Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-05-16
CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING
HEALTH

| is "a serious mistake. 1t often APP
| pears now that there are as many
dangers lurking in the open country
as infest the towns. In the city a
great deal of money has been spent
| to put in a good sewerage system and
| to have the same inspected and main
| tanned in satisfactory condition. We
employ doctors to inspect our school
children, to serve the needs of the
poor or the incompetent, and to pre-
scribe rules and regulations through
| boards of health governing the sani-
! tary conditions of our urban COM
! munities.
| AS yet we have done little along
these lines in the open country. There
| if some form of disease obtains a
| foothold comparatively little effort is
made to stamp it out through the use
| of proper sanitary measures. 1t is
quite certain now that in many in
stances one is more likely to con-
tract typhoid fever from sojourn IN
the country or at some seml-rural re-
| sort than by drinking the water sup
piled in the homes of the majority OF
our urban residents.
In the country very little attention
has been paid to the erection or
maintenance of a proper sewage dis
posal plant, yet there is hardly a
home which could not afford to install
a septic tank and so remedy the
present menace to rural life and well
fare which will exist just as long as
the present inefficient surface closet
is used. These closets are now ire
quent source of contamination to the
water supply, a condition which all
thoughtful people realize must be i'm
mediately remedied in the interest OF
the national welfare. 1t was sup
posed, previous to the operations of
the selectiye draft, that the men
called from the country districts
would be physically superior in many
respects to those called from the city.
The result did not subStantiate this
conclusion. A large percentage OF the
men coming from the country were
found to be defective in one respect
or another, due to the fact that health
conditions had not been looked after
at certain stages of growth and de-
velopment. On the other hand, they
had been exposed in many instances
to conditions which were conducive
to the development of many forms Of
disease from which they had suffered
nent mark on their physical condi-
ton. 1t was also found that many of
them had suffered from mal-nutr1t1on,
though presumably coming from
homes where every variety of food OF
the best quality should have been OBJ
tainable. When we recognize the fact
that in many of the camps 33 1-3 per
cent of the men who were called were
found defective it is enough to make
US pause and realize once for all that
the future of the nation is bound up
in the physical well-being of it's in
dividual citizens.
The time has certainly arrived
when we should make and sustain
permanent effort to improve health
conditions in the open country. Is
the program very difficult, and will
it be costly to execute? Must much
p1anSa hnfnrn
motion? To all of these questions
negative answer can fortunately be
given. The conditions which we
need to remedy in the country in
the interest of health, are: First,
the provision and proper protection
of an adequate supply of water. Sec
ond, arrangements for the proper dis
posal of sewage through the use, say
of septic tanks. Third, a general
educational propaganda that will
teach our people about the rules and
regulations they should observe to
maintain the body in good physical
condition. Fourth, a better knowF-
edge and understanding of dietetics
and the use of food. And fifth,
better apprecition of the part bac-
terra play in sickness and health.
This last phase of the subject is
very important because now much
of the food produced in the country
is very careleSsly handled. 1t is
not adequately protected from dirt,
from flies, or from rats or mice: 1t
thus becomes contaminated and is
likely to injure the family of the
man who produces it and to transmit
various diseases to the urban con-
suIf1ers of this same food. 1t is of
course not easy to fight flies or mice
and rats, but it is both possible and
practicable to do SO, and in the IN
terest of our civilization we must
undertake to inform our people OF
just how to attain this end. In the
first place, rat-proof granar1es and
storehouses can be built at reason
able cost and will do much to les
sen the menace from these rodents.
Then if we screen our houses and
handle the droppings Of animals
properly we can mitigate the fly
nuisance very materially. By drain
ing out the little pond holes and
with the use of screens we can les
sen the danger of sickness through
medium of the mosquito.
1t is absurd to say that we can
not afford to make these changes
when the losses we suffer from ex-
listing conditions cost us several
times more each year than would
viate these losses.
AS to rules for living, eating and
working in the country, they are
much the same as those which
a supposition that because people
| live in the country they have an
abundance of fresh air where they
live and work. This may or may not
| be true. In many cases the rural
home is not properly ventilated;
| Frequently the windows are closed
at night for the greater part of the
year at least. The fact that one has
| been out in the open air in the day
| time may enable the continuance Of
this practice for a long time without
serious injury to the health of the
| individual concerned, and it is only
| because of a hardy constitution that
existence under such conditions can
| be indefinitely maintained. The
country is supposed to be the place
| of fresh air and yet the pig pens and
! barnyards and other foul-smelling To-
cations around many homes are such
as to thoroughly cOntaminate the
air. These conditions can easily be
| remedied and certainly should be, be-
cause the animals that create such
odors are not being given an oppor-
tunity to do themselves justice. If
turned loose and allowed to wander
about at will they would find far
more sanitary quarters than they are
frequently required to live in.
Fresh air in sleeping rooms and
porches is therefore just as much a
desi -eratum in the country as in
should wear light, loose clothing
and spend part of the time in the
open air each day. Is it possible
that people who live in the country
do not follow these directions? II
certainly is. The housewife may
spend the greater part of the time
indoors even in the rural home. There
is an impression that breathing
deeply is waste of time and that i
is just a notion of city jewellers
1t is quite possible to live out il
the country and work in the oper
air every day and yet never thor
oughly expand the lungs through in
haling a plentiful supply of frest
atr. 1t is Just as important t
M breathe deeply in the country as il
- the city.
lb Where people work at manual la
Cd Dor a vigorous appetite is likely tt
ito ne ueNelopeu' 1HlS is ueSlfdp1e pro