Fall—1956
THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
Page 4
What About Tomorrow?
By Mrs. Inez Easley
Volunleer Worker, NPF
Fayelteville, N. C.
Today you walk in wondrous
splendor, with never a care, never
a thought of the future status of
your health. Today you walk BUT
what about tomorrow?
Ladies, I bring you greetings
from the National Polio Founda
tion of New York City. Let’s talk
together for a few minutes on
WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW?
Are you insuring your children,
your grandchildren against polio
. . . that they might live?
The Salk vaccine of which you
have heard so much is the an
swer. Despite the many contra
dictory rumors you have read
about, the Salk vaccine still re
mains the best protection for
your children. The Foundation
has asked me to bring you these
facts. While in New York attend
ing the National Organizational
conference last September, I
heard Basil O’Connor, the presi
dent of the Foundation, comment
on the Cutter Laboratory inci
dent. He said that he did not
blame the manufacturer of the
vaccine or the man who made
the formula, but POSSIBLY the
Cutter Lab had an incident of
someone having trouble with the
recipe—as a cook following a
recipe—she turns out a bad dish
—you don’t blame the author of
the cook book. You MUST FOL
LOW THE RECIPE.
Last year 7,000,000 children re
ceived two injections apiece. An
other 3,000,000 received one or
more vaccinations outside the
Foundation program. A few re
ceived the three doses. Yet even
with incomplete immunization,
the vaccine proved to be 80 per
cent effective in preventing para
lytic polio.
The immunization program
calls for three injections. The
second inoculation should follow
at least two and preferably six
weeks after the first. The third
and final dose which should be
given at least seven months after
the second injection is really a
booster dose. You might ask
“Who is most susceptible to this
disease?” The national priority
age group is from zero to 14
years.
Since the establishment of the
March of Dimes Drive, the Foun
dation has been able to purchase
many commodities so necessary
to the rehabilitation program of
polio patients. Since 1948, it has
provided 8,329 nurses, 913 physi
cal therapists, 9,243 iron lungs,
1,921 rocking beds and 2,500 hot
pack machines.
A total of $5,338,168 of the
March of Dimes funds has been
Books Are Friends
There is an annual celebration
of National Book Week coming
in November. Join forces with
your public library and celebrate.
Do something in your club, or
something for the youth.
Children’s Book Council, 50
West 55th Street, New York 19,
N. Y., has a large number of aids
like posters, book markers, and
records.
“Seems to me a book is about
the most perfect friend anybody
ever invented. A book is never
out somewhere when you want it
but ‘always at home’ waiting for
a visit from you. And if right in
the middle of a visit you get
tired, why you don’t have to be
apologetic, just put the book down
and tell it you’ll see it later. Now
that’s what I call a friend.”
Go Traveling
If you want to go traveling,
just find the right book and it’ll
gladly take you anywhere your
heart desires. To Africa—to the
West—to the Stars—even to the
bottom of the sea if that’s where
you want to go. And if you feel
like staying late, well a book’s
the one friend who’ll never start
yawning in your face. It’ll stay
up with you as long as you like
and never complain once.
You read about Robinson Cru
soe marooned on his island. Oh,
he felt as low down as any man
could until he found some boxes
full of books which had been
washed ashore. He just laughed
out loud. Well, he knew right off,
marooned or not, he’d never be
lonely. He had his best friends
around to while the years away.
Every home should have a li
brary. A small beginning would
include at least a Bible, a dic
tionary, an encyclopedia, and one
book from the general group of
literature, art and music, nature
and science, care of sick, eti
quette, repairs or skills. Then
clean wholesome fiction by known
authors and well printed. Your
librarian will always assist you.
allocated to six Negro schools
and organizations since 1941. Also
since 1941, 229 scholarships and
fellowships have been made to
Negro students. This year a
scholarship award in Medical So
cial Work went to a young lady
in this county. Miss Thelma Mel
vin, who is now studying at How
ard University.
These facts should convince
you that your help in the March
of Dimes has made all of this
possible. For this we thank you
and solicit your help for future
drives to come. As you have fed-
Bible Bottles
When Hagar fled with Ishmael
into the wilderness—she took
along a “bottle” of water. Jael
poured Sisera a drink from a
“bottle” of milk. What kind of
bottles were these? Not glass.
Glass was known in Bible times,
for a “sea of glass” is mentioned
in Revelation, and we have Paul’s
familiar words, “Now we see
through a glass, darkly” in 1 Co
rinthians 13: 12. But glass bottles
did not come into use until much
later in history.
The bottles used by Hagar and
Jael were the first kind ever
made—from the skins of animals.
David surely finished many, first
drying slowly a whole hide (us
ually from a goat) then sewing
all the openings except for one
leg hole left open to form the
bottle neck. A plug of some sort
was put into the neck as a stopper,
or the leather was simply tied
shut.
Skin bottles were important in
the ancient world. They held the
family’s supply of oil, milk, water
or wine. Rachel may have churn
ed butter in one. Even today, in
some areas butter is still churned
in this ancient manner—by jig
gling a “bottle” full of milk until
butter results.
Ancient artists created beauti
ful 'oottles from precious materials
like gold, silver, alabaster and
porcelain, but only the rich could
afford them. Cheaper ones were
sometimes made from earthen
ware, but the skin bottles out
lasted this kind.
Hagar could have a drink of
water from a skin bottle if she
lived today. Where? In several
places—South America. Spain,
Africa, Turkey and India, for in
stance. People in these lands con
sider the skin bottles very handy
for storing water and oil, just as
in Bible times.—By Ida M.
Pardue.
Key Verse: Thou shall have no
other gods before me (Exodus
20:3).
“Why can’t I face life with
confidence and poise,” Ellen Riley
asked herself, “instead of with
moods of weakness and despair?”
At her wit’s end one day because
her Christian life was continually
breaking down under strain, she
walked into a large church in
New York City. She hoped that
she might find there the answer
to her personal quest. She prayed
erated for strength, so have we
federated our forces to preserve
that strength. We are marching
forward, making progress each
day, looking toward tomorrow,
planning for tomorrow in order
that we will know the answer to
WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW?
for a long time, then walked back
to the church exit.
On the way out, another wor
shiper joined her. He was a little
old man with merry eyes and a
light step. After the couple reach
ed the outside, the stranger said,
“I have a message for you, young
lady. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be add
ed unto you.’ ”
Ellen left the little man, grateful
for his message. She walked
through the din of New York
traffic wondering about the im
port this message had for her.
That must be it: the significant
term for her was the word, “first.”
She needed to place God and his
kingdom first. She had to let Him
run her life instead of trying to
direct it by herself.
Several months passed before
she was able to make this com
plete commitment. But when she
finally reached the point where
she placed God first in her life
without any reservations what
soever, she discovered that her
periods of discouragement were
replaced by periods of happiness
and Christian love. Her dedica
tion became so complete that
Ellen Riley was enabled to wit
ness by Christian example. Her
friend, Eugenia Price, in a book
called The Burden Is 'Light!
(Revell), tells an inspiring story
of being won to Christ by the
beauty of Ellen Riley’s life.
There’s not one of us who is
not overcome by periods of dark
ness and fear sometimes. But
there are ways of overcoming
most of these human tendencies.
We can pray more often, talk
with God more often. We can let
him direct our lives, placing him
first in our thoughts and affairs.
We can obey sincerely, following
his guidance, obeying his will ac
cording to our knowledge of his
will—b e c o m i n g the kind of
Christian he would have us be.
As we place Christ in first place,
we will discover that all else as
sumes a secondary position, in
cluding our resentments and our
fears. As we hunger and thirst
after the Kingdom of God and
His righteouness, our lives shall
be abundantly filled.—By Dane
Cook.
BEST WISHES
Prayers and Best Wishes go to
our Chairman of the Executive
Board of the N. C. Federation,
Mrs. A. B. Byrd of Rocky Mount.
We are all very sorry to learn of
the illness of her husband. We
know that such experiences cause
great anxiety, but never more is
placed upon us than we can bear,
for the Lord looks out for His
own.
The bigger a man’s head, the
more his brains rattle.