t ' " . . ." '
..-..III... .. Ill ,. , II,
I,
r
.Ml jHr'XN
v.
m - " " -
.."PORTLAND OREGON, : SUNDAY HORNING,. , APRIL 26, 1903
-i i
Baby
Ailm
Cbmm
A
orant Neglect or
ents the
on Gtirse of
FamiKes;
RE you killing y bur ' child? . , !
" f is a horrifying question a
. . question , which- no, mother. ' no.
parent, can believe xvould be seriously asked.
Indeed, it is a question which, in view
of all that is being done in this age by pri
vate charity, public enterprise and general
solicitude for the well-being of the children
of: the nation, would appear to be one of
sheer folly, . V..;.v;-' -"' "
Yet it is at this very time that it is be
coming most pertinent; for at this very time
physicians who; are the, foremost experts
specializing in private practice upon the
diseases of children as well as those who
are authorities in public institutions and
those holding official positions as caretakers
of the health of whole communities, all
are stirred by the suddenly recognized' in
adequacy of the care that is accorded the
child, 'i1.- v "''
Not health merely, but life. itself is put
in peril, on; the one hand by neglect that is
almost Culpable,! on; the other , by affections
almost criminally foolish.
It is an. appalling arraignment.
How true are'the;charges--and who
are-among the guiltyZ '
IT JL
' OTHERS, the science of medians dis
covers, give coddling affection where
they- should give . intelLgent over
fiieht : fathers force develonment of
the mind where it ia certain injury, if not ab
'1 solute wreck of the body. ; . ; f ( v : ;
Communities, aim for 'improvements where
they should correct wholesale defects; the aver-
age child at' least one prominent physician inti
mates, receives Uess thorough and intelligent
care than beasts that are reared on scientifically
, managed stock f armsl m "'y. ; - !v '
The most significant, if least recognized,
neglect on the part of parents as 7 the natural
protectors of the child, of family physicians as
the paid guardians and of communities as: the
general overseersr-is that which dooms half the
youth of our great cities to partial blindness,
. to those, phases of defective vision whim, . -while
but a few of them, result in total loss" of sight,
so extensively and eo painfully reducd the hap
, piness and the productivity of a human life.
- Facts which have been assembled prove that
if children are . born with only , partial sight;
parenthood f alone seems necessary to a bund
whole cities to the needs of the new generation.
' ' . In the New .York public schools the or
dinary city, health observations show-that 29Va
; per cent." of the . pupil- need glasses. , Among
IZO school children of Boston, S3 per cent, had ,
defective f sight ; in the rhxladelphia publio
gnorant iNegiect .or ,U' '; - V ) I :
mM i ''1 10- -it?'.,1' -i I -a )s:,S--
i&br- - ' '
fl:
ILL.
.t-
I
i'l.
the magnificent world and is limited to a prison,
, the blurred, vague walls of which his groping
hands can often touch.' - ..fy J "
The eyeball itself degenerates, and its coat
Jngs stretch under the continual strain. Th
oculists have counted these calamities of the eye
as they progress in children and students, both
here and abroad. ." 4' " v , "r
In Philadelphia schools, when the children
re 8V4 years of age, there 'are' 457 per cent. :
who are myopic; when they' are lift years, 8.75
per cent, pay the penalty; at UY2 years, HJ& ,.;V
per cent, pay it; at,17V yea.rs, 19.33 per cent. -pay'it
- . , ' . i' ..' - '',-",-"In
the schools of Germany, the elementary .,
. schools have 6.7 per cent of myopio children; - .
the higher girls' schools,; 7.7 per cent.; the in
, termediate schools, 10.3 per cent.; tho academy ,
grades, 19.7 percent; the gymnasia, 26.2 per
cent; the universities, C9J5 per cent . '
It rises steadily, remorselessly, with the aga
of the student, no matter whether the child is
in America or in Europe; and iti rises with '
steady increase in suffering,' with a steady in
crease of blinding weight to the pall that clouds '
the helpless, rebellious brain. C . - ;
It has been only a month or so since th
directors of the Lone Pine School, near Wash,
ington, Pa announced that ' the school, closed ' -because
the neighborhood was epidemic with
mumps and whooping cough, would be reopened .
immediately.. ' v' ; '-v-
The parents, .'resenting the decision -of at
health officer who found that they were taking
no precaution whatever to quell; the outbreaks '
of disease, demanded that the education of .their
children . proceed,' tinea 1' children1, had ' to, get 1
mumps and whooping cough anyway, ana tnej
might as well get them, now as later. ,
j schools the detective number 28Va per cent.' v u. : f "i
-v.il- 11 ' dents were tested for 4 sight. and S0.4 uer cent & eiirhtv-fdurieaJlvuoor children in. a small, ele
.mini) uw uuuuo, uuueir UiUfa CAttCl ODServa- . J a- V. 3.r - " . ; 5 " v. 4 . " ' , , - : .
