The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1916-07-26
The Farmers Health
!. A. JOHNSON


Desnite the fact that a mans health
is his biggest asset many are seem
ingly careless in the remembrance OF
this truth. We ought to endeavor in
every way possible to bring about COM
ditions that will insure to us the best
Health a section can afford. In order
that greater haste may be made along
the line that ought to concern us most
vitality, we need to cultivate being
more receptive and open-minded to
truths Despite the fact that the rep
resentatives of the great science OF
medicine have said over and over that
malaria is put into ones system and
carried from one individual to another
by a certain species OF mosquito, and
that typhoid fever is transmitted by
flies; that homes ought to be screened
for comfort, if for nothing else, too Z
many make no preparations to avoid
these maladies and to get the comfort
along with better health. 1t ought
to be our eternal "slesan" to eliminate
as nearly as possible flies from the
kitchen and dining rooms and mosqui-
toes from the bedroom Ii would be
well to remember every hour, chat
an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound, and perhaps ton of cure"
A great many are doing these things
all along One good farmer in this
county has said that his medical bill,
since he screened his home, has been
almost nothing as compared with the
amount before. He was induced to
do this timely thing through hearing
one of the local physicians talk on
the subject of flies and mosquitoes
and the necessity for screening homes
at one of the rural schools. Not
few good farmers have been heard to
say this summer since screening that
they do not now understand how they
got alo gnwithout screened homes.
1t will not be out of place to give you
few extracts from report made by
member of the State Board of Health
|
J ciety for the Fermentation of Tuber
culosis of a prosperous farming coun-
, ty in Illinois, where land values vary
, from ninety to two hundred and fifty
dollars an acre, where everybody in
: the county speaks English sends the
children to school, attends church, and
reads the papers and talks politics.
The report states that large pro-
\ portion of this county live in what is
: called "close quarters" The average
: house has from four to eight rooms;
= the occupants usually number from
J four to twelve in each house. The re-
y port continues with the statement that
\ the average city man thinks that the
\ farmer has pleny of homegrown milk,
butter, eggs, meat, homemade bread
and vegetables. 1t was found that
the dietary of seventy-fve per cent.
] Of the people of this county were lack
} ing in these products Although no
\ one was found actually hungry, there
I, was a large number of unnourished
and sallow looking people. 1t is stat
= ed that in only few cases was pow
J erty a cause for this condition.
The water supply on the farms was
y only fair more cisterns being used
\ there than wells. Unsantary outhous
es were. prevalent OF the 119 exam
: med only four were fairly decent.
= Most of them were made without
J vaults, the contents remaining on the
surface of the ground and exposed at
the rear of the buildings. In not sin
\ gle case was provision made to keep
out flies.
: Epidemics are frequent in this coun
ty. Typhoid and measles have been
J most frequent, or something akin to
it, affects a large number of the peo-
! pie. Many folks just dragging around,
as they say Calomei and quininc are
taken without prescription, and patent
medicines were found to an alarming
extent in nearly every home.
J The report closes by saying that it
is to be hoped that the county under
, discussion is not typical of the country
, at large.
If we have some similar conditions
here in our county, let's go to work
to put into operation things that will
make for better rural health, and thus
usher in what we all most desire-a
healthful, happy, contented and pros
porous population.