The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-05-07


1t is just such cases as these that
! the Kiwanis Club wants to know
about. It's the clubs business TO
know and to help, II there seems q
fair chance Of recovery.
In conjunction with the program
Of Kiwanis International in beha4K
OF the under-privileged child, tho
Washington club il engaged in q
unique and valuable work which al
ready has brought happiness into
; more than fifty homes here. For
the purposes of carrying out TINS
work the club has an orthopedc
and welfare committee, whose duty
it il to receive these cases, arrange
for the proper treatment and report
their activities to the kiwanlans
who contribute to the support OF
the work
Cure DefOrInities.
"Orthopedic' may seem a r1ys-
terious and terrifying word to some,
but it merely means the curing Of
Geformities, especially In children.
And that's exactly what the wash
ington Kiwanis Club set out to DO
in 1928.
Two years ago . few prominent
members of the club, reaching out
for some good work to do, put their
heads together and decided that II
anything was worth while it was
the building up OF crippled children
into healthy, useful citizens.
Quietly, apart from any definite
club activity, these men worked out
their plan. The Instructive Visiting
Nurses Society stated its willingness
to assist in locating cases mertttng
attention, and Doctor Gusts Lee
Hall, prominent local orthopedtc
surgeon, offered his services without
charge.
Then the plan was laid before
the club and the work was begun.
To relate, In detail. the; work done
by the club and the results obtained
thereby would I'LL several volumes.
Numerous cures have pee
brought about. Other cases, some
of long standing and not yielding
Immediately to treatment, are on
the road to recovery. Stu others,
found to be incurable, are being
given such non.medical aid az can
be afforded.
It is not, by any means, an easy
task. In several cases, there have
been parents, weIl-intentioned but
fearful Of their children's condition,
who had to be persuaded to allow
the little ones to undergo opera
tons that meant health-and often
life itself-to them. Strange as it
may seem, some parents absolutely
refuse to permit the children to be
treated though the prognosis be
most favorable.
Parents Help Pay Expense
The club does not, in every case
shoulder the entire expense, as its
| intention IL not to pauperize OF
patronize, but to help in a friendly
and unobtrnsive way. In a mum
Der of cases the parents pay the
hospital bills, or part OF them
More often than not, however, the
club assumes complete financial
care of the matter.
The latest case-the fifty-fifth-
which the club is handling, was re
| ported last night. In this instance
the child was a three-year-old girl
who had never walked. At the re
quest of the orthopedlc committee
Doctor Hall examined the child and
said it was not a case strictly IN
the category Of orthopedics. How
ever, he advised certain treatment
| and is confident that the child viii
be able to walk In two years.
Other cases reported during April
! are, in the terse phraseology Of
Ki,Grams. the official weekly or
| gan OF the club:
boy, twelve years old, brother
of the boy operated on for hernis
by Doctor Hall. Has long suffered
from severe headaches and was
taken to Children's Hospital fol
treatment, x-ray and observation
viii later be operated on for sinus
/ trouble.
boy, seven years old, has spina
| curvature Was taken to clinic a.
Children's Hospital for examination
| "Girl, admitted to Children's Hos