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Title: Keep-Well Stories for Little Folks
Author: Farinholt-Jones, May
Language: English
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KEEP-WELL STORIES FOR LITTLE FOLKS
BY
MAY FARINHOLT-JONES, M.D.
PROFESSOR OF HYGIENE AND SANITATION, AND RESIDENT PHYSICIAN
MISSISSIPPI NORMAL COLLEGE
_ILLUSTRATED BY_
PAULINE WRIGHT
SOPHIE NEWCOMB COLLEGE
[Illustration]
PHILADELPHIA & LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1916. BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1916
REPRINTED NOVEMBER 23, 1916
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
FOREWORD
The Author, in her work with young teachers, has frequently noted the
great difficulty they seem to have in presenting hygienic facts to
little children in a manner so attractive as to catch and hold their
attention.
The child's mind dwells constantly in the realm of imagination; dry
facts are too prosaic to enter this realm. The "Land of Story Books" is
the most fascinating of all lands, and therefore the Author has
endeavored to weave hygienic facts into stories that will appeal to the
child's imagination. She believes the truths of hygienic living and
habits in the stories will "creep up on the blind side," so to speak,
and impress themselves upon the young mind.
The child can appreciate only those hygienic facts which can be applied
in every-day living: he has no interest in health as an end in itself.
Furthermore, that instruction in hygiene which is given as an end in
itself, and which does not reach beyond the school-room in its
influence, is a failure. Therefore, that instruction in hygiene which is
in line with the child's interest is also the instruction which is most
effective.
The effort throughout has been to make scientific truths simple and
concrete, and so captivating that the young pupil will at once find
interest in them. The early years of child-life are the most
impressionable; it is, therefore, especially important that we stress
during these years that which means more to the conservation of life
than any other one thing, viz., hygiene.
Lessons of personal cleanliness, the necessity for good food, fresh air
and exercise are the truths which are the underlying principles of these
stories. With these as suggestions, the teacher may easily develop
further.
The mother as well as the teacher will find them helpful as she gathers
her little ones around her knee at the evening hour, in response to the
request for "a story."
The questions following each story, a kind of catechism, supply more
information than it was thought best to give in the story itself.
The illustrations have been prepared especially for this work and make
the lessons of the story more impressive.
The Author desires to acknowledge her obligations to Mr. Charles Jerome
for permission to use "The Sand Bed"; to the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union for "The White Ship," and "Clovis, The Boy King," by
Miss Christine Tinling. To Misses Marion Chafee and Bessie McCann,
students of the Hygiene Department of the Mississippi Normal College for
the "Hygiene Song" and "Little Fairies": also to Miss M. Larsen for "One
Little Girl" and the poem, "Jack Frost"; to Mr. O. S. Hoffman for the
poem, "The Five Best Doctors," to Messrs. Flanagan and Company, for
permission to use the anonymous poem, "Merry Sunshine," and to Miss
Virginia R. Grundy for "A Child's Calendar."
