The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-05-21
TRYING TO SAVE
CH|LDREN'S LIVES
-
The Canvass Shows Several
Hundred of Pre-School
aAs@ y Age in Town iau
\ IS tsoG. Il sssg.Is5o1g
MEASURING AND
WEIGHING CLINICS
Begin Today at Mutual Aid Association
Headquarters on Harris Place-Phy-
sicians and Dentists Contribute to
Children's Year.

A canvass has been made and it has
been found that there are several hun
dred children of pre-school age in Brat
tleboro. The clinics for weighing and
measuring these children began at the
Mutual Aid association headquarters
on Harris place today, and the work will
be kept up for several days. Any child
whose weight and height do not come
up to the normal may be taken to the
office of the family physician any time
before June 10 and receive a physical
examination free of charge. The dep
lists also will render a similar service
with respect to the teeth. The physi-
clans and dentists of Brattleboro ate
making this very generous contribution
to the Children's Year
In this connection an article has been
prepared by the children's bureau of
the United States department of labor
for use by local child welfare commit
tees during Children s Year. It reads
as follows:
Why should we fuss about babies
nowi That is question which women
may well be asking, for they are busy
with surgical dressings and knitting
things essential to the comfort of the
soldiers. But the peace of mind of the
father who is soldering in France de-
ponds on knowing that his helpless chill
dren at home are safe. And war con-
ditions affect children in a hundred
xr-ox-a oil rr1,
escaped the more startling horrors which
have darkened the lives of the children
of war ravished France and Belgium.
The Children s Bureau of the L. S.
department of labor has asked the men
and women who are working to win the
war not to forget the war time needs of
all of America IS children whether their
fathers are fighting for their country
IN the trenches in France or here be-
hind the lines. 1t asks that the pro-
lection given all of America s children
be increased now wAenuthe- ftundatiosrsi
of the country's future strength and
democracy are being laid for, sThe
health of the child is the power of the
nation. The war time work for chill
dren is called Children s Year. It's goal
is to save the lives of 100000 children
under five years of age during the Sec
ond year of the war. This means the
saving of one-third of the three hundred
thousand lives of children under FIVE
which are lost every year in the Unit
ed States. Authorities agree that at
least half of these deaths could be pre-
vented if knowledge of the best modern
methods of child care and facilities for
following out the directions given by
skilled specialists We're accessible to all
children instead of to comparatively
few If America can prevent even part
of these deaths She will have demon
strated her ability to get for her chill
dren better chance of life and health.
England and France have realized
that work for better children is vital
war work and England has proved the
value of what she has done by bring
ing down her baby death rate to the
lowest point in her history Their
achievements are an inspiration to the
eleven million women of the woman s
committee of the council of national de-
Tense who have determined that 100,-
600 children's lives shall be saved in
Children s Year. The woman IS com
mittee now has $3.50 local units. A
constantly increasing number of these
units are undertaking to forward work
that will enable communities to give
their children a better chance