Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-14
Those Who
Live in Silence
BY Frederic j. Hnskin
BY Frederic ]. Hnskin

Washington, -. G., june l4.-One per
son out of every four hns some defect Of
hearing, and about ninety per cent OF deal
ness is prcveuiablc. These two facts shoY
the prevalence Of deafness, not generally |
recognized, and also the need for greater |
attention to its prevention and cure.
II s safe to say that the great majority |
of people who have imperfect hearing are |
not aware Of it, The demands on the ear |
in modern times are not go great as when |
our ancestors had TO guard against world |
beasts and stealthy attack by enemies
Today, If an auto horn makes us Jump |
and the bell on the street car s audible |
enough to get on our nerves, our hearing |
is considered adequate for safety, and #
we have to ask a friend 10 repeat ques-
ton the slovenly speech Of the friend IS
undoubtedly at fault.
People who are only slightly hard Of
hearing often go through life without ever
realizing any defect. Then again, deaf
mess increases by disease or bad treat
ment such as putting pins into the enr TO
clean it or wearing mn injurious herring
device There are about 10000 people IN
the United States who are entirely deaf.
Onc-third Of these were born deal and
nearly two-thirds lost their hearing through
disease. in many cases through careless
UltUtGHi uIteUiIDH
Because the ear is one Of the most
mysterious and inaccessible parts Of the
anntomv. treatment is difficult. The inner
| ear s boxed up in bone which is sometimes
proof against even XRaYs, 80 that the
! saving that To study the ear Of a patient
vou must wait until he IS dead still holds
/ good to considerable degree.
Another difficulty IN diagnosing car
troubles is the variety Of causes Meningi-
It's. scarlet fever, measles, catarrh, BRAN
fever. are fcw Of the diseases apt to BIZ
| followed nv deafness Falls and shocks
less often niure the hearing organs. And
besides these there are cases ~ which
specialists and surgeons fail to discover
the origin OF the defect.
STRANGE cAsF.
Such case was that Of one Of theprinces
OF Spain, recently cured in a spectacular
manner The Young prince had been
examined by numerous court and foreign
doctors and all had agreed on two things-
the bow was stone deaf and nothing could
he done But spinal authority happened
along and thought hc could cure the
prince He paid no particular attention Y
the bow ears but concentrated on ms
spine lie said that the spine was slightly
curved To one side. This Is not an I'm
usual defect, IN TACT. most people st1iha
Columns lnclne 10 one SIDE Or the other
But the specialist claimed that tins va.
what affected the hearing q the prince
and he explained to the royal family Il
convincing and technical language JUS
how the glands and canals we're InflH
enced. He was allowed to manipulate h'
roval spinal column and did lndeef
straighten 1t shortly after, the chile
startled his family by initiating the sounds
made bv some ducks and by showing i
other ways that he could hear.
: Another recent method of treatlnt
: certain kinds If deafness is to apply Al
! pressure to the ear cavities by kind .
pump. Many cases Of deafness are du'
to the fact that the tiny bones q the md
: die ear do not respond to vibrations. 1h
, air pressure treatment, il Is said strength
ems the weak muscles. and helps restor
, the efficiency ot these bones
! One child born completely deaf va
: treated In this way when she was thre
wears old. with the result that some hear
ing developed This may seem sTlal
degree Of success. but To the deaf. an,
| improvement in hearing power i q tre
; mendous consequence To be able to hea
s > shout or q peal Of thunder shows the dea
person what sound Is and helps hum !
: modulating his voice in speaking.