M. F. J.
JULY, 1916.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE WONDERFUL ENGINE 1
TWO LITTLE PLANTS 6
THE STORY OF A FLY 11
SWAT THE FLY 18
THE STORY OF THE RAIN BARREL 19
MALARIA 24
JACK FROST 29
JACK FROST, A POEM 34
A STORY OF TUBERCULOSIS 35
IT IS TIME THAT YOU SHOULD STOP 41
A TRUE STORY 42
TWO LITTLE WINDOWS 46
MERRY SUNSHINE 50
A WONDERFUL STREAM 52
TWO MILLS 57
A CHILD'S CALENDAR 61
THE TOOTHBRUSH BRIGADE 62
MR. FLY AND MRS. MOSQUITO 64
A HYGIENE SONG 70
OUR LITTLE ENEMIES 71
ONE LITTLE GIRL 77
CLOVIS, THE BOY KING 78
WHAT TEMPERANCE BRINGS 85
THE WHITE SHIP 86
A QUEER CASE 94
BREATHE MORE 97
THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BUTTERFLY 97
LITTLE BAREFOOT 103
THE LITTLE FAIRIES 107
THE RED CROSS SEAL 111
THE SAND BED 119
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT 120
A NEW STORY OF THE LION AND THE MOUSE 124
FIRST AID TO THE INJURED AND THE BOY SCOUTS 127
AN INVITATION 131
A GREAT FIGHT 132
THE FIVE BEST DOCTORS 135
GLOSSARY 136
KEEP-WELL STORIES FOR LITTLE FOLKS
[Illustration]
A WONDERFUL ENGINE
We all have seen a steam engine, have we not? There are engines that
pull trains on the railroad, and there are engines that make factories,
gins, and saw-mills work. Then there are engines that run great ships on
the water. How many know what must be done to one of these engines
before it can do all this work? "It must have coal, or wood, or gasoline
put into it." That is right.
Now this coal or wood or gasoline, when it is used in an engine to make
it work, is called fuel. Would we put rotten or green wood into the
engine? No. We must always put in the kind of thing that will burn
best, and make the most heat and do the most work.
Let us see how this wood or coal we call fuel makes the engine work.
First, we must burn the fuel. Second, when the fuel burns, it heats the
water in the boiler. Third, the water changes into steam, and this steam
gives the engine the power to work.
Now we see how an engine is made to move and do work, such as hauling
great trains of cars, and pulling great ships across the wide ocean. But
we must remember that the engine will not do this work unless there is a
man near-by to put the fuel into the engine.
I want to tell you of another engine that is very like the steam engine.
It too must have fuel before it can run or work. It is unlike the steam
engine in as much as it grows all the time, and it does not need to have
an extra man to put the fuel into it. You must think of your body as an
engine and remember that it needs fuel to run it. The fuel that makes
the body-engine move and work is the food you eat.
You have learned that you must put into the steam engine the fuel that
will burn best and make the most heat and work. The same thing is true
of your body-engine. You must put in the fuel that will best make heat
and the power to work. Have you sometimes eaten something which made you
sick? It must have been that that was the wrong kind of fuel for the
little body-engine. This is the reason our mothers are so very careful
in preparing our food. They want the little engines to have the right
kind of fuel so that they will not run off the track.
Now what fuel must you use in your body-engine? In the first place you
must put in fuel that will make the engine grow so that it can do a
great deal of work. This fuel you get when you eat lean meat, eggs,
milk, and many other things.
If you want your engine to keep warm, you must use fuel that will make
heat. You get this fuel by eating plenty of fats, such as nice butter
and some sweet things. Potatoes, rice and syrup help to run your engine.
You need some fuel that will make you plump and round and healthy
looking, so you must put into your engine fruits, nuts, a little candy,
and a lot of vegetables. You need to eat things that have color, such
as: tomatoes, lettuce, greens, and beets,--not because they look pretty,
but because they have iron in them and help to make your engine strong.
You must remember that you eat food for three reasons: to make you grow,
keep warm, and able to work. You must be careful that you do not eat too
much of any one kind of food, but remember to eat a little of many
kinds. Your engine can use only a little of each at one time.
Wood is chopped into short pieces, and coal is broken up before it will
do good work in the engine, so the fuel must be prepared before it will
suit your engine. It must be well cooked and then chewed thoroughly
before it will do its best work in your body-engine. You should be
careful not to swallow any food until it has been chewed as fine as it
can be.
If you put into your engine the right amount of food, and the right kind
of well-prepared food, you will have an engine more wonderful than any
steam engine that ever pulled a train, or carried a big ship across the
wide ocean.
The engineer sees that his engine is kept clean and bright, in order
that it may run smoothly. Since you are the engineer of your
body-engine, you must keep it neat and clean that it may work well.