,1,MIU 90 ,f v.:- , wcio xwuuu w we aeiecuve.
" an experts 'Advice s TvT ' .
, trf' r, , . .... -..?f j M ,
. Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, heajtli commissione?
for the state of Pennsylvania,' an the 'course of a y,
carefully prepared review of the whole general
topic of the neglect .which, children suffer, has' .
these vital truths to tell t. . ,
"Of course,' I have nothing (to- say with xe
gard to the treatment of the tsick, whether in
childhood or in adult life' It a my business V
prevent people, young and old alike, from being
Sick. .( V 4.T"i4fc(-i;t" m :l ,.
"My advice ;to, all parents is to send for n
high-class medical man to teach, themshow their
children should bo'clothed, exercised and guard.
ed against exposure to infection, . and not wait s-
until their, children are, "sick. ' ' r - . ' ,J,i-
"If doctors, were called in. more frequently
to teach parents how toear their children we
would have more of them to be taught at our
schools. We are losing thousands' of them "every
year because of the ignorance of parents in ra ,
gard'-i to; tanitr .'taedieine...,,v ,
"Hundreds of children are . being sent to
school who should: be living ari outdoor life un- ,
der the instruction of intelligent physicians. As
it is, many of them will never grow up to make
use of what little education they may get
'i-y "Teachers ''."sfn'd parents too 'often lose sight
lof the body and permit it, to- be-neglected while
they are struggling, to -educate, the mind, which
will die for tho want of nrooer physical support
; - "Some of the children I refer tot are to-day
k suffering witK tuberculosis and furnishing in- .
; fection for their little companions. . It is really
-pitiable .to see thepoor pale-faced, nervous, ill- -nourished
little creatures dragging themselves to
the classroom ;which in many .cases is over
crowded and poorly ventilated,' and means death
, . . TH Anotnr ahimlA lw consulted who stand-
, V'i' ' ' -highest: in ..the estimation" of his; professional
dried figures . brethren as a faithful, painstaking student of
But those' stone dead, cut and
innd to be defective. . ; mentary school, where twenty-seven of the pu-' y may, possibly, take, on a new and ugly light jji3 cases and one who loves bis profession for
London; England, 20,000 children, tested . pils showed defects, not one wore glasses.! j,; when Willie's father -.is forced to realue the . - the intorMt that it, uossesses for hirt snd th
nP v opportunities for' doing good wmcn ne nnas la
eye- o;
which ' "With regard to the management of tV-t
ducted years ago upon 2500 Philadelphia k. ' .i-vltv':w: .a?ff7w,w A-H ' wmvw.wtewm;vm :;'a:wett- as toriurmg oeu- , cag3 of aj, which we call comm-nu-
i ' , . . . . j, DbuuciiLa BULuauv WHr iTiHnana vni av wf einnnT. nni T.nPBA-ficnirM taa t nn.. Tint mpiin -. irnos am tnimi. ta. TioooTit
ject to symptoms of eye strain, auch as discom-; v..
fort headaches and blumng of vision. -' ' ' ly -wy vmuui vjaioa '.or ieas gave 1 1 j.a xo8toa,wiui per cenw among mo y. agooyQ wmcn-xus neglect 13 aoomingnia
' 't 1 a per cent who were not up to that moderate children showing .defective vision, only VA per less boy. ;. In ' two-thirds of' the,, cases of
mentary school ;childrenver ' made ere con!' nJl-LsZLL ll'lLSy. ,:; f ' 1 Wii
Jji d RIsW 3 B A ff ' f611 a00? the 800 examined a showing rather - anything more-than . the; main, vgeheral f act- y. :In .what is' called a hyperopia yo a conr
ed, b. U. Itisiey ana a. a. iiondalJ, found that , in tini of r -wJTI7-.?..-- 'ai lt; . i:fi
than o3 per cent . - .
At te' University of Pennsylvania
XUs i OUC , OI toe 111K) 'hii;irfplThia- Hohnnl Tnicrht hn hft ip.vnr meant tei 'VVilIift'a narenta. ' word for - a s-raat disnatpri for mvom moans
'srtrt V ; children, with their '82 per' cent "defective, 'only T: Willie may have to use. gUsses by the time he'a-S nearsightedness, in which, the sufferer is robbed
OOO StU- Jl'a Tier: Cent Wprn m'nnlirxl n-1o.o. Immut . jn nrJlHa'a oV,o j;J . Va . I ' ' i(V tit tir1- li?a; wVirtf et en1fni.1 aU orra f
YYinrfl mmmnnlT cslled contagious or vJk
the more usual of which are-diphtbem. -'
fever, measles, mumps; whoop in;: ' cov .
chicken-pox, a few words may not I fl ir .
(CONTiNVED om n : ' : I ' "
A '
w . " ' v;;':':' ':;;: AAiy,: ':yC--r:;i: