The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-08
M B N, W O M E N
 A ND HIN c s

l used to marvel at the stories of
 corn being taken out of the Pyramids
 and planted thousands of years after
 have never believed the tales, but
 scientists tell us that in the lungs of
 Egyptian mummies the marks of con-
 sumption have been found.
 ] It seems an indisputable fact that while other plaques, ancient and mod
 ern, like cholera and yellow fever and
 the flu" have swept a town, com
 munity. city or nation for few weeks,
 months or years striking down it's vic bms; yet, tuberculosis has kept up its
 2,50O years.
 1 It has been definitely learned that
 tuberculosis is a preventable and cura-
 ble disease, and it's an indictment of
 twentienth century civilization that the
 Great White Plague" as Oliver Wen l dellHolmes called consumption, should be allowed to take it's terrific toll in
 a country like America, where we have
 the money and the methods to combat
 "The Captain of the Men of Death"
 that is, the germs upon which 1t feeds. l
 | But in spite of all our means and all 1 our knowledge through almost crim-
 inal carelessness at the present time l bacillus tuberculosis or the tubercle | bacillus, as it is sometimes called, is
 the most deadly of all the bracterial
 enemies of man. I want to make every ; one who reads this realize that the Captain of the Men of Death" for
 this is what the germ which causes
 the Great. White Plague" has been
 so aptly called. is killing our fellow 1 countrymen at the rate of 150,000 a year and 100000 are constantly sick with the disease.
 l To put it in better way so that it
 may be driven home it means over 400 a day are struck down by the Grim i Reaper, ' each hour and one every three minutes. It's hard for me to get it into my head that during the | time have given to committing this
 story to paper nearly score of vic tims have died from tuberculosis here in these United States. It's an awful
 thing to think about, and yet. con- sumption is disease which robs the mothers of the world of one out of every 10 children. The sad fact being that the causes of the disease are
 known, likewise the means whereby 1t
 may be prevented; but the people are
 not aroused sufficiently to stamp it out
 We Americans like big things and big figures and we think in terms of
 millions. All right "The Great White Pleague" can truthfully be put in the
 millionaire class for there are at least 10000 active cases of tuberculosis in the United States, and no close esti- l made of the number of inactive eases can be made but from careful compu- tations made from statistics gathered at the health demonstration at Tram | ingham. Mass. where the whole city put itself under the care of physicians in order to promote health and further
 scientific investigation. 1t was revealed
  culosis for every death. This would indicate a total of over 2,000, 900 cases, 1,O00, 900 of which are probably inac tive.
 am dong my best to stir those who read this column up to the point where
 they will not only see that the plague of tuberculosis is the greatest single cause of death in the United States, as tenth of all the men. women and children who die each year are the vctims of it; but that they have personal responsibility to get busy and do their part to exterrninate 1t. Ap- proximately 10000 American soldiers, sailors and marines were killed or died from other causes during the year in
 which the United States was actively engaged in the World war. Be a vol
 unteer in the army to fight the Great White Plague" which takes it's annual toll of 150,000.
 The National Tuberculosis associa- tion and it's 1000 affiliated state and
 local organizations are waging sys- tematic warfare against this insidious
 and greedy foe of mankind. They are helping to cure the afflicted, and talk ing approved scientific measures to check and prevent the spread of the
 disease. It Is in this work. which is
 financed chiefly by the sale of Tuber- culosis Christmas Seals, that help is
 asked of the people of the United States at this season of the year. But here in this district we have a pressing local problem which we must
 face It is the campaign which is on to raise budget of $eo,ooo to meet the needs of the programme outlined by the Anti i-Tuberculosis association of Jefferson county. It has been care- | fully worked out by the men best fitted ! to do it. The association has published
 the data covering it's activities for
 the year just coming to an end. It's record of which Dr. Eaves and his
 co-workers may we'll be proud. Just
 one item is enough to show its afrorts
 have not been in vain. One hundred
 fewer tuberculosis deaths in Jefferson
 county in 1919 than in 1917.
 Dr. Eaves. who has been the incar- nation of the movement. a tireless worker, who has neither spared him | self night or day, in outlining a pro-