The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1917-01-13
BAD AIR DISEASES.


house. They came in when fresh air
was shut out. And strange to say, they
came in with people.
The human animal, as long as he
spends most of his time outdoors, is
not dangerous to his kind and is not
much of a menace when he is in the
house and lets the outside air in
through the wide openings of windows
and doors.
But when men begin to shut out the
cold and shut in the artificial heat of
highly expensive coal combustion, and
in the same act shut out good air and
shut in bad, then in the closed air
spaces of so-called civilization, they
begin to spread to each other the
several and sundry germs that some of
them have been carrying about with
them all the time. Here they are: The
germs of pneumonia, influenza or Ia
grippe, tonsilitis and other kinds of
sore threats, diphtheria, whooping
cough, measles, tuberculosis, scarlet
fever and other infections. Some of
them are very contagious and easily
spread.
A person has one chance of dying
of accident or from abuse of his body
machinery, or because his ancestors
have handicapped him with serious
physical defects, which he cannot
overcome, or does not correct. But the
same person has two chances of dying
of some infection, some germs.
So while we are trying to fit our
selves to confer healthy bodies and
strong constitutions upon our children;
while we are striving to live more
sanely; while we are preaching and
practicing safety first, to escape violent
death, the real fight must be made
against the germ foes that are unseen
and all the more dangerous because
invisible to the naked eye.
These germ foes are hostile to the
individual, invading his tissues and or
gans and attacking his vitals through
the many open doors of tonsils, (spe-
cially bad) diseased gums and teeth,
defective noses, wounds of the skin or
wounds somewhere in the breathing
tubes, weak places in the highways of
the kidney and bladder system, or
wounds, or weak spots, somewhere in
the thirty feet of digestive tract.
1t is this Winter season that pecu-
liarly threatens US with the germs,
which we spread to each other by close
contact of eongested, indoor life. This
lis why the diseases of the nose, throat,
breathing tubes and lungs are so prev
TALENT.
The remedy against these community
diseases of Winter and Spring is to be
found first, in approaching what these
diseases are; second, how they are
spread; third, by fighting for fresh air
and pure. air, night and day, not only
for ourselves but for all others. And
finally, we are to better our chances
of health under these trying conditions
by living well balanced lives and pro-
Itecting everybody against sneezing,
coughing and splitting. 1t is not mere
talk, but act, that is needed. In this
campaign everybody is health commits
sioner.
The Commissioner of Health of Chi
eago is a composite of 100000 indi-
viduals among whom are certain ener-
getic generals and captains. Every
citizen is in so far health officer and
must do his part, just as every cell in
the body must do its part in the general
team work of perfectly healthy and
comfortable body.
Don't dig your grave with your
teeth But don't fail to chew thorough
ly the food you eat. To over-eat is
often a grave matter.