Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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r red. i pnwtically tih ol Po.S sible substitute for human milk nothing else should be taken durinc the first six months of life. / Whatever else is put insid' the in fant passes through undigested, and not only does not nourisb, but ma3 injur.e the delicate digestive tract and prove a poison r ther than food. Pure mil': under the control of boards of he And Lhe inspee tion of cattle iz; e :woper safeguard to throw aroundI he infant for it; protection. No food is m!o!re chemically unsta ble, and more\ certain to deterioratE by exposure to. the air, than milk. Country distiicts are in the mattel milk supplyi even worse off than ties, f&r in citi4s cattle are under the control of boards of health. The great advantage 1which country child ren enjoy over 'ity children in pure air and better surroundings is les sened by the impossibility of getting milk that cannot be questioned. Even tuberculosis may be convey ed from turberculosis cattle and' the innocent perish. Between infaney and the age at -which we begin the education of our children, or the school period, there is a gap of some five years. This is a time at which most harm or much good may be done. We have not a compulsory system of school atten dance, which every State should have, and the interim in some cases is much prolonged, and in others in definite. After the infant is lost sight of, after it passes babyhood and is allowed to grow up, if it gets wholesome food, however coarse, even though scanty in quantity, it thrives, provided that the first necessity of life is not stinted-abundance of fresh air. Fresh air and wholesome food are the essential prerequisites for tihe proper development of the child. The children of gypsies are far healthier in their free open air sur roundings than those of the same station in life in crowded city slums. I recently was compelled to compare in my mind a camp of gypsy children on the suburbs of o4r town with others in our cotton mills with whom I daily came in contact. The years which follow babyhood are years in which much mischief is done, always preventable but sometimes irremedia ble. The death-rate although not so high as the first year of life increase is ab naormally thigh up to the fifth year. O)hildren are often crowded in tihe slums of our great cities and not allo$d aay out of doors exercise only on the streets where they brerthie ii the impure dust and mi crobes of fatal diseases. During this critical time ir, its life u1pon which its future health and vigor depend the child is often de prived of the - proper food, both in quality and quantity. Even among parents fairly well off ignoranee of how eihildren sIhould :be fed is so pro found that their .children suffer as much from improper food as the children of the poorer from hunger. " This is the greatest error of al] the rest." I sometimes feel that par.enthood should be denied such people, as thre rmother denied her son the privilege of going into the water until he learned how to swim. If society were farseeing and wise it wou.ld adopt rules applicable :to the ignorant parents as well as the poor that would instruct them in~ the proper care of their children-both as to the feeding and the prevention of infectious diseases. In the homes oif the ignorant and poor is the nur sery of the germs of the deadly dis e?ses and tihe most elementary prin ciples of health deman~d that they be destroyed at their source. The deadly arm~y should not be allowed to as semble in secret behind closed doors, only to burst forth in d,estructionl and sweep the nurseries of all classes. The incipient small pot, diptheria, scarlatina, ete.i which a physician could 'have stamped out, is allowed to run its c.ourse, infection is car ried into t.he streets and schools; it becomes an~ epidemie which costs hun dreds of lives, both to the poor and the rich. The disease of tuberculosis is not now as formerly recognized to be a hereditary malady, but a preventable one. It is a terribly fatal diesame in all countries.causing one-eighth of all the deaths and carrying off one-half of those who die in the prime of life between 25 and 35. The favorite breeding ground of the tuberculosis microbe is the bodies of ill-nourished young children. By these they are carried into the street and school, witihout recognition or check and thus affeet the bodies of other children and the whole popu. lation. Some supervision overth young, at the earliest pe.riod of life possible. is essential to any steps tc stamp out this terrible disease. P a rental r.esponsibility and the duties of orzanized society should combine in the warfare on this dread enemy~ ofbth hnman flesh. International step: ar e bin a taken in this direction1 al irganized agencies are forming f this grand and noble work. Son States in our union are far in a< vance of South Carolina in this ri spect, and not only physicians are ri quired to report all contagious an infectious diseases coming und( their observation, but also the cit zens in whose homes such maladi( may come are required to mal vprompt reports of same to a healt officer. A conscientious mother on the sul urbs of Philadelphia, desirious obeying "the law'' strictly, mad this report to the local board < health: "Dear Sir: This is to notif you that my boy Ephraim is - dow bad with the measles as required b ithe new law.'' A little out of ordE in the wording of heir report bi much better that -than to act as on who wilfully neglects or even coi nines to hide the true situation,- an thereby jeopardizes the 'health an life of others. We have briefly followed the chil through babyhood and the age bi tween that and the school life, an we shall now direct our tihought t that time in its life which places i before the public for instruction an preparation for life 's duties. This is the time in life in whic proper health can be more effectivel dealt with by the public than at an other. Whatever has been neglecte can now be corrected if the author ties so desire. No child should b allowed to enter school unprepared i health or food or clothing, and be es pected to keep pace with its mate i: the task before them. Too much i expected of parents who will not o cannot perform their duty. A paren may know ;his child is physicall; weak, but does not know the remedx He does not know the child has de fective vision or hearing probably, an the child suffers at school as a du! lard in the estimation of -his play mates and even the teacher. The first thing that would sugges itself -to a prudent public authorit; -would be to take stock of them an see what they are like. It is the nev raw material on which, the education al machinery is expected to work and it would be business-like to lear. 'its quality and see whether it is abli to do that which may be expected o: it. The simple precaution of having the children of the school examine< by a competent physician would be acting the part of wisdom. The il developed rickety tuberculosie. chili cannot cope with the robust Th< near or far-sighted child cannc rea< unaided by lenses, 'intelligentl: enough to advance with his class not to say anything of his suffering The child hard of hearing from tha very .common affliction-adenoids cannot be ,expected to hear the ex planation given the class by tih teacher. To~ one whose~ cerebral .tis sue has been slow in developmen cannot be expected to keel) pace wit] the precocious. Notwithstanding these facts th< schools as ordinarily conducted yoki them all together and cry out "Devil take the hindmost.'' ''Millions are spent in providin; ships and rifles and guns for wari that will never ihappen: the smalles outlay is grudged towards pr'ovidin! the men to man t'hose ships and im those guns, should the occasion evel arise for the people to defend theil country," Not only the maimed by heredit; or accident are. those who fall b; the way side, but many who are un derfed through ignorance or povert: meet the same fate. The c'hildrer of the rich even are not always prop erly nourished. Dr. Eich'holg who made a ver' careful and painstaking study of this subject, said, "I ihold a very firn opinion, which is shared by medica men, members of education commit tees, managers, teachers, and other conversant with t-he condition o: school children, that food is at th1 base of all child degeneracy; that i to say, if we can take steps to ensur< the proper adequate feeding of th child ren,. the evil will rapidly cease.' Other cireumstances noted in conner tion with degeneracy a.re bad cloth ing bad boots, exposure, want o: fres.h air, overcrowding, filth, lat houirs. overstrain at work and to les extent, the smoking of boys. "But all thees causes pale besid the -tress 1:iid on food.'' Man.v man pays more attention to tjhe prop. er feeding of his stock and acowtl and development of his pigs and col tha.n to that of his hou,sehold. The child 's energies are spent in it play and study and not only mu~ this be re-placed but also nutrition fo its growth and developmenm. The fai mer never works his colt unitil i 2 su~fficiently grown for 'this dut' neither should a child be less genti dealt with. IOverworked children cannot gro vt)erworked inl schiool or at homn nd sae indeed is the fate of the h-fild who is expected to attend sec'e jandcom ou with stars, and als )r ties Sulielnt to dwr11, i nut to sa ie anything of the ,errands befor< 1- school and after school even into t1h a- hours of the night at times to hell maintain a livelihood for the family d "Children are a valuable nationa r asset.'' but is the nation taking car( i- of its assets? There is only on( s chance for a child; that once lost; al :e is lost! The proper care of child hren is a most sacred duty on paren1 and State. It is said that tihe Jew and th( >f Irish of all people make a specia. e point in the care of their little child >f ren. The Jewish mother is knowr y by all to have the strongest materna. n instinct and her desire for offsprin y is her crowning virtue. By thiz r means of national increase the rae it hope some day to return to theii e "native land" and Jerusalem re 1- gained will be their happy home. d Would that all peoples had this d pure, fond love for their offspring Children have their rights, wheth d er th e default of the parent' come from ignorance, or careless d ness or poverty; and when they at o tain the school age these rights t should be recognized by the public d and no child be allowed to suffer on account of improper care. h 'The evils that may have existed be Y fore school life should by all meanE Y be corrected on entering school-and a this can be done by advice to parents, and if necessary, by public authority. e Corrections of previously ;existing a physical defects, lessons on soberness, -temperance, cihstity and cleanli'ness a should be the watchword of every a school, because the "-parents have r eaten sour grapes and their child t ren's teeth are on edge" is no argu Y ment against the duty of the public to correct the evil. If the parent be a dipsomaniac or a sufferer from that c other dread:ed hereditary disease-the only two species of transmissible -disease that demand the attention of the social reformer-the duty of the t public to the child is so much the y more binding. I As above stated all children should 7 noi be herded together as one com - mon mass and the same result be ex ;'pected in each individual under the I same conditions. A considerable a number of scholgrs on account of f anemia and bodily feebleness will be used up in body and mind in a few hours work, and their attention wil] flag, and tihey can no longer follow .the instruction with ordinary effort, and by the daily recurrence of this lack of freshness they will fall be hind their fellow-pupils. Many of these are children of bright mental -powers, quite fit to take their places -at the head of t.he class if their bod t ily deficiency were made good -These sahould be separated from the - rest and inst'ruetions commensurate with their strength imposed. -Of all countries Germany takes the lead in her public schools and the value of one child' to the nation is reckoned. The Forest school at Chiarlot tenburg is an ideal open air school for weak children and is at tracting the attention of the world, and waking tihe admiration of every one. Not only the weak but every child should have individual atten tion and personal care. In the mat ter of school hygiene-ventilation, warming, water, lighting, dss plavgrounds and physical training no pains should b spared. -Instead of having their bodies as well as their minds imtprQved during school life, thousands of American children are scrifieed annually. SNeither in thei elementary not in i the higher schools is adequat:e atten - tie paid to physical education. Not only so, but the simplest laws of ,health are not enforced. I am not advocating the establishing of games i at the expense of the mental training nor for the sake of games only so . far as they tend to the proper phy sical development of the children. E In most of our public schools as now conducted-and here I should like to enter my protest against many I .of the methods used in our system Sof school teaching--the child is not 'only neglected in physical training, . but actually prevented from growing . and developing into a strong body and mind as intended by nature. The more nearly natural under prope uidance a child'is allowed to devel p, the stronger and grander will its eindividuality be and more nearly per feet its physical make-up. The nor - mal excitements of ordinary life, ex citements which come to every child, t are the strongest stimuli in the for mation of character. s And for the innocent, helples~ t ehildren wthose life-blood is sapped r from them in manufacturing enter --pe,I have the deepest sympathy. s yse of compulsory education enforced by the State is their only salvation. Surely they are not ex peted to make theirs.own living an~ also that of the parents! Thre dull .monotony of their life and its weary it routine which reduces everything t( l the dead level of a colorless exper mece wilav much evil to answe: - fri the1C flmIation (if their eharac If the parents' wages cannot main tain the family and keep the child ir school, change the whole machinery of industry rather than sacrifice th( I children. At least transmit our her itage to them and stop the progress of degeneracy. In the matter of physical training in school it is not necessary to ha-vE expensive buildings and apparatus for Lymnasium exercise, for nearl all necessary exercise can be had out irs. The world has never knowi a more remarkable system of physi cal exercise than that handed dowr t.o us by Japan-a system of bodil3 training known as Jiu-jitso. Noi Only the men but the women enga.g in it. and it is said that the skill and strength 1 eeived therefrom is mosi remarkabl6. Its antiquity is searcel known-dating back at least twenty five *bundred years. The science haz 'been imparted under -the strongesi oaths of secrecy, and only within thE last few years has anything beer known about it by other nations. It the training nothing is needed but two individuals equally matched it strength and height. The exercisE can be had anywhere-in the s&iool broom or out doors in the open air. I could not close these remaxks 'with better words than those uttered by George E. Johnson, superintendent of Pittsburg Playground association. He said: Once upon a time the citizens of a certain city were greatly interested in the nnrture and training of child ren. When the question arose as to whether they should build a great public schoQl or open a playground it was decided to open a playground. Now, in the course of.years, it came to pass that the citizens of that ci_y advanced so far beyond the rest of the human race that in all the cen turies since, even to this day, the na tions that have gone on building pab lie sehools and neglecting to open playgrounds have not been able to cate up with them. This is fact, not fancy. At 7 years of age the Athenian lad entered the palaestra, which was essentially a playground. All the first and better half of the day was spent in gymnas tic, dancing, games and play. In the afternoon there was singing, some writing (the beginners wrote in the sand box or in sand strewn