Roanoke Rapids daily herald., 1948-09-13
Chcagos Health Crusader Writes Daily Herald Column

Bundesen Hates
Death, Fights
All Disease
HEALTH CRUSADER
BY
PAUL DE KRUIF
FROM
THE AMERICAN MERCUTY
MAY, '48
REPRINTED IN
THE READERS DIGEST
JUNE, '4S
Chicago's
HEALTH CRUSADER
PAUL DE KRIUF
Paul De Kruif Is well
known as 4 bacteriologist
and writer, whose articles
have appeared In many ma
tional magazines. He is the
author of many books, in
Guiding Microbe Hunters,
Hunger Fighters, Men A.
gainst Death and The Male
Hormone.
In Chicago one day this past
winter, all firemen had been
ordered out Of the building wrek-
ed by an explosion. Five per-
sons had been killed. In the
ruins one man was alive, pin
ned down, crushed and moan
ing.
DR.. Herman N. Bundesen,
Chicago's health commission
er. started to crawl to him
under heavy flooring that was
slowly sagging.
"Hey, you can't 60 in there!"
shouted the fire marshal. Bun
desen paid no attention. He
took morphine and blankets to
the injured man.
In disaster, such deeds are
routine for Bundesen; that's one
reason for the devotion of his
hard-bitten army of doctors and
health workers. Chicago's ro-
highland tumble death fighter
is SIS, with grizzled hair but with
the build and energy of a young
boxer in top condition. With
more staying-power than the
youngest, he prods his health
department into pioneering tech
niques that have saved thou
sands of lives and made Chi
cago the spearhead Of the worlds
fight to wipe out needless death.
Chicago is notable as a city
of 3.5 million people where on
ly milk-borne infections are prac-
htheria last year; where dead
ly milk-borne infections are pra-
tically non-existent; where con-
tagious syphilis is being attack
ed with extraordinary success );
where the death-rate of new
born babies is the lowest of any
large city in the world.
In Chicago (where politics are
not gentle) DR.. Bundesen, with
only brief interlude, has SER
we'd for 20 years as health COM
missioner under five mayors
Republicans and Democrats.
From bankers to taxi drivers,
everybody in the city knows him
and says Hello, Doc" Best
of all, he's known to Chicago's
and the nations mothers; over
II million copies of his IA
nous book OUR BABIES have
helped them raise their child
rem. His health column is syn
dictated in more than 500 news
papers.
If he'd tried to, Herman Bun
desen could hardly have pick
ed out more diseased city
than Chicago when he started
what was then a one-man war
against death. The city's milk
was rotten with bovine tuber-
culosis. Syphilis and gonorrhea
were wide spread because the
hoodlums who ran chains of bro
thels opposed, at the points of
their gats, all efforts to clean
up these pest-holes. The in
FAINT death rate was nationally
notorious.
Bundesen would hardly have
been made health commissioner
in 1922 if the politicians had rea-
Lied his highest qualification,
namely, that he was a shade
tougher than the characters re-
S.sysgsible for Chicago's shame
full health record. AS a tow
headed eight-year-old he'd es-
capped down a gutterspout from
Chicago's Orphan Asylum. AS
a street gaming (his two
pals later served life terms for
murder); he lived by peddling
papers and working in tough
saloons.
One day he snowballed the
plug hat off the venerable head
of Bishop Cheney of the Re-
formed Episcopal Church. In
stead OF bawling out young Bun
desen, the Bishop compliment
ed him on his craftsmanship
and invited him to come to Sun
day School. He started going
to Sunday School because he
thought he could steal from the
coatrooms; but when he met
friendly, helpful people there, of
. sort he had never known be-
fore, he changed his attitude to-
ward society. Eventually he
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