The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-08-16
Many Victims of Disease Are
Sneezing Thru Hot Days.
Is Every Sneeze Just the Same
in Characterl
WHAT ABOUT CLEOPATRA'S?
Old Rameses KercheWed Just
Like TOpekans Do.
Webster Had a Hard Time De-
filming Nose Blasts.
Kerche-e-e-e-e-e-ewi

Whaddye mean by sneezing like that
IN August? Not a cold surely. 1t
can't be the flu. Certainly not the
grippe. Then there's only one expla-
nation-the good. old fashioned hay
fever like mother used to have.
Times have changed since Dad was
a youngster, but sneezes have re-
NAMED the same thru the ages. The
sneezes of Cleopatra and Rameses, of
Constantine and Nero may have been
different in detail from the sneezes of
William H. Taft and Robert W. Cham
bers. but they are brothers in fact.
King and beggar-rich and poor-an
are one when hay fever fastens its
talons upon them.
Hay fever is a misfortune as well as
a disease and this is its favorite sea-
son. II crawls forth from its hollow
tree like a squirrel in the sprin gtime.
to romp around the country and have
a real jolly time until Mother Nature
calls a halt to its antics. And all the
while humanity sneezes. each in that
certain manner peculiar TO himself
What Is a Sneeze?
To correctly define a sneeze is no
easy task. Proof OF this is found by
consulting Brother Noah webster. ad-
mitted to be an authority on the tntri-
cacies Of the English language, who
declares a sneeze to be "a sudden, vio-
lent audible. spasmodtc expiration OF
breath. chiefly thru the nose" The
weakness of such a definition even by
Noah may be readily understood by
those who have been sneeZed upon,
either Intentionally or otherwise.
According to DR.. Earl G. Brown,
city health officer, hay fever is as
ISOLATED with the pollen of certain
plants-the rag weed, yellow dock,
amarath and goose foot, as well as
certain grasses. 1t is common in Eng
land and the United States, more es-
pecially in the latter country, and at
lacks persons chiefly between the ages
Of is to 30 years It occurs twice
as often in males as in females and
twice a often in cities as in the coun-
try Persons with sensitive nostrils
are more liable to infection than
others. The pollen dust is chiefly re-
sponsible. while sudden changes Of
temperature or even mental excite
ment have bad effects.
symptoms of n Sneeze
The symptoms are an intense run
ming Of the eyes and nose. great con-
stitutional reaction and mental de-
preston. The hay fever victim is
surprised at his own lack Of pep"
The throat. larynx and broncht feel
dry and burning. there is a pain over
the eyes. the nose becomes swollen
and congested and frequently a cough
comes to camp in ones bosom for a
time
The best thing the hay fever victim
can do. Doctor Brown declared, is to
consult a physician at once While
the disease is not fatal, and while
perfect cure has never been devised,
much suffering can be saved by doc
tors treatment and the severity OF
the trouble alleviated. The attack
always stops with the coming OF the
first frost.
One of the peculiarities OF the dis
ease is the disgusting exactness Of is
recurrence. 1t invariably returns on
the same day each year and usually
approximately the same hour. A
fective cure. but not always Persons
in Kansas having hay fever have gone
to Colorado and recovered. and vice
versa Plenty of fresh air. cool rubs
and tonics are among the treatments
recommended by physicians. Fever
usually goes t. 100 or 101.
Rag Weed Is Worst.
Altho hay fever can be taken from
the pollen of certain grasses. tests
have shown that the pollen of the rag
weed is 90 per cent lighter than the
pollen OF the grasses. so that It is from
the former that most of the disease
comes. As soon as the weed becomes
sufficiently ripe. this pollen is de-
tached and carried on the wind to the
3 lAoSlIlAS u 0llsuSptClllB NlCNAtflSs Win
the sneeze, the cough and the brfny
tear resulting. The buoyancy of the
pollen was demonstrated by tests made
in New Orleans, when IL was carried
( by the wind for five miles and de-
/ posted on plates. On August 20 the
pollen on the plates was seven per
I cent and next day when the wind in
creased 10 90 miles per hour. the pol
} len increased TO 81 per cent.
{ Above the altitude of 5000 feet the
rag weed does not grow and here the
innocent believer might expect to es-
cape its effects But he will find an
admirable substitute in the form of the
worm sage wood. and will hurry sneez-
/ ing down the mountain TO suffer in a
warmer cline.
I British miners are now receiving wages