The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-02-06
FREE SPEECH WITHOUT GRATUITOUS
 MOUTH SPRAY

| The latest public health bulletin issued by
 the federal government on the perennial sub | ject "the common cold'' reiterates the ad- vice If you wish to avoid cold, give your
 sneeZing, coughing friends a wide berth" It
 comedies that colds" are infectious and con- | tagious. It hints that the usual way of infec- | ton is through being caught in the spray of cough or sneeze, but 1t suggests also that the | hands of the person who has "cold" are like ly to convey the infection, and even articles he touches may be contamined and carry the infection to other persons who touch them.
 This latter part about the patients hands and objects he touches conveying the virus of his disease, is all horse feathers. in my opn- ion. I don't believe anybody ever contrac cts any know respiratory infection in that way, and I doubt that the public health service of | ficers or anyone else can find any clinical or | scientific evidence to support such absurd fancy.
 There is one verys important, and I believe most prolific mode of infection which some
 how these office holding authorities studously avoid in all their public utterances on this | funny ditfdence until I tried to mention it in q radio talk I was giving over national chain The radio censor sternly forbade any reference to this mode of infection, for he said many women and children might hear my talk, and 1t would be very unpleasant for them to think that there is any risk danger involved in polite conversation with d person who purports to have ''just cold" Well, there is freedom of the press if there is freedom of speech over the air Here in the paper can express my belief that the chief mode of infection in what our office holding authorities fondly call "the common cold and what l think honest folk should call "cri. is through conversational spray. which is still a perfectly polite medium of exchange, where as open-face coughing or sneezing is simply not done in polite circles, and l should think polite people would resent the implication that their friends indulge in that sort of thing.
 The only difference between open face coughing or sneezing and ordinary conversa- ton. means of spreading respiratory infec-
 tions call them what you will, is a difference of range. cough or sneeze shoots the germ Tod ,,IatI of cib tnyi iSttt t1ty fine to distance of 10 or 2 feet: conversa- tional spray carries not more than five feet from the mouth of the speaker:
 So I beg to alarm you, if you're that sort by reminding you that you are by no means safe if you contrive to avoid being sprayed by your coughing or sneezng friends strangers when they have what the esteemed federal public health service office holders mulishly term "the common cold"--no federal or other health authority dares to define any such en- tity, be it reaffrmed. You are still in the dan ger zone if you approach within five feet of the beggar permit him to approach within five feet of you for d brief chat, unless the or the other wears a suitable mask keeps be- hind suitable screen to stop the spray.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Drinking Cistcrn Water
 Is the water from a cistern wholesome to
 Answer-Yes, if the cistern is properly pro- tected from pollution by human sewage. What, a Blacksmith
 I am blacksmith In our shop the draft is poor and the place Is filled with smoke and coal gas most of the time. am heart disease patient. Should I take hypOsulphitc of soda? co. E. A.)
 Answer-So blacksmths still occur sporad- icay, eh? I advise you to take nothing un- less your physician sanctions 1t, but there can be no objection to having the flue chimney cleaned out that the gases and smoke will be carried out of the shop.
 Bridge Work
 Is bridge work which cannot be removed sanitary safe for ones health? CMrs c. D0 Answer-Any removable denture is prefer able to a fixed But should be guided by the advice of my dentist He knows which will be most satisfactory and if he examines it from time to time the permanent denture may be kept sanitary.
 Amateur Experimentation Man aged 65 had shock year ago. His
 mind Is still affected and his speech is poor and the left side Is still parayZcd sun and diet Institution do anything for q man in
 his condition? (Mrs J. O.
 Answer.-No. The institution you mention is not of good repute.