up on the ground), some reading, all in the open air, and then came a long *period of play again. Such was the schooling of the Greek lad up to the age of 10 or 11, and it did not differ essentially up to 16 except in the severity of the exer cise. Yet the world 'has not ceased to marvel at the results of Greek educa tion. It produced the highest type of man physically and intellectually that t,he world has ever seen--a type *which Galton says was as far in ad vanceo the modern Englishman a.s the modern Englishman is in advance of the native African. In physical beauty, courage and patriotism, in philosophy, literature, architecture and art, the Greeks have been the unsurpassed models of the world; and remain the inspiration of our nation today. But t:hey placed the emphasis upon hygiene, exercise, games and play. which we neglect, if we do not ignore. They cared for the~ strong and sometimes left the weak to perish; we care tenderly for the weak and often leave tihe strong to perish. *This is fact, not fancy. In the State where I had the privilege of acquiring most of' my experiences in edneational work, to obtan the best educational advantages a child must be blind, deaf, feeble-minded, incor rigible or a truant. Then he is given exercise, playgrounds, gymnasiums, baths, -fresh air in abundance, gar dens and play shops. The great ma jority of normal children get along the best t6ey can without them. Now in several :cities we have. open air schools for children with *a tendency to tuberculosis, so eonsumption seems to be another on the list of ills, one of which a child must have in order to enjoy the best educational advan tages. I am not disapprovinig of this care for the weak--I believe in it w ~ith all my heart. We have reserved the order of im no,rtance~ in edlucatlin as it was ob served by the Greeks. Greek educa tion was essentially a playground ed ucation and the education most near ly approaching it today is that sup plied by the playgrounds of America. To that classic demonstration of the educational value of the playground has been. added in our day an ava lanche of testimony from biology, phsiology, anthropology, psyehology and sociology. Of the $10,000,000 playgrounds of Chicago, ex-President Roosevelt says: "They are the great -est civic achievement the world has ever seen." Just as we have awakened to the fact that the school provides but a smal'l fraction of a child's education thiat environment, which includes ~evryvthing- tihat comes into the child 's experiences. 1s teaeinz him every o: waking moment of the day (perhaps a: every sleeping hour of the night, if t we agree witb Dr. Worcester), so J we have come to understand that the si activities of the school provide but a r small fraction of the exercises neces sary for the health of a child in this larger meaning. In the long process of the race have been tried and found good, have been refined and passed on, every organ and instinct with which a normal child is born; and some higher function, some yet nobler conduct, shall spriig from their roots. Not in the school Sut on II the playground can these deep in- F stincts of workmanship, imitation, rivalry, cooperation, find their true and generic expression and build a more stately mansion in the soul. TO DRAW JURY. Notice is hereby given that we, the undersigned, Jury Commissioners for Newberry County, S. C., will on the 28th. inst., in the office of the Clerk Our Depi Are all well filled.witt and desirable good early summer monti your wants in all the'] terials that summer Lengerie C1 Lawns) M .Nainsoc White in great variety. inal the staple styles weaves for the prese new weaves conisist ol SSouselle, Messatine, Ask to see our Linei departments. Still g ready-to-wear depari well as under garmi p rices. W. B. and An sets in the new seasoi Yours trul: Iammu.g CLUBBING FOR FIVE I The Hlerald ad News, al Newberry, S. C. For FIVE DOLLARS wi and News and The Dail dress for one year. Send and News, and not unde to The Daily R,ecord. The Daily Record, und gives to-day's news to-c Capital city in the afterr rural routes next mornir to get a daily paper early Associated Press Di Special Market Rep Live Capital News, South Carolina Affs A clean, enterprisir C Court, at 9 o 'cock a. m., openly tid publicly draw the names of thir -six men, who shall serve as Petit urors at the Court of Gen'eral Ses ons, which will convene at Newberd 7, S. C.. June 14th. 1909. Jno. L. Epps, Eug. S. Werts, Jno. C. Goggans, Jury Commissioners for Newber ry County, S. C. A styp -to-dyn. His cured itch magically for others L Newberry and will cure for you. or sale at Mayes' Drug Store. P IuMCOCAINE An WHISKETo Mabits cured at my SaCorium a few weeks. You can return to Your home in 30 days well, free and ha. I have made these babits a specialty fme 25 year and cured thousand Book on Home Treatment sent i& Address 3DIF. B. 31L WOOJMV9Y '02 N. Puyor SU%ft &atau.O > the season's nw s. We enter the is prepared to fill light beautiful. mamw lemands, Uslins, iks, Waistings KS8 , as well as thg new nt season. These Shantung, Mirror, Fulard, etc. is, one of our best ood things in our ment. in outer as nts at reasonable ierican Lady Cor n's shapes, QFFER~ id The Daily Record, ' Columbia, S. C, a will send The H erald by Record to one ad I money to The Herald r any circumstances er new management, lay, and leaving the ioon, goes out orn t;he g. Your best chance ispatches, orts, irs, ig family paper.