The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1922-06-23
|WAR NEVER ENDS
Mankind Dare Not for a Moment
"Let Up on Germs.
Sanitation Advances, but the Ingenious
Microbe Invariably Bobs Up
In Another Way.

II you studied arithmetic from one
OF those Old-fashiOned textbooks, you
will remember the famous hunter who
pursued the rabbit and gained during
successive equal periods of time one
half the distance that separated him
from the rabbit. II you later de-
veloped taste for allegory, 1t prob
ably occurred to you that this unend-
ing pursuit was appropriately sym
bolic of humanity, in pursuit Of Its
ideals. The goal Is never reached.
even though constant progress is
recorded.
There is, for instance, mans
struggle to subdue his environment to
his own ends. The beasts Of the field
are no longer a general menace;
savage tribes are largely subdued;
men are endeavoring now to prevent
armed clashes between civilized ma
lions. But the enemies of mankind
are unwearying In their attacks upon
him. II the birds, for example, should
for some reason cease for season to
perform their mission of destroying
insects. 1t is stated by some scientists,
man would give over the planet to the
tilousand-and-One varieties of insects
that war against him.
There are some individuals In this
world who take this struggle seriously
some who take Ii more seriously
and some who take 1t most seriously.
You have met, perhaps, some OF the
third class. These use their napkins
to wipe the silver at social dinner
table, spread newspapers over the
parlor car seats and hold their hand
kerehiefs over their noses when they
ride In the subway. They are those
who fear that some germ will get 'em
yet.
The germ peril and its avoidance is
one of the triumphs of modern
Thought. It has developed into
science, called sanitation. Through Its
findings many old friends have met
diisfayor. Yet as we study its dicta,
many old and close friends seem
doomed TO destruction and the pursuit
OF health and happiness, pestered al
ways by the wolf pack Of germs, be-
comes longer and longer and more
and more perilOus.
The public drinking cup, the public
towel. the public brush and comb, dear
to our grandparents, are doomed ny
the sanitation expert. The individual
laundered fowl, fresh from cabinet.
seemed to answer his demand. But
the individual towel had been in use
only a short time when it was dis
covered that the ironing that was sup
posed to sterilize the towel did not
kill the germs that carry boils.
" Paper towels were soon thereafter
Introduced and the public was once
more convinced that the last word in
sanitation had been said. But again
some inquisitiye scientists made an
Investigation and found that the knobs
and handles which one had to touch
to obtain paper towel were occupied
by millions of germs.
To cope with this situation cab.
met holder was invented which made
1t unnecessary for the user to touch
any sort of knob or handle In order
10 get his towel. NOW, some one says
there lis probably q germ In the wood
from which the cabinet Is made.
There's no rest toy the weary. So
far as any one knows, that hunter Is
still pursuing that rabbit and still
gaining on him, He has all of hui
manity's iRrepressible optimism. And
80 far as any one knows it will prob.
ably take the ingenious microbes only
a year or two to hit upon some
method of rendering any sanitary de-
vice archaic.
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