Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1898 — DEATHS THAT NEED NOT OCCUR [ARTICLE]

DEATHS THAT NEED NOT OCCUR

One-Qnarter of All Life- Destroying Disease Absolutely Preventable. In connection with the Sanitary Institute a popular lecture was delivered by Dr. Alexander Hill, master of Downing College and vice chancellor of Cambridge University, on “Unnatural Death.” He remarked that It was not the dangers of railway traveling, nor the few' murders that occurred, which brought down the average longevity of human life from 100 years to fifty years. They must seek for more subtle murderers than that Every year 900,000 babies were born in England and Wales. If they took 1,000,000 children, and saw what was likely to be the end of them, they would find that 30,000 died a violent death by accident, about the sane number would succumb to the mysterious disease which they knew now to be absolutely preventable, because due to germs (tuberculosis In Its many forms); about 120,000 would die from absolutely preventable causes, such as smallpox, measles and scarlet fever, only 45,000 would be allowed to live out their natural lives, aud nearly one in twenty might expect to die because the machine was worn out One-quarter of all the diseases which destroyed life were absolutely preventable. If the practice of hygiene were only on a level with its theory the average longevity would be raised at once from fifty to sixty-five. The greater number of diseases over which the Individual had control were due to mistakes in eating and drinking. He divided diseases Into three classes, and said they would never succeed in preventing them until they had the co-ope-ration of the public. Every cltlxen should have the same exact knowledge of the causes and properties of preventable diseases that the medical officer himself had. The Infectious nature of consumption was hardly realized twenty years ago. About one-third of the cows in the country were tuberculous, and half the milk distributed the bacillus of tuberculosis. They could boil the milk, and be was no more afraid of boiled bacillus than he was of a wellcooked loin. The only natural form of death was the gentle falling asleep when the body was tired.—London Times.