THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY -MORNING, MARCH ; 23, 1916.
Feverb That
Bloom : In-: ;
s .
r Spring
13
By Woods Hutchinson, 'M, D.
WT SEEMS painfully Ironic thatrthe :
I innroii-h at th fairest- - and most
1 charming season of the year, spring,
tould be heralded by the fiercest out- j
.break and -widest spread of diseases- of i
, any month In tha Calendar year.. - .
' Not only does every country doctorj
t well know that bis heaviest, profes
sional work, his longest rides and his
shortest snatches of sleep Invariably i
come Just at the . ? period when the
-spring: thaw has dropped the bottom
nut at the country roads, but the very
VRnmAn , nm In our calendar of the I
, nnntt vhirh. at Mediterranean, lati
tudes, corresponds to this dread period
Is February, the month of fSTers thi
febrile' month -
And,-of course." it has been a classic;
canon of pathetlcc-roraantic literature
that the wan and wasted victims of
the ftreat White - PUtue- - struggle
throurh the winter to fall and fade i
: with the coming of the spring flowers.
. " ... -."
' For- onfie the - findings - of 'modem i
- science and vital statistics firmly and i
unmistakably support an ancient pop-
ular impression. Not only does ' the
's-eneral death rate ' In almost every
h ritv and countrv of the temDerate sone
i t
",'-. mount steadily . from its lowest , point
:'- In July up to. its climax, In March or)
early April, but the same steady and
, fat! rise is found in their curve when
irs map out the ravages of most of our
serious infectious diseases. ,.;
- ' This Is rather surprising, for while
: 'it seems natural and proper enough
that, there should be an increase In the!
coughs, colds snd consumption group
of diseases which are supposed, to have
s - to do with chills.- exposures and wet
U feet at this most trying snd chahge
' ? able season of the year, there does not
' y -. appear, on the surface, any good reason
why diseases like scarlet feverdiph
I . theria. measles and whooping cough.
which are pure infections and are notj
SHDDOsed to have anything particularly!
to do with the weather. should also
. ; reach, their high ' water mark in , the
nrtnr. - - ' ', t ' -. . :
t But the same cause really underlies
"tf-thls Increase in deadliness of all these
- widely different diseases, though that
. cause is not tns cbangeame spring
westher. .-- . .
. . . Trying, undoubtedly, as the erratic
weather of the approach of spring ia.
with Its delicious spells of relaxing
warmth and - - their .accompanying;
"spring fever," followed by sudden and
if shivering relapses into winter with six
' Inches of snow on the ground, it is not
? the jnera violence of its vibrations that
, , tlays the chief part in throwing our
- human hares out of tune.
- Variety is the very breath of life to!
un. we thrive on sudden changes of
C: temoerature. and almost anything in
Xlthe way of weather,: short of 'the vilest.
. J' ia better than monotony or stagnation.
." it is not the March weather we suf-
fer from In March; but the December
and January and February weather.
.:. which has - then piled u its effects
upon us to the breaking point." In other
I words, we are sick1 in "March, not.be-
. cause it is Marh. but because it is the
month that follows January and Feb
ruary. ,,. - .
-.. ...
' If we could suddenly put July in its
-: i place, weather and all, we would suf-
. . J f er Just the same, though probably not
Quite so severely because ;re could
vVtv the otten air cure and enjoy It.
r ,, The deaths and diseases: and' break--w
downs of early ; spring - are tied up
there ' by the accumulated strain of
. four months or .winter s cow Keeping
us prisoners in our houses, sealing up
r doors and wlndowavstewing in our own
5 H breaths, with . unlimited swapping of
. ' disease germs backward and forward
' ; under hothouse-conditions, ..... , ,:
.1- .. In - most cellmates Vf oo rV months of
winter gloom and 1 Smoke.' cloud and
fog. cutting the hours of sunshine of the
short winter day down to 40 per cent of
, ; the summer and fall average. Every
thing fades in the. dark, except disease
. germs and other molds and slimes.
x - . So don't be afraid of the blustering
v; i spring weather. It is the best antidote
r and cure there ' is tor t the piled , up
. poisons in your, system and biliousness
and dark brown taste in the mouth of
" rT; your long winter imprisonment.--;
By a curiously similar mistaken logic
. ;the Romans used to blame the fickle
weather of the early spring unjustly
. and accuse it of causing malaria "The
- sun of March that breedetb agues." as
,' Virgil phrased it. . , r C . '.. .
. . " . It genial warmth did. not "breed
; malaria in the human body, but it did
-WX-thaw out the early mosquito and -en
courage it to fly abroad and bite, .
