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Items of Interest Gathered Here and There
Mosquitoes.
There are many who see the world as a place con
trived for the comfort and entertainment of the
animal known as man. To such, great has been the
difficulty always of accounting for ticks, fish-hooks,
indigestion, pip, and monologues. High in the scale
of puzzles for the ethical has ever been that feature
of life which serves as a heading to this discourse.
If the mosquito exists for his own benefit, far be it
from us to pass upon his merits. As an adjunct to
our own existence, however, he leaves much to be
desired. Following the urgence of the enlightened
Board of Health of Brookline, Massachusetts, we
distribute clamor to the following effect: Trouble
with mosquitoes about your house indicates stand
ing water on or near your premises. If you have a
live board of health, request its aid. If not, proceed
yourself to do your part. Mosquitoes do not breed
in grass, but rank grasses and weeds afford a safe
shelter for the adult insects. Therefore ent them
close. The mosquito is bred in water only. Catch
basins, water-troughs, barrels, garbage-buckets, tubs,
pails, water-troughs, flower-pots, cans, bottles, box
es, defective house gutters, and undrained stable
cellars are often the origin of his life on earth. Un
frequented places in back yards, vacant lots, alleys,
sheds, and underneath verandas are often full of re
ceptacles which should be removed. If a barrel or
bucket or other receptacle must contain water, it
should be emptied and washed out every few days,
or else covered or tightly screened. Catch-basins
and cesspools should be oiled every two weeks.
House gutters should be cleaned out. If you will
do /these things, it may be hard upon the innocent
mosquito, but it will be better for your own health,
utility, and peace of mind.—Collier’s Weekly.
Slandering the Animals.
One or two spectacular cases of rabies, or some
thing supposed to be rabies, which have been exploit
ed by a vigilant press with all the trimmings of
horror and mystery, have given a cue to a number
of “scientists” who are willing to get rich by
“working the public.” They have seized upon this
time, when popular hysteria and hallucination are
active, to advance the theory that many diseases are
transferred to man by domestic animals. The dog,
the harmless, necessary cat; the mouse, the cock
roach, the horse, the cow, and the inevitable house
fly are described with lavish detail as bearing the
germs of hideous and deadly disease. Whenever a
scientific gentleman is up against it he can look
wise and lay all the blame upon one of the ani
mals. They cannot talk back. It is safe to charge
them with anything.
Superstition is a powerful aid to quackery. How
can the poor stableman combat the new theory of
germ infection? He has a holy horror of things
unseen, and, an abject awe of superior wisdom.
When he is told that death lurks in every speck
of dust that he rubs from old Dobbin’s hide, lie
swallows the story, along with the dust, with child
like faith. It is worth a child’s life now to stroke
a cat. As for feeding goldfish from the fingers,
look out I Sudden and horrible death awaits such an
act. Who would have thought that the canary
was an agent of destruction? Or that the sport
ive fly, wandering over the denuded head of a fat
man, was scattering pestilence? Yet, “modern sci
ence” has uncovered all these mysteries, and the
naked truth has been laid bare. Is it any wonder
that our forefathers died, when they were ignorant
of these things? Is it any longer remarkable that
not a single human being survives George Washing
ton’s time, except a few dozen body servants who
have dodged dogs, cats, and flies?
The germ theory is a fine thing for unscrupulous
scientists, and they are working it overtime. It
is so much better to tell a patient that he has
been infected by a dumb animal, which cannot de
ny the charge, than it is to remind him that he has
made a hog of himself, or that he is merely suffer
ing from delirium tremens. The man who has load
ed up poison by systematic gluttony for a score of
The Golden Age for July 2, 1908.
years would he a little resentful if he were told
that he had only himself to blame for a case of
blood poisoning. He would rather hear that he had
been stabbed by the envenomed fang of a housefly.
It is not pleasing to a patient to be told that he
has violated all the laws of health, and does not
deserve any consideration from outraged nature.
It is better to suggest, mysteriously, that lie is a vic
tim of infection from a stray cockroach. If he be
rich and credulous, he may respond to the suggestion
that his dog has transferred rabies to him. Even if
it did not have rabies to begin with, he will con
teract it if he be sufficiently credulous, and in his
frenzy money will be no object to him. One good
case of rabies, in a rich man, goes far to establish
scientific research on a firm basis.
If old-fashioned doctors would remind their pa
tients occasionally that the human animal is the
worst offender against nature in the whole menag
erie, it would help some, and would be no more
than just to the maligned dumb creatures which are
now bearing the odium of transferring disease. If
men would eat, drink, exercise, and sleep rationally,
as animals do, there would not be such a rich field
of plunder for psuedo-scientists who thrive by de
ceiving their patients and slandering clean crea
tures. —The Washington Post.
* M
Celebrating the Fourth.