[Illustration]
QUESTIONS
1. What is it that causes the big steam engine to
do its work, draw long trains, or big ships, or
turn great factory wheels?
2. What must happen to this fuel--wood, coal, or
gasoline--before it can make the engine do its
work?
3. Did you ever wonder why it is that your body is
always warm? It is very much like the engine.
4. What do you call this fuel that your
body-engine uses? Just as the fuel for the steam
engine must be burned if it is to make heat, even
so must the food be burned in your body if it is
to keep it warm and able to work. Of course the
food in your body does not burn exactly as the
wood and coal burn in the steam engine. It burns
much more slowly--so slowly that you would not
know that it burns at all if it were not that it
always keeps your body warm.
Just as the steam engine needs the fuel if it is
to do its work well, your body needs the best of
food if it is to be healthy and do the best work.
You have learned that all foods do not serve the
same purpose equally well. For instance, some
foods such as lean meat, eggs, and milk build up
more muscle than other foods do; while others,
such as fats, syrup, sugar and potatoes, give more
heat than other foods.
5. What do all colored vegetables contain?
6. What kinds of foods do people living in the
very cold climates need a great deal of?
7. What kinds of foods do people living in very
warm climates need a great deal of?
TWO LITTLE PLANTS
Look at this lovely little plant with its pretty bright leaves and
beautiful pink blossoms. Well may we ask what makes the little plant so
healthy, strong, and pretty. It is a delight to the eye.
Now here is another little plant. It belongs to the same family. The
same kind of seed was planted, and when its tiny leaves began to peep
above the ground, it seemed to have as good a chance as its little
sister plant. But the leaves are pale and drooping; they look sick. It
has no pretty blossoms. Its stems are withered and weak; it can hardly
hold its little leaves up. "Poor little sickly looking plant," its
strong and rosy little sister seems to say.
[Illustration]
Let us see if we can find a reason for the difference between the two
plants. I do not believe that it will take us long to find the cause of
the sickness, for it is sick just like a little child.
Mother Nature prepares a special food for all her children, food for the
little plant children as well as for the little babies in our homes,
and food for the little piggies and the frisky little calves out in the
barn.
When mother feeds little baby brother she gives him nice warm, sweet
milk, because that is the food that he needs to make him grow big and
strong. Mother Nature knows that the little babies and the little calves
and pigs need this fresh warm milk, so she prepares it all ready for
them.
When we plant seed in the ground, the soft, warm dark earth furnishes
food for the little seed, until its leaves and stems are above the
ground. Its little roots run down into the moist, mellow soil and drink
up the food Mother Nature has there for it. The warm sun shines down on
the little plant and makes it green, and the pure air helps to make its
stems strong and sturdy that it may hold its leaves and blossoms up for
the passersby to enjoy.
What a beautiful sight it is as it seems to nod a morning greeting of
cheer and good health.
Now the little plant with the pretty bright leaves and wonderful pink
blossoms has had all the water and mellow soil and warm sunshine it
needed to make it grow, from a tiny plant into the large handsome one we
see.
The little sister plant with its sick, pale leaves and no blossoms has
not been treated kindly. When it was just a baby plant it did not have
enough water to drink. The soil in which it was planted was poor, and
did not have enough food to feed the tiny baby plant. The poor little
plant was shut away from the bright sunshine and the clean, fresh air.
Now its leaves hang down as if it were saying, "I am so sick; give me
some water to drink, give me some food to make my stems strong, give me
some sunshine and fresh air to warm me and make the nice green color
come into my leaves!"
We may give the little plant all that it asks for, and help it a great
deal. In a few days the color will begin to come into its leaves and its
stems will look stronger, but we doubt if the little neglected plant
will ever become as strong as the little sister plant which has had all
the good soil, water, air and sunshine that it needed when it was a baby
plant.