' Indeed, It is probable that quite
' ! share of the bad reputation of Febnit
; ary as the fever month, in classic
r times, was due to .malaria, spread by
ji .Jtha early birds of the mosquito family,
" .i who were extremely hardy and would
- eagerly take a chance almost any time
that - the mercury rose ten degrees
- above xreesmg. . . ,s- ,.-' . ;
r And it is possible .that our famous
"spring fever" tradition had Its origin
- .: in malaria, ana the stretchy, yawninc
good-for-nothing sensations that come
-wtth it. ..".-.
? Dnunzib's Works
j: rMay Teel .the'-"Ban
Coagregatloa or Zsdex OTsjeots to Xe-1
ligious and TUlosophioai Zxxors'
Ueged. to Have- Beea - Touad. -
Rome, -March llj CBy Hail TJ.i P.
According to well 'Informed Vatican I
circles r the 'Congregation-, of the In
l dez has lust prepared a iban of in-
- terdictton against all the recent works
Of Gabriele rrAnnunzio. one of Italy's
' greatest modern, poets, novelists,
- dramatists and, it might even be said,
probably' her greatest modern patriot.
. The publication of the, decree is ex-
pected to arouse one of the stormiest
. affairs of modern Italian Ufa . since
- the separation of the.. Vatican and the
QulrlnaJ. . K ,
.. rrAnnunslo s rr- poetry during th
Tripoli war, singing ihe glory of -Juu
lsn arms, , aroused all l IUty-to a verl-
table - f rensy of appreciation and ' ad
miration. , Even : this .was outdone 1
. v when early in the present war IT An--1
nunio made himself the champion olU
. Italy's entrance and both by pen ad
e voice worked -day and -.night with all 1
r. the genius at his command until Italy I
I in ally .got in. ! , 1 -'
v it is unaersiooa tne Dan win an-
' nounce "that the 'writings possess re-
. -ligious And philosophical errors: that
'.there is 1n them a grand mixture of
. sacred and profane words and sacred
. ana proiane weas; tnat there is re
' pented abuse both of. biblical words
and biblical images, - and that above
all , they are profoundly - irreverent
;to- such a degree as greaur-t dis
turb the. mind of any Catholic reader.
? It is not - expected- that jyAiinun
usio .will take- the ban. f condemna
tion With a great degree: of serious
. ness. ; t 4.
. The "sneaxewood" free -'of South
America, so calUd becVose dust made
oy sawing the wood, has the effect
-or snurr, -never is touched' by insects
D
EAR STORY LADY?, " ' -
I wish that you would please '
tell me the. story of the "Hus-.
band Who Was to Mind the Housed, !
like, your stories very much. . 1. would
like to see this - storv soon. Yours'
truy,' , CHARLES REED. ; '
By GEORGENE FAULKNER
iNCE - upon
a
time
there was a r man-i
who was i 'so' JIl--. ;
tempered and crosr-
, that he was always 1
scolding " his wife.-
Whatever she did,- .-.
it was' always v the J
wrong 'thin . . Vj "
One evening during the haying time he
came some . more .; m-temperea tnan,. ever,
and said, You do not i know; what: hard
work Is. Here am I working an the long
day oiit under the hot san? andall you have
to' do is to mind the hbuse.'v .
. .
Well, do not be $0 - angry, my good
man," said the woman. - 'Tomorrow I will .
change plafts with you!. ; t will go out with.
the mowers and mow the field and you shall
stay at home and mind the hpuse."
So early the next morning the woman
took he scythe over her shouider and start
ed out to the field to work with the reapers
tojVieft the man --'tof do theworkjlnrthe,
house. ' ;' ,v ' ' - :-'
Firsf of alt he started to churn the but
ter, but when he had churned a little while
he became vey thirsty, and so he went
down in the cellar to draw some ale, and
he had just taken the spigot out of the bar-
rel when he heard overhead -the crnntinc
of the pig. ' So', with spigot In his. hind hts
rusnea upstairs as last as ne couia go, ana
tltfxe, sure enough, was the pig, rhntmg
nl flrrnntinff in f rrim frts fh n? rT haH
aii vs uuuu i kuv vi Vfuug aa y & sw
knocked over the churn and was wallowing
in the cream, which was aa over the floor, j-
Then the man was so ansrry that be
rushed at the pig as hard as he could.
But when he" looked dowa at his hand
and realized that he was holding on to the
spigot of the ale barrel he ran a fast as he'
KCTBaifWKApilY
i-f sr valuer -'
ALL RIGHTS JUSDtfEM .
m6 to diaJsp
j oo Veil begin by drawing ihis
' ' P ll ll
. '-creature.:- G); , ''''-f W1- i " ' - Q : 'j
i ; , ' . ' - - ' -
X ' i : :
.-:?,'
ouid d6wn cellar, and to : his horror he -
jMoa.ldiScirered "thii,eVery;drop tlehad;.
run out of the barrel upon the,floor
- ,The.n he -.went - into' thdair: id found ; .
enough cream to fill the chorn aainssof heu
went to Aork - and churned ;as fast as he?
