Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1920-02-20
PUBLIC WELFARE DEPT.
BY Miss Margaret Thomas
Health Nurse

seems to be busy Trying 10 caIcn all the
victims that it missed last year, and
| get calls from all parts of the county
To get help for families where all Of
them are down with it. but as the same
answer comes back to memo one to be
gotten--it should impress us more
with the need of prevention. Also
those. who liad the flu last year, the
doctors tell me seem quite immune to
it now and il they would help with the
victims of this year it would be great
~ appreciated.
also have calls for help to do
chores on the farm as the whole fam
lily are sick.
If people would only realize also
how much of our resistance to disease
depends on our general health and es-
pecially young children who are at the
most susceptible age, and we compel
them to go to school and i'll so many
cases ignore their well being in order
to get little more arithmetic or geOg-
raphy into their little heads. | Will
mention some of the conditions which
rimentaf to the health of our children
and which the parents of the children
seem perfectly willing for them to be
subjected to. All of these are not nee
esSarily in one school. but here are the
observations of one week
Poor ventilation and improper sup
ply of fresh air, which is absolutely
necessary to life.
Some rooms too crowded for air
space, and when | suggest that the
children who are under years of age,
and who should not be in school at all,
for their own good Should be kept out
of school until the additional room is
finished. the parents rise up and say
that the children are doing good work
in school and therefore must go. re-
gardleSS Of whether it ruins their
health or not. and to protect the chill
dren from that the state Board of
Health and the State Industrial Com
mission wishes officers of the law and
the general public to note Rules 29.21.
and - of the laws on the Sanitary
Care of Schools.
We also know that the hands are
the most common germ carriers and
these rulings require the necessities TO
keep them clean. and still | find the
schools with only one or no wash
basins for from 40 to 100 children. who
are there all day. to wash their hands
III. and often no soap or towels. Most
of the drinking fountains are not of the
sanitary kind. for they are just the
same as one water pail and one dipper.
and all drinking from it.
The State Board of Health also re-
quireS that the schools be cleaned at
least once month. with warm water
and soap. Inquire if your school IS
and if the toilets. are cleaned and tot
ler paper supplied.
Help the children to have hot
lunches in the school and try and make
the plan agreeable to all. and see that
the children have Il variety in their
dinner pals: and encourage them to
take a bottle of clean milk to school.
DO not tell the children to stay in at
recess for if they are we'll enough to
90 to school they are well enough to
play III the open air for ten or fifteen
minutes and they can do school work
better for it,
Help your school to have some play
ground apparatus and to play games.
DO not send your children to- school
if they have Il cough or cold or other
physical ailments that they may give
to others.
We have another big problem in a
new county like ours. and that is lack
or 90 per cent of the children with de-
fectiye teeth. especially permanent
teeth, and most of the children take
quite good care Of their teeth. as far as
the daily cleaning is concerned. and
show the results of the school teach
ing. There would be ii fine field here
for a rural dental clinic.
In several Of the schools a large
percentage of the children have large
diseased tonsils with large glands and
adenoids and ear trouble. The large.
spongy tonSils are well called The
portal Of entry for disease" The
teachers and children are always in
tercsted and cooperative in the welfare
work of our boys and girls. and | i'm
plore the parents to do their best in
helping raise our good health stan
dardS.
They are furnishing hot lunches at
Conrath and the district helps by fur
nishing the necessary provisions eX-
cept for the vegetables which the chill
dren bring from home and they all
wash their hands and sit down at
their desks and have a paper towel for
Il cover.
The Camp Fire girls and Boy Scouts
in Ladysmith started the hot lunches
in the grade schools. with the help of
some of the mothers in the community
who made the hot dish and the Boy
Scouts took it to the schools and the
Camp Fire girls served it. and the
children ate their dinner at the tables
and had their hot dish and the Nictrola
gave them music while they ate, which