Little boys and girls need things to make them strong just as the little
plants do. They need simple, pure food to make strong bone and muscle,
pure water to drink, and to bathe their bodies with; fresh air to
breathe; and sunshine to give color to their cheeks and sparkle to their
eyes. If the little folks do not have the things that Mother Nature
intended for them, they will grow thin and twisted like the little sick
plant. Their cheeks will grow pale and their eyes will look dull and
heavy and lose their sparkle. They will not want to romp and play as all
healthy children do. They will not want to go to school.
Little children who are ruddy and strong like the first little plant
have mothers who see that they get all the food they need and plenty of
pure water to drink; that they keep their bodies clean and play in the
sunshine and breathe fresh air.
These little girls and boys are in all the games. They love to run and
play. They will grow into strong men and women and be ready to do the
work for which they were created.
If the little green plant is shut away in the dark, out of the sunshine
and fresh air, it will soon droop and die. Children are human plants and
need the same care and treatment that should be given other plants.
QUESTIONS
1. Why was it that one of the little plants in the
story was so healthy and strong, while its sister
plant was weak and sickly?
2. Did you ever see a boy or girl who did not have
enough wholesome food to eat, enough fresh air to
breathe, and enough sunshine to give a healthy
color to his or her cheeks?
3. What kind of a big boy or girl will such a
child grow to be?
4. If we are to grow into strong, healthy, hardy,
robust boys and girls--men and women--what rules
must we obey?
THE STORY OF A FLY
I was hatched one sunny day in May in the nicest, warmest, dirtiest spot
you ever saw. It was in a barnyard heap, just outside a city, that I
first saw the light. I was not very old before I had to take care of
myself, so you may know I was glad that I had opened my eyes for the
first time in such a dirty place, because it is much easier for a baby
fly to take care of himself in a dirty place than in a clean one.
My good mother knew this when she flew away that May morning and left
the tiny egg, from which I came, to Dame Nature to care for. Mother Fly
knew that warmth, dirt, and moisture were all that a baby fly needed in
its infant days. She knew that the dump-heap at the barn made the nicest
kind of cradle for her baby, and it was rent-free to all the mother
flies in the neighborhood.
Day by day, I grew and soon began to take notice of things around me. It
was not long before I saw that some of the other baby flies which were
in the dump-heap with me had grown some beautiful gauzy wings. On these
wings they began making daily visits from our fly-nursery to a near-by
farm-house. When they came back from these visits, they would talk long
and loud about the good time they had, and the nice things they had to
eat in the great world outside the dump-heap.
I was mighty glad that my wings were growing stronger each day. One
morning, bright and early, I sailed away on my beautiful wings to see if
all the wonderful things my little fly friends had told me were true. I
followed the lead of my friends, and we soon came to that same
farm-house. First, we went to a door--a screen they called it--and tried
hard to get through. To our great disappointment, we could not get
through; the screen was closed tight. One little fly said, "I will find
a way in, I don't believe the folks who live here have been so careful
with the kitchen door." So we flew away, and sure enough the kitchen
screen door was standing ajar, with just enough of a crack in it for a
busy little fly to slip through into the kitchen. I was next to the last
one to get through; and, alas! when I did get in, you never saw such a
disappointed little fly in your life. Everything looked very clean, too
clean for me to enjoy it. Presently, one of my friends called to me and
O joy! he had found some soiled dishes and bits of food on a table, just
the thing for a tired, hungry little fly. The sugar bowl was uncovered,
and, oh, how I did eat, for I dote on nice, sweet sugar.
The pantry door stood ajar, and I could see some nice things to eat in
there also. After we had feasted on the good things in the kitchen, we
flew into the dining-room. There on the table was a pitcher filled with
milk. I jumped into the pitcher and took a nice bath and a good swim. I
came out very much refreshed, for I had left there in the milk pitcher
all the dirt I had gathered on my feet and body in my early life. I
walked much better. I walked all over the food which was on the table
and I also walked on the baby's bottle which was on a nearby shelf.
[Illustration]
While I was thinking what I would do next, a lady came into the room.
She had a dear little baby in her arms. You know how I love little
babies. I love to tickle their noses and to lick the sweets from their
juicy little mouths. I sat and watched the little fellow, awaiting my
chance to make his acquaintance. Presently the lady gave the baby some
milk to drink from the pitcher in which I had had such a nice bath.
After the little fellow was fed, the lady put him to sleep and laid him
in his crib in the next room for his morning nap. My friends told me to
come with them into this room, the nursery. The lady had forgotten to
put a net over the little fellow; so I crawled around and ate some sugar
from his lips. It tasted so good that I crawled almost into his mouth.
Since that happy morning, I have spent almost every day between the
farm-house and out-houses. I have my daily bath in the milk pitcher and
my dinner from the nice juicy food on the table. Very often I get my
lunch of sweets from the corners of the baby's mouth, and I like this
best of all.
For several days I have felt lonely. I noticed that the baby did not
come to the dining-room to get his milk and sugar. I kept wondering why
he did not come, and finally I wandered into the nursery to see for
myself. What do you think? The baby was lying in his crib all red and
hot. While his mother was busy, I crawled on his mouth to see if there
was any sugar in the corners for a lunch. Then away I flew.
This morning I flew over to the farm-house again, through the kitchen
door, and into the nursery. I thought I would find a glass of milk and
have a nice bath and my breakfast. But, alas! the baby was not in his
crib. The room was so still and cold it frightened me and I flew out. I
saw several strange men and women; the women were all crying and the men
looked sad. A man was fastening something white on the front door. I
tried to understand it all, but I could not catch any word except
"TYPHOID." I wonder what that means, anyhow? As no one will tell me, I
must be off to the next farm-house to hunt a good dinner.
This was a sensible fly, do you not think so, children? Thousands of
other flies might tell the same story if we would only watch their
habits and listen to what they have to say.
QUESTIONS
1. I wonder if any of you can guess what was the
matter with the baby on the morning the fly found
it red and hot?
2. What had happened when the fly went back to
it?
3. What caused the baby to have typhoid fever?
4. What is a germ?
5. Where did the little fly say he was hatched? It
is in such places as this--in stables and other
filthy places--that all flies are hatched and
raised. They all like good things to eat. Flies
can smell a good thing to eat a long way off; so
they soon find their way to the kitchen and
dining-room. On their way to the kitchen, they
often stop by the out-houses and gather on their
feet and legs a lot of dirt and germs. I must tell
you now that the fly can get the typhoid germ or
plant only from human filth.
NOTE.--The teacher should have an inexpensive
microscope and show the children a fly,--its head
and its feet especially.
6. Have you ever seen a fly under a magnifying
glass? On the bottom of the fly's feet are little
glue-like pads and a number of little hairs on his
body and feet, to which germs and bits of dirt
stick. The fly in this story had come to the
farm-house for the first time, you know, when he
found the pitcher of milk and had such a nice
bath. He had been gathering germs and dirt on his
feet, both from his early home in the barn-yard
and from the out-house at which he stopped on his
way. Some of these germs gathered at the out-house
had come from some person who had typhoid fever.
As he crawled over the baby's bottle and its
little mouth, he left some of the germs there and
he left some in the milk pitcher also. It was
careless of the mother to give her baby milk that
was not covered. The mother did not know she was
giving the baby milk in which there were these
little plants, or germs, which cause typhoid
fever.
You have learned that the house-fly carries the
seed, or germs, of typhoid. These germs, or seed,
will grow and multiply in the body. So you should
never leave food uncovered where a fly can get to
it.
7. Since you know where house-flies are hatched
and bred, what may you do to keep them from
multiplying?
8. What else can be done to make sure that no germ
can get to our food or drink?
SWAT THE FLY
S is for Sunshine, keeps nature clean,
And makes Mr. Fly feeble and lean.
W is for Waste, where the fly breeds,
The fouler, the better it suits his needs.
A is for Anything dirty and vile,
On which the children may spend a short while.
T is for Typhoid, whose best friend is the fly,
It makes thousands to sicken and hundreds to die.
T is for Trouble he brings to us all,
From Spring's early green until far into Fall.
H is for Housewife, his unceasing foe,
Who traps, swats and otherwise brings him to woe.
E is for Energy she puts into work,
So long as there is one left she will never shirk.
F stands for Friends of which he has none,
If you look for his foes you may count me as one.
L stands for Labor, which is always well spent,
If it keeps Mr. Fly from enjoying content.
Y stands for You, who will help in the task,
Kill each fly you can is all we ask.
_Author Unknown._
THE STORY OF THE RAIN BARREL
O John! did you know that I almost fell on my head into the rain barrel
at the corner of the house this morning? I was looking at the picture of
myself in the water, when, all of a sudden, I saw the funniest little
things darting everywhere in the water. I forgot to look at myself or to
make any more faces at the broad face of the little boy at the bottom of
the rain barrel. There were lots of these queer little things in the
rain water. They were turning somersaults and standing on their heads
every few minutes. Here is a picture of one. I tried to catch some in my
hands, but they were too quick for me; they would just wiggle out of
reach. This was why I nearly fell on my head.
I ran into the house to ask Mother about them. Mothers know a lot, don't
they, John? At least, mine does. I just knew she could tell me all about
these queer little things in the rain barrel. When I asked her to tell
me, she put her sewing down and went to the rain barrel with me. As soon
as she looked she said she was so glad that I had come for her, that she
would tell me all about these little "wiggle-tails," and that I could
help her destroy them, as they would do much harm if they grew up.
She said that they were the little baby mosquitoes. Isn't that funny? I
did not know that mosquitoes lived in the water, even when they were
babies, did you? I will tell you just what Mother said. She said that if
I were near a pond or rain barrel, or even an old tin can, in which
water was standing, early in the morning before the sun was up, I could
hear Mrs. Mosquito come singing merrily to the water, and that if I
watched and did not disturb her, I could see her rest lightly on the
water and lay her eggs there in a little brown boat or raft-shaped mass,
little eggs like these. The mosquito mother now thinks her duty to her
children is done, for, after she lays her eggs on the water, she goes
off singing, never thinking of them again.
[Illustration]
If nothing disturbs it, the boat of eggs floats on the water a little
longer than a day, when all of a sudden the shells of the eggs begin to
break and the little "wiggle-tails" hatch, or come out of the shells.
These funny little "wiggle-tails" go frisking about in the water. They
dive here and there down into the water, hunting for something to eat.
These are the baby mosquitoes. They are very queer looking, with their
big heads and eyes and a funny little tube at the tail end of their
bodies. They push this tube up out of the water to get air to breathe. I
saw a number of them push these little tubes up to the top of the water,
but, when I got close to them, down to the bottom of the barrel they
would dive, head foremost, as if they were scared. They soon had to come
up again for another breath of air.
Mother said that if no one disturbed them they would eat germs and all
sorts of little water plants for about two weeks, growing all the time.
At the end of that time, each one would curl himself into a cocoon, like
a ball, called a pupa. After about four days of rest and growing in this
cocoon, the case would break and out would come a thing with wings, a
full-grown mosquito. It would stand on its case or cocoon, dry its wings
in the sun, and then fly away to begin life as a mosquito.
Mother said she did not want to give the little "wiggle-tails" a chance
to become mosquitoes, and that if I would bring her some oil from the
kitchen pantry, she would show me how to kill the little "wiggle-tails."
I ran for the oil, oil just like that your Mamma burns in her lamps.
Mother poured a few spoonfuls in the rain barrel, and that was the end
of Mr. Wiggle-tail. The oil kept the "wiggle-tails" from getting any air
to breathe through their funny breathing tubes, and they smothered.