The annual appeal is being made by the news
papers throughout the country for a “safe and
sane” Fourth of July. It is a matter which cannot
be too much emphasized.
There is little doubt that an increasingly large
number of parents dread the approach of the nation
al holiday each year. The long list of accidents
always is appalling. The constant fear lest the
fatalities come to the individual home is a natural
one.
The insurance company officials join the parents
in their protest against the methods of observance
which have so long prevailed. When they scan the
reports of destructive fires properly charged against
so-called patriotism there is small wonder at their
attitude.
But year after year preparations are made for a
celebration which means certain injury for 5,000
persons, many of them children. Many of these
injuries will be fatal. Others will leave marks for
the rest of life.
A great calamity comes to a city in the form
of earthquake or fire. There is a loss of several
million dollars. The sympathy of the world is
manifested in contributions of large amounts. But
at the same time the regular annual outlay for noise
and fireworks goes on, involving a total expenditure
of some $20,000,000 for which there is not the
slightest return in anything of tangible value.
A recent writer has called attention to the fact
that the United States is the only civilized nation
in the world which tolerates such celebration of a
great day. Others, with equal reason for national
thanksgiving and pride, have devised ways of com
memoration far more worthy than the barbaric one
by which Americans recall the glory of 1776.
It may take a generation of education to show
the folly of the conventional Fourth of July eelebia
tion. But the tremendous aggregate of annual loss
from this cause ought to work a reform in a people
ordinarily considered blessed with a good share of
plain common sense. —The Chicago Tribune.
H It
Where Lincoln Died.
The little house in which Abraham Lincoln died
stands in the heart of the business district of Wash
ington. It is marked by a modest sign, and above
it waves the American flag. A museum of Lincoln
relies is maintained in the house, and thousands of
visitors go there every year to see the room in which
Lincoln breathed his last. The room has been kept
as nearly as possible as it was in 1865, thanks to the
care of a lover of Lincoln. But while many per
sons visit the house, many more pass it by, never
dreaming that they are near the spot where one of
the world’s tragedies occurred. There is nothing
in the neighborhood to tell the story. No hint is
given to the passer-by that he stands upon holy
ground, and he passes on knowing nothing of the
striking contrast between the commonplace surround
ings and the majesty of their history.
“So near is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man.”
No American sees this little house, knowing its
history, without profound' emotion; and the fact
that the current of business and everyday life flows
by seems to give the imagination greater play. The
very humbleness of the scene appears to have been
designed by Providence in order to impress the mind.
The visitor leaves with a chastened spirit, having
the reminder that immortal souls may move in the
daily throng, and that glimpses of eternal things
are not absent, even in the crowded street.
The nation should own and protect the little house
in which Lincoln died. It should be a sacred shrine,
under the care of the government. A half square
surrounding the house should be acquired by the
nation, and transformed into a quiet garden. The
house itself should be well preserved, and none of
its features disturbed; but in the grounds there
could be placed a statue of Lincoln.
There is always a danger that the Lincoln house
will be destroyed, so long as it is in private hands.
The demands of business will encroach upon the
space, sooner or later, and the patriotic caretaker
will be forced to go. The people of this country
would not willingly permit the removal of this
sacred landmark, and if they were aware of the
circumstances they would ask Congress to provide
the modest sum necessary to preserve the place.—
The Washington Post.
•t H
The Injunction as a Recourse of
Cibilization.
Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme
Court, perhaps more than any of his colleagues,
expresses himself on questions of state in public
speeches. He also has been a critic of his political
peer in the White House. Last week the justice,
with action on the injunction plank of the Republi
can platform pending in Chicago, gave utterance to
views on the principle thereof in a commencement
day address. He said in part: “There never was
a time in the history of the nation when the full
restraining power of the equity court was of so
much importance to the nation as now. As the.
population becomes denser and activities increase,
the restraining power of the equity court is worth
vastly more than the punishing power of the crimi
nal court. It is in line with the highest thought, of
the day. We aim to stay the epidemic and not to
cure the ravages of disease after it has gained head
way. We strive to stamp out vice in the slums, not
by driving out the residents, but by letting in light
and air and the comforts of civilization. We devote
time to training our youth instead of waiting to
punish them after they are well along the path of
vice. Is it reasonable to say that the justice of
today should not be administered along the same
line of higher thought? To restrict the restraining
power of the court is a step backward toward
barbarism instead of a step forward toward higher
civilization. Courts make mistakes in the granting
of injunctions. So do they in other judicial action.
I know that labor organizations are especially
energetic and claim that the power of injunction is
used mainly against them. Os course this is not
true. Injunctions are granted against all sorts of
persons and organizations every day in the year,
and they will come to see that there is no thought
of restraining them in the exercise of their rights.
Look at the acts of violence and strife checked or
prevented by this restraining power. It does not
follow that the power ought to be used against
capital and corporations and not against labor. One
class cannot be exempted.”—The Standard.
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