things have changed a lot, Rip
since you went to sleep, and the doc
tors have concluded that it is a grea
deal better and more economical t.
} prevent disease than to have to cur,
it.
Well, Rip didn't like this placart
in the train: "A careless splitter Will
a little cough is more dangerous
/