[Illustration]
Mother says we must have a Mosquito Brigade and go about the place
killing all the mosquitoes; that we must not let water stand in any tin
cans or barrels; and that we must pour oil in the ditches and ponds
where water stands and where the mosquitoes can lay eggs. The mosquito
will not lay eggs on the dry land, for the "wiggle-tails" cannot take
care of themselves on dry land, and the mosquito mothers know this.
It seems to me that Dame Nature, as Mother calls her, has taught many
wonderful secrets to her children.
Mother told me why she wanted to kill all the "wiggle-tails." I will
tell you about it to-morrow, if you will come to the grape-vine swing
with me.
QUESTIONS
1. What did the little boy see in the rain barrel?
Why couldn't he catch them?
2. How did the "wiggle-tails" get into the barrel?
3. Why do they have to come to the top of the
water so often?
4. Why did the little boy's mother want to destroy
or kill the little "wiggle-tails"?
5. What is a Mosquito Brigade? Can't we have one
in our school?
MALARIA
You remember, John, I told you about the "wiggle-tails," or baby
mosquitoes, in the rain barrel, and how eager my mother was to put oil
on the water and kill them.
Well, Mother told me a long story about the baby mosquitoes and what
they do when they are grown up. She said that mosquitoes carry malaria,
or chills, from one person to another.
Don't you remember when we had chills last summer and Uncle John had to
come to see us and give us some medicine? Mother says that was because
some grown mosquito had bitten a person who had chills, and while
sucking that person's blood the mosquito had sucked into her bill some
malaria poison; then later when she bit us, she punched some of that
poison into our blood, while she was getting a supper from our blood.
The mosquito's bill is as sharp as one of Uncle John's knives.
Mother told me that a long time ago, when the English came to Virginia,
they settled at Jamestown, and they were afraid of the Indians, the
bears, and the panthers that could hide in the forest near-by.
The English did not know it, but they had a more deadly enemy then at
Jamestown than the Indians and the panthers. This enemy was so small
they could not see it, and then, too, they had not learned about it as
we are learning now. This enemy was the little germ or parasite that
causes malaria.
Mother says that it is easy to fight an enemy when it is out in the
open. The settlers knew only that many of their people got sick and
died. This was because there were many mosquitoes there, and these
mosquitoes bit them, and put these poisonous enemies into their blood.
But they did not know that the mosquitoes were the cause of the great
number of deaths in the colony.
All this happened many years ago. I believe the English thought their
old enemy, the Dragon, of which they had heard so much, but which they
could not see, had come to this new land.
We can know the mosquito that carries malaria because she looks as if
she is trying to stand on her head when she lights on anything. It seems
queer that the female mosquito is the only one which poisons us with
malaria. Perhaps the male mosquito cannot bite, because he has so many
feathery plumes on his bill.
The mosquito and the germ of malaria, which is carried from one person
to another, killed far more white people than the Indians or the wild
animals did.
Not many years ago, a very clever man found out that the mosquito
carried malaria, for, without her, the germs could never get into our
blood.
Mother says that the way for us to stop malaria is for us to kill all
the mosquitoes, and the best way to kill them off is to do so when they
are little "wiggle-tails" or "wigglers." She says the best way of all,
though, is never to have any standing water around where the mosquito
can lay her eggs.
[Illustration]
I am going to kill every mosquito I see. Mother says I can tell the one
that carries malaria, because she is always trying to stand on her head
like this.
I'll tell you, let's have a "Mosquito and Fly Brigade." You can be the
Captain. All the little boys and girls in our classes can march under
our colors, and we will make war on every fly and mosquito in the
neighborhood, and stop the children and grown people from having
malaria. Mother says sickness costs a lot of money--many millions of
dollars every year.
We will be little soldiers while all the country is at peace, but we
will wage a battle royal against these very small but strong enemies,
and we will win.
Our motto will be, "To prevent is better than to cure."
