El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-06-24
Teach Health
T0ChiLdYenM
Public School
Washington Women Co.
Operate With Depart
ment OF Interior.
Rr FREpERIc J. HAsKIN.

Washington, D. c., June 24.-Two
small boys. their faces and shoes COM
peting for the highest degree Of polish.
stood. with bent heads. anxiously
scanning two bright yellow tags that
tail. stout woman had Just placed in
their hands.
Pm eight pounds underweight." de-
clared the taller. thinner one. striving
! for careless infection
I'm three pounds over" said the
other proudly.
What did cho-ChO tell your" asked
ne said I ought to join the school
basketball class. What did he tell
your"
That I ought to eat more bread
and butter. and cut out the candy.
But don't believe he knows what
he's talkin'-oh, there he is now.
Let's go watch him"
A clown conventional. circus
type OF clown-with a painted face.
and wearing a white satin suit with
scarlet and green doublet. suddenly
appeared in the midst Of the crowd of
children He was slapping his Sides
laughing loudly. with his gaudy arm
around the neck of a plump little boy,
who was struggling hard for compos-
ure under the envious eyes of his COM
panions You hear what he says"
exclaimed the clown TO the leaner
members Of the group Of children: He
drinks six glasses Of water a day. And
ne sleeps ten hours he eats"
Children Have Bad Teeth.
But the two small boys heard no
more The tall, stout woman, who
had given them the bright. yellow
tags. once more approached them.
Let's see your teeth" she command
ed. smiling. The boys opened their
mouths obediently- Look at the green
on those front teeth she said. turn
ing 10 the writer And that's the way
it is with most Of them 1t is a well
known fact that so percent of the
children in the United States have de-
fective teeth Many OF them. especially
country children. do not even own a
toothbrush" She nassed on. examin-
ing the mouths OF other children. leav-
ing the two little boys free 10 pursue
the clown into the auditorium.
This is a typical scene from the
unique drama enacted by the United
States department Of the interior
when It threw open its exhibition halls
in Washington for the weighing and
measuring OF the city's school chill
dren- The marble corridors. lined with
departmental exhibits and with bril-
liant. significant posters. provided an
excellent stage The only furniture
was four pairs Of scales. three tape
measures. two desks. a mass OF yellow
tags. and writing materials An aver
age Of soc children furnished the cast
every day.
The children entered the building in
a single line. in which each child re-
NAMED until he was weighed and
measured. and received his tag. Then
he was permitted to wander about.
looking at exhibits. hunting Cho-Cho.
or discussing his defects and perfec-
tons with his companions The prin-
cipal part. Of course, was that OF Cho-
Che. government clown The govern
ment was also represented by the
women Of the division OF school by
giene Of the bureau OF education They
planned the thing.
Defects Due to Ignorance.
This is how Ii started; The division
OF school hygiene discovered a little
over a year ago that there were 5000 /
600 underweight school children in this
country At the same time, Il was
made clear that underweight was
largely due to the ignorance OF the I.
and their parents In other
words. reduced to It's final analysis. (.
weight. and thereby health, IS a mat I
ter Of education as well as Of income /
During the past year. the division /
has been carrying on an extensive I
eampaign to get teachers TO teach /
health in the public schools It has
urged a pair OF scales and a tape meas
ure as part OF every schools equip :
ment. and the monthly Weighing and 4
OF children The greatest J.
advertisers in the country have been !
called into consultation in preparing
the necessary pamphlets Of health /
propaganda We have the facts" the +
experts OF the division told the advis-
ers. now We want you 10 put them I
into a snicy form that the people will /
read" The result is a popular. Illus
-rated pamphlet giving the essential
facts concerning the health OF chill {,
lren. such as has never been issued
by the government before
Then secretary Lane and a number J.
IF eminent medical authorities con- a
seived a vet more brilliant idea. This
was to find a practical form Of i'm I
parting the same health facts to the
,hildren themselves. At last they
'ound II. A man was discovered. who
rad entertained children al his life
first on the stage. then as 4 private
for New York society
,hildren- It IS quite probable that at
)ne time he bore a conveptional An
zlo-Saxon name. but for years he has
leen known by the mysterious and
fascinating name OF Cho-Cho.
ChO-ChO Asks Questions.
Cho-Cho knew something ahort
lealth himself. as evidenced by HIS
numerous medals won in athletic con-
ests: but when the New York medi-
al men were through with him. he
vas nothing less than an authority
Further. he was an authority capable