Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-21
THE HELLO MICROBES.

| THE HELLO MICROBES.
When people write me asking as
to the danger of contracting conta-
gion from telephones, I commonly
| reply that there is no danger.
A more accurate answer would be
that there is some danger, but the
danger should be disregarded. There
Is some danger in. eating. breathing,
| wearing clothes, crossing the street.
but the factor is so small that being
on guard, shielding oneself, worrying
and fearing entail more hardship
| than the danger does.
My reply has been based on tests
made by the California health de-
! partment. Some more recent tests
made by Saelhof OF the University of
Illinois on public telephones in Chi
| cago tend to undermine my reas-
suring statements.
His tests were made prior to the
great influenza epidemic of 1918. dur
ing that epidemic and. finally, in
February, 1920. at the time of the
second wave, and In March OF the
same year just as the wave was sub
siding. Most of these telephones
were in public booths. some In drug
stores and some elsewhere. The
booths were classified into clean,
filthy, and very filthy.
The examinations Of the mouth
pieces for disease producing bacteria
| showed some kinds present in large
proportion of the instruments eX-
amined. Staphylococcus. pus coccus
which causes pimples and boils, was
present on almost one-half Of the
phones. The organism Of pneu-
monia was present in / per cent, that
OF diphtheria in per cent, and strep-
tococcus, hemolyticus, a germ which
causes tonsillitis. sore throat, rheu-
matism. and lot of other troubles
was present in almost Is per cent.
The bacterial contamination Of the
telephones was far higher during
the influenza epidemic Of 1918 than
at the other periods. The mouth
piece is the only part of the instru-
ment that gets soiled much. The ear
piece was not found much con-
taminated.
Saelhof thinks more attention
should be paid to telephone booths.
They should be ventilated. When an
odoriferous fellow has paid cents
for three minutes conversation in
a telephone booth there is no guar
antee that he will quit the booth en-
tirely at the end Of that period. Al
man would not need the nose of
bird dog to detect his remains there
long after the expiration of his
three-minute period.
The booth should be swept out
once a week. The mouthpiece
should be washed with soap and
warm water often enough to keep it
clean and then wiped with a l to
1000 solution Of bichloride, or a
solution of lysol, or crude carbolic ,
or one OF the standard disinfectants.
washing off with a standard dis
in1ectant solution on cloth should
be done once or twice a week.
Saeihof does not think any con-
siderable amount of contagion is con-
tracted from telephone mouthpieces.
In fact ne thinks there is little dan
ger OF disease from such exposure,
agreeing practically with the Calfor-
ma health departments conclusions. |
Nevertheless the cleaning as out
lined above Is desirable if for nothing
else than our accepted standards of |
decency and cleanliness.
All You Need Is Poise.
I. L. writes: II am 20 and never
have been strong like most fellows
and wish to catch up with some of |
them; will you tell me what to do?
"A year ago last Christmas I had |
nervous breakdown, they said it
was, and came near losing my mind. !
l am no longer nervous at all. but |
still experience some difficulty in /
sleeping at night, yet I'm always
sleepy in the daytime. have gone |
Tor months at a time without a good |
nights sleep and yet I wouldn't |
sleep in the daytime either. I was
afraid if I did sleep in the day it |
would make 1t harder for me at |
night. I don't do SO badly though.
now; l generally get a good nights |
Steep or part Of nights sleep at
least. unless I've been working pretty |
hard during the day
Il finished high school his spring
and contemplate going to college this
winter. am now working in the |
harvest field and expect to do some !
ditch work this summer, too; the
work Is just about all I can stand.
but l must have the money for my
college course.
Il never was able to take part in
athletics like my schoolmates. II
could never come up with them in /
anything. I did join a boxing club
last fall and box a very little, but
while the other boys enjoyed it and
supposed did, I went into the bouts
as I'd take bad dose of medicine.
IF you would give me some ad-
vice 1t would be very much appre-
ciated" y
REPLY.
You are a neurasthenic and should
develop your poise and nerve control.
Get Sadler's Worry and Nervous
ness" and study and apply 1t chapter
by chapter. Since you are q deter
mined case with plenty of drive you
will train ourself out of nervousness
as you have overcome other obsta-
cles. In college carry out a GYM
naslum program, not with a view of
eXcelling or even competing, but for
the physical and mental good it will
do you.