PNEUMONIA ATTACKS
PEOPLE OF ALL AGES
The sudden chill, followed by fe
ver, rapid and painful breathing, a
distressing cough with the raising
of bloody sputum,
and blueness of the
lips, that mark the
onset of a pneumo
nia, strike terror to
the hearts of alt In
one or another of its
types, it attacks all
ages. Until very re
cently, one-fourth to
one-third of those
who had it died.
From 1921 to '23, its
Dr. Nathan S.
Davis III
annual death rate among males was
81.9; among females, 63.9 per 100,000.
Beginning about Ave years ago,
the death rate from pneumonia has
fallen rapidly. As a result of the
use of improved sera and of the de
velopment of rather specific chemi
cal therapy for its treatment, its an
nual death rate had for 1938 to 1940
fallen to 38.8 per 100,000 for males
and to 23.9 for females.
The number of cases of pneumo
nia has, however, not been reduced
DEATH RATE PER 100,000
appreciably, yet the (ting hai been
removed ai the death rate has been
more than cut in hall.
Some progresi teems to have been
~made in the prevention of pneumo
nia by the use of a vaccine but for
the conquest of the pneumonias, we
still depend on improvements in the
methods of treatment.
Developments have been so rapid
in this field during the last few years
that it is not possible to state defi
nitely what the most effective meth
od of treatment is. A few doctors
depend chiefly on the various types
of specific sera. Others use both
the sera and the sulpha drugs.
Oxygen therapy which was large
ly responsible for the improvement
ir# the mortality statistics prior to
1935, is also of great value.
Fortunately the new preparations
for the treatment of the pneumonias
seem to be equally effective in all
age groups. The sulpha remedies
are. however, sufficiently toxic to
make them unsafe for indiscrimi
nate use. are classed as dangerous
drugs and can be sold on prescrip
tion only. The sera must of course
be given only under the supervision
of a doctor.
As pneumonias are commonly
complication! of influenza, colds, or
acute bronchitis or follow such upper
respiratory infections, anyone who
catches one of these relatively mi
nor respiratory tract infections must
watch his step. If he remains at
home and takes care of himself and
so avoids exposure to pneumococci
while his resistance Is down, he will
be less apt to get pneumonia.
Be Careful of Colds.
Those who try to work, to go to
school and to keep all social and
business appointments when they
have colds or bronchitis, who fight
the Infection instead of giving in to
it, are much more apt to develop a
complicating pneumonia. This is
especially true if there has been
some fever during the course of the
upper respiratory tract infection.
One should never go out after a cold
until the temperature has been nor
mal for from 24 to 48 hours.
The maintenance of good heklth
by avoiding undue fatigue, by eat
ing foods containing adequate
amounts of vitamins, minerals and
proteins and only enough calories
to keep the weight within normal
limits, makes one less likely to ac
quire the disease.
So while the rapid advances in
our knowledge of methods for ita
successful treatment have greatly
reduced the death rate from pneu
monia, we must still depend on gen
eral principles for its prevention.
The groundwork of all happi
ness is health. ? Leigh Hunt in
the Death of Little Children.
QUESTION BOX
S?nd questions to Dr. Nathan S. Davis III.
Wlnnetka. 111. (Enclose a sell-addressed,
stamped envelope.)
Q.? Can you suggest a home treat
ment for corns, callouses and in
grown toenails? T. O. S.
Wear shoe* and stockings that lit
and are Urge enough, and corns,
callouses and Ingrown toenails will
disappear.
Q.? What causes regurgitation aft
er meals? H. S. O.
A. ? Toe rapid eating, overeating,
some of the diseases of the diges
tive tract.
No Dud Duds for Army
The best isn't good
enough for Uncle Sam's
army when it comes to
clothing. That is why
the army maintains a
"House of Magic" in
the quartermaster's de
partment in Philadel
phia. It is the duty of
this "House of Magic"
to check on the quality
of all clothing equip
ment destined for the
army. Here are a few
of the steps taken in
the manufacture of
uniforms for our ever
growing army.
Left: Testing the
strength of fabric. The
cloth must stand up
under a pull of 12ti
pounds.
Here on the roof of the quartermaster' t department you tee fab
rics undergoing a weather test.
Trained eye t scan every inch
of thin bolt of cloth at it it un
wound from roller to roller. A
defect would cause, rejection.
Thread count. Counting the.
number of threads per - square
inch in a fabric sample ? one
method of ascertaining quality.
Picture above (left)
shows a sample being
treated to a rain test.
The cloth must be 100 %
water repellent.
At the right (above J
it shown an ingenious ,
gadget which subjects a
sample of material to
tests that equal many
months of wear in rain
and shine.
hight: A completed
master uniform is fitted
on a dummy by a master
tailor. Once approved,
thousands of counter
parts are turned out.
Kathleen Norris Says:
There Is No Way to Get. Back
Lost Sweetheart
(Bell Syndicate? WNU Service.)
I was so stupid that night that I hate to think.about it. When Hugo made
fun of me I said I felt I uas getting a cold and uent upstairs. He later told Mary
that when I was a hid I had been- his sweetheart.
By KATHLEEN NORRIS
THERE is no harder situ
ation for a woman of any
age than that in which
she suspects that the love of
the man she idolizes is cool
ing. The self-deceptions by
which abandoned sweethearts
solace themselves are pa
thetic in their transparency;
it is almost impossible for
any one of us to believe that
she has lost her charm for
the man she loves.
The girl who writes me a
letter on this subject fortu
nately is young. Brenda is
only 17, and whether she likes
the idea now or not she is go
ing to get over her passion
j for the fickle Hugo.
"Hugo was first my older sister
Anna's friend." says Brenda's tear
stained letter; "but from the mo
ment I first saw him he was the
only man in the world for me. I
used to hang around Just to see
him, and my chum and I used to
walk downtown so that we could
pass his office and perhaps have a
glimpse of him.
"My diary in those days was filled
with him. and if I only had a word
from him it would make me happy
for a week. That was when I was
only 15. Last year Anna got a
school in a city a hundred miles
away. We had a good-by party for
her and Hugo came. , He and I
talked together seriouslyToY the first
time and I think he realized that
Anna'* kid sister was not quite so
young as. her years. Anyway, after
Anna left he cam* one night and
brought me candy and stayed talk
ing, and I was so happy I could not
sleep for nights afterward.
Wrote Each Other Dally.
"After that we saw each other
frequently and there was no doubt
of his feeling; when he went on short
trips we wrote each other every day.
and although my parents felt I
was too young to make plans yet,
Hugo is 31 and could well support
a wife; and that made a difference,
i "The Joy of those first days will
remain with me all my life, for I
can never feel for any other man
t what I feel for Hugo. Just his
voice. Just his hand on njlne when
he taught me to drive, the very
Jackets and caps and neckties he
wore were sacred to me.
"He asked me to marry him, and
wrote me that night that he 'would
never forget the moment when a
dizzy, crazy litUe girl threw herself
into his arms.' In that same letter
he says, 'you are going to be the
most spoiled little wife in (he
world. '
"I suppose the rest of this story," .
the letter goes on, "is a familiar
one to you. Hugo had to go away
for three weeks, and even in his
letters, before he came back, I felt
the change. When he did get back
I put flowers around in the house
and wore a new dress; but he didn't
come that evening. All the next day
and the next I didn't hear from him,
and every second of those days was
an agony.
"On the fourth day I telephoned,
I couldn't help it. He explained
that he had been terribly busy and
that his mother had house guests,
an old schoolmate of hers and the
schoolmate's twin daughters and that
'squiring' the girls took up all his
spare time. 1 asked him if they
knew about me, and he answered
by asking 'what about you, honey?'
Invited His Goests.
"When I hung up the telephone I
was almost crying, and my mother
suggested that I write, asking his
guests to come to our house for
Sunday supper. He seemed pleased
by that and they cams. My mother
NOTHING TO REGRET
The "Brenda" who writes
this letter is undoubtedly in
for some heart-breaking mo
ments, but she has nothing
with which to reproach her
self in later years. She may
have behaved like a silly girl,
throwing herself at an older
man and then sulking when
he explained that she had mis
understood his brotherly af
fection. But she can look for
ward to a more real, a more
ing kind of love in a few
years. Then, perhaps, she will
be able to laugh at what
seems now to be utter tragedy.
had everything lovely, but the eve
ning did not have one happy mo
ment for me. Both these girls are
pretty. They are 25 years old and
have been everywhere and have
seen all the plays. One is engaged
and I think the other likes Hugo;
in (act I know she does, and so
do Mom and Dad.
"I was so stupid that night that I
hate to think about it, and when
Hugo made fun qf me I said I felt
as if I was getting a cold and went
upstairs. Hugo said to Mary that
when I was a kid I had been his
little sweetheart and we had made
great marriage plans and were go
ing to build a house up in an oak
and live up there. Which made me
seem like a baby.
"Last week Hugo wrote me quite
frankly, saying that he is sorry that
I 'misunderstood' his attentions,
that he will always love me as a
big brother, almost old enough to
be my father, and that he would
like his letters back. My mother,
who now says she Is sorry she did
it aince it disturbed me so much.
Immediately without consulting me
sent back all his letters, from my
treasure box.
,"I love him ai much a* ever. He
is to wonderful, there is nobody like
him! If I live to be 90, and marry
10 times, I will always love him
better than anyone else! What can
I do? How can I get him back?
Please, please help me keep from
despair!"
"" The Price of Love.
It is a cruel thing, BrenBaT that
any human being should be given
power to hurt another as Hugo has
hurt you. But it is the price of
love. Love is the dearest commod
ity in life, the thing for which we
pay highest It is painfully obvious
now that his affair with you was
just what he calls It, half-paternal,
half-brotherly affection for the little
girl who so openly adored him. He
might indeed have made you his
wife, and he might have been ?
faithful husband to you.
There ife men who have petted
and adored a child-wife until her tall
sons seemed older than she, but as'
a general thing the man to whom a
girl gives her heart at 17 Isn't the
true mate, and the real love affair
comes along six or seven years
later.
You have a lot for which to be
thankful. Evidently you have sensi
ble, affectionate parents willing to
stand by you. help you in your dif
ficulties, make your home a center
of hospitalities. Those are invalu
able assets Just now. Also, you
didn't, in your infatuation for Hugo,
throw away your self-respect when
you threw away your heart.
It might help you to read some
of the letters. X from today's
girls; girls who don't regard love
affairs as their mothers did; girl*
who argue, in a moment of passion,
"it isn't anyone's affair but our own
what we do, and if I love him, and
want to do anything he asks, I'm
free to do it!"
Released by We?tern Newspaper Union.)
T. Jefferson, Farmer
AS OFFICIAL Washington hums
** with Uncle Sam's defense prep
arations, a group of stone masons
are quietly putting the finishing
touches on a stately, marble-domed
shrine rising to completion as a me
morial to Thomas Jefferson. The
temple will immortalize Jefferson's
contributions to his country.
Every citizen is familiar with Jef
ferson's greatest achievement? the
Declaration of Independence. Many
recall his authorship of the Bill of
Rights, his unyielding devotion to
religious freedom, education and de
mocracy. Few Americans;- perhaps, *
are aware of another of Jefferson's
achievements ? his contributions to
the development of modem, scien
tific farming.
As a practical farmer Jefferson
was constantly on the alert for new
ideas. He made his Monticello estate
into a progressive experimental
farm where new machinery, new
methods, improved stock breeding,
new crops and tests in restoring soil
fertility were tried out. Over a pe
riod of years he grew as many as
32 different vegetables at Monticello.
The Sage of Monticello had many
proBlems to contend with. The land
he acquired was worn out by genera
tions of bad agricultural methods in
a single crop type of farm economy
in which tobapco had been king. No
attempts at diversification or ferti
j lization had been made. Unlike the j
THOMAS JEFFERSON
(A bust portrait by Houdon, French
sculptor.)
farmer of today, who can get ad
vice from his county agents, agricul
4 tural college .agronomist or experi
ment station on whether his soil is
deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus and
potash, and then obtain the correct I
analysis of commercial fertilizer, I
JefTerson had to. depend on talks
with his neighbors and his reading '
of farm papers and books published ,
| in England.
When he learned something new
about agriculture he recorded it in
? "Farm book" he kept in his own
handwriting. One account tells how
to lay out experimental plots to test
the effects of fertilizers. In these
tests his plant foods were manure
and gypsum. Unfortunately for him
fertilizers, |as we know them today,
were not W existence.
Writing to George Washington con
cerning the run-down condition of his
land after overseers had farmed It
1 during his absence on public busi
1 ncss, JefTerson described the use of j
legumes as a soil conditioner. He i
discovered that clover, vetch and I
peas had a soil-enriching power, but
did not understand that this lay in
their ability to 'Impart nitrogen to
the land.
Crop rotation was another meas
ure he championed. "My rotation is
tri-ennial," he wrote to a friend,
I "that is to say, one year of wheat
and two of clover in the stronger
fields, or two of peas in the weaker,
with a crop of Indian corn or po
{ tatoes between every other rota
tion ? i.e., one in'seven years. Under
this course of culture, aided with
manure, I hope my fields will re
cover their fertility."
In addition to his pioneer efforts
to put back into the soil fertilizing
elements removed by constant crop
ping, Jefferson waged a winning bat
tle against soil erosion. With his
son-in-law, T. M. Randolph, he prac
ticed horizontal plowing and bedding
on hillsides that is reminiscent of
present day contour plowing.
"Jefferson's enlightened efforts at
"isoil conservation and the bettering
of farming methods entitle him to
foremost rank among great Ameri
can agriculturists," says an offleial
of the Middle West Soil Improve
ment committee. "He had an in
stinctive feeling that man should be
a careful custodian of the soil en
trusted to his care. His work in
soil Improvement, however, primi
tive as it was, helped pave the way
for modern soil science."
- Jefferson's farm improvement pro
gram included experiments in live
stock breeding in co-operation with
President Madison. His scientific
knowledge was likewise applied to
the problem of improving farm ma
chinery. Half a century before the
steel plow was invented he designed
an all-metal plow with a mould
board that turned the soil effective
ly. Shaped according to mathemati
cal computations, the mould board
met the least possible resistance
from the earth. Jefferson also de
vised a seed drill, a hemp brake,
and a primitive tbreshing machine.
Paint It Yourself
There is no great trick to putting
on paint. Almost anyone can do it,
with a little practice, and few things
add so much to the appearance of
the home, inside or out, as does a
coat or two of fresh paint. You can
give your house and other buildings
new life with a few simple strokes
of the brush. Here are some pointers
on how to begin.
If the surface which is to be paint
ed is of new wood, it will need little
preparation to receive the paint. It
should be brushed to remove dust or
loose dirt, or, if speckled with mor
tar or cement or similar material, it
should be scraped until it is clean.
If, however, it contains pitchy knots,
such knots should be charred to
kill the pitch. Yellow pine or other
very resinous wood should be
brushed with turpentine just before
painting; cypress, with naphtha or
benzol.
If the surface to be painted has
been painted before and has begun
to scale, all old paint must be re
moved. This is usually done with a
wire brush. If nail holes show loose
putty, this, too, must be removed.
The holes may be refilled with putty
after the first coat of paint has been
applied.
A surface that has been enam
eled or varnished should be rubbed
with an abrasive until the gloss'ls
removed. Painted or varnished
walls in kitchen or bathroom must
be washed in soapy water, thorough
ly rinsed, and dried before applying
paint. A shingled roof or outside wall
that has been creosoted can not be
painted unless it has been weath
ered for several seasons, nor can a
whitewashed surface be painted un
til the whitewash hfes been com
pletely removed.
Any brick surface that has once
been painted can be repainted if
the surface is gone over carefully to
remove any loose paint, but if the
bricks have never had a coat of
paint it is advisable to apply an un
dercoat of some sort ? either a pre
pared undercoat or kettle-boiled lin
seed oil? to close the pores before
painting.
Before applying either oil or wa
ter paints to a plastered surface,
all old coats of calcimine, cold
water paint or whitewash, or wall
paper must be removed. Unless a
surface has previously been coated'
with oil paint or sized, such cover
age must be made before applying
calcimine or cold-water paint
ESTIMATING THE AMOUNT
A recent government bulletin of
fers' the following general estimate:
"For a two-coat repainting job oil
a house of moderate siz$~and in
good condition, it is fairly safe to
get as many gallons of paint as
there are rooms in t le house. For
a three-coat job, about half again
as many gallons may be required.
For a threc-coat job two-thirds of a
pint of turpentine and 2% pints of
linseed oil for every gallon of paint
bought, will be required for thinner."
MIXING YOUR OWN PAINT
Mixing one's own paint is not a
very difficult job, provided one has
time to do it and the necessary con
tainers and utensils. Home-mixed
paint is, naturally, considerably
cheaper than prepared paint. In
the bulletin ta which reference is
made at the end of this article,
will be found careful recipes for
mixing inside and outside paints, for
whitewashes, for implement paints
and shingle stains.
NECESSARY BRUSHES
Amateur painters often try to "get
along" with cheap brushes. This is
a mistake, since cheap brushes usu
ally make cheap work. On the other
hand, good brushes are expensive
and when bought must be given good
care. Professionals use a 4-inch flat
bristle brush for applying oil paints
to flat surfaces; the beginner will
find it easier to use a slightly small
er one ? say, 3Vi inches. For trim
ming and small surfaces, it is ad
visable to have a flat brush from 2
to 2Vt inches wide. A flat or oval
sash brush, 1 to H4 inches wide is
also necessary.
Paint should never be allowed w
dry oq a brush. When painting is
halted for an hour or more, put the
brush in raw linseed oil; a brush that
has been used in flat-finish paint
should be put in kerosene. During
long intervals between painting Jobs,
brushes should be suspended in raw
linseed oil, in closed containers.
If the brushes are not supported,
they will get out of shape.
CalCimine or whitewash brushes
should be washed thoroughly in wa
ter, after each day'i use, and hung
up to dry, bristles downward.
For further information, toad fir# end
to Superintendent ol Documents. Washing'
ton, D. c.. asking for Farmers' Bulletin
No. 14S2.
.? ? ?
MOLES AS LAWN PEST
Sometimes a large portion of the
lawn it undermined with mole run
ways, the grass above such run
ways turning brown becaus* of the
cutting of its roots. Often repellents
are used successfully to combat
moles, the runs being opened with a
stick at Interval! of 10 to IS feet,
and insertions made of moth ballf,
flake naphtha, or lye. The h^lea'
should then be carefully closed With
?oil. Sometimes the moles may be
drowned by inserting the garden
hose in their runways.