U Jmwi-. , AkHi4 lei !'''
could, for they must have butter for their .
dinner,
After he had churned for awhile he sud-
denly remembered that the cow had -pot had , -
any water and was still shut up in. the stable
without anything to eat. He surfed ftfr JhewUl ,' have -nd.tutter for today, but I must
stable and then lie said:
we
gent j k U ;picturel
1 u rr I a vrir V V I V iv fv l INI A VI fiJL.I lu, A V a 7x I v-n
So this U tfre way
"Oh there is the baby crawling about: on
the floor,' and if 1 leate the churn here the
baby might upset it! SO I must take it with
me." Then' hi 4Fsteiie4: the 'chani upon hi
back
cbwSv WeZwent to "draw Some water from the
'J- J,' iVi1:-" 'll '2' ' i I it- a .'''
well, but some way the bucket stuck, and:
the man was so very, impatient to 'find out-,
what was the matter that he leaned far over
the , well, wt ent ker-snlashl the cream ran
qut of the bucket and down into the wellY '
"Welll.'skid :the angry -man. h Now, we
take care -of the cow So he drew np the
haturIcd tKe, -mans
vpsidQdo
1 " , S '
she 'cried' angrily.
bucket of water and took i( to the cow, and
thenyhe sawthaf it was getting so late that
:he ould notvdrive the cow to the pasture,
and he said,.! know what. 1 -win - do;- there
-is quite a crop of hay that has not been cut
from our thatched roof. I will get a plank
anddrive the cow over onto the roof to
graze."
y. ;
; .Then the man took
a long, strong rope
nd : tieing it about the cow's" neck, . he
, thnw one end 'down the chimney and tied
the other end about his own waist, and he.
begn to grind the oatmeal and prepare the
Next". we 11 -add, some more..
s ,. . 'pen '.strbhes; like tKls'.; . .r. J
'. V- ". i ' -'
. . porridge. But while he was hardest it the
cow suddenly lost ber balance' and felt from
the rcfai3das : she;feU she" dragged the
-inaitnp'r.taeihiiime. . -
Now.'an this time the good woman had
; been working hard In the fields, but as the
sun was high in the sky she thought it very
strange that her. husband : did not call the
men fordinnerAt last jshe thought she
had waited'long. enough,, so she . ran for
, home as ast i as she could go.
'Suddenly she heard the cow lowing loudly
j in " its f right,"Woo-bo-oo-ool
And a
' us thja.
.. 00!" and-when she .came near the house
'there she-saw the poor beast dangling from
the. roof. So she rushed to the rescue with
x her. scythe and cut down the cow, but,sof
course, as soon as-she cut Ihe rope down
her husband. fell ; hed first "crash 1" right
. intothe pot of porridge, the pot was
ibroken 1 and the pprridge'pjlled all over the
fioorV ' And when the frightened woman
, ran into, the house there was her.husband
covered with -porridge and -blood, while on
the floor was a poor of cream and the dead
pig, while the poor baby was 'creeping
about' in ail this confusion howling lustily.
( When the woman saw all this she be
came very angry. "So this is th$way you
mind the house, is it? While I ani busily
working in the fields, here "you ire, Mr.
Cook, Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Housekeepert
Where is your butter? Where-iihe aler
Where is the , pig? Where' i$ f be cow?.
And where is our dinner V)S?ot your
fault" that tour poor ; nabv 'is' not deadr tool?
r Artd the husband went yery meekly back;
- to ms worrm tne news, . -. .sa
A Curious French Custom.
In certain .villages of Herault, a province
- of France, a curious and touching custom
has growiiiUp? since the treat war beean.
The villagers, write upon the doors of their
bouses the names of any members of their
families: who, are fighting for the defense
of their native land, and after each name
they set down the gloriouS'or tragic details
of what has happened to these loved ones
at the front. There you learn that the son
of the house is wounded and a prisoner,
there that the father has been decorated,
and a litle further on that the son-in-law
has been killed. ,
Upon one door a passer-by found this
eloquent and pathetic inscription:
- "Jean -Mestre, my husband, has been
mentioned for gallantry in army or.defs.
The past is no more. I forgive him. May
be-come home againt, 1 will welcome him
with open arms."
f By CHARLES A
OGDEN
tew Tnore lines 5ives
Japanese; .ris picture' I
or worms.. : ,
.. ... . t . ' , ' - i
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