QUESTIONS
1. What causes malaria?
2. Can you tell the difference between the
mosquito that carries malaria and the one that is
called the house mosquito?
3. Where do the mosquitoes feed?
4. What caused so many of the early settlers in
the Old Dominion (Virginia) to die?
5. Which was their greatest enemy, Indians, wild
animals, or malaria?
6. How much does malaria cost?
7. Can we prevent malaria? How?
8. What medicine will cure malaria?
9. Is it better to cure a disease or to prevent
it?
10. Where was quinine first gotten?
11. If a person has malaria, how may we prevent
other persons from getting it?
12. Have you a "Fly and Mosquito Brigade" in your
school, or will you have one?
[Illustration]
JACK FROST
Children, do you know who Jack Frost is? Well, he is a frisky little
fellow. He never seems to lose his youth and freshness, although he is
as old as time itself.
When the days grow shorter and the nights get longer, Jack Frost is a
regular busybody--he is here, there, and everywhere. Jack does not make
long visits in the Sunny Southland. The warm sunshine and balmy winds
chase him back to the North, his native land.
Jim lives in the North where Jack Frost makes long visits, sometimes
remaining from early autumn until late in the spring. Jim says he likes
Jack Frost and the gay times and sports he brings with him for the
little boys and girls of the North. Jim loves to skate and sleigh ride.
Jack Frost is a mischievous little elf; he skips gaily around while you
are asleep. He peeps into your windows to see if you are tucked snugly
in bed. He dances on the window panes, and covers them with beautiful
crystals that he must have brought from fairyland.
He goes whistling down the street on the wind in the early morning. He
gleefully snips at the noses of the old gentlemen as they step briskly
along to their business.
Jack gives these old folks a bit of his youth as they feel his
frolicsome touch. He makes them think of the days when they were boys,
how they used to run out to meet him with a jump and a skip. He reminds
them of the days long ago, when they made a snow man in the school-yard,
and when they played snowball on the way to and from school. As they
think of these frolics with Jack Frost, each one seems to quicken his
step. Could you look into their eyes you would see how they sparkle with
the memories of youth that Jack Frost has recalled.
He frolics about among the trees. As he touches them with his wand,
their bright green coat is changed to a soft brown one. He tells the
little sleeping buds to lie still. They must not even peep out while he
is in the air.
Jack waves his wand and covers brown Mother Earth with sparkling frost
or downy snow. The little seed babies snuggle close, and whisper to each
other of how good Jack Frost is to cover them from the biting winter
wind with this beautiful warm blanket of snow. This blanket is finer and
warmer than any ever woven by man.
Even after the snow has melted, Jack Frost tells the little seed babies
not to lift their heads from under their blanket of leaves until the
warm spring days wake them.
He shows to the children of the Southland only a few of his pranks; now
and then a beautiful frost that is soon chased back to the North by the
warm sun; sometimes a wonderful snow-storm from the Northwest. How
joyous these children of the Sunny South are when Jack does give them a
touch of old King Winter! There are many children here as old as you,
who have never seen one of Jacks beautiful white blankets.
In the Northland Jack is a very terrible old fellow. There are ice and
snow on the ground for many months. The people build very warm houses to
keep Jack Frost out.
Did you ever think of the little Eskimo boys and girls in their cold
country? They wear clothes made of skins and furs. They live in snow
houses, but they manage to keep warm. The little Eskimo children are
used to the cold, for Jack Frost plays his pranks all the year round in
the land of the long, long nights.
They have great sport going here and there on their snow-shoes, and in
their sleds drawn by their faithful dogs.
In our own Northland, Jack is a very frisky fellow. He touches the lakes
and rivers with his magic wand and covers them with ice. Ah! now comes
the best of fun, for now old Jack Frost is ready for you to have the
finest of sports. You must put on warm clothes and high, heavy shoes and
run out to play with him.
Children who have colds and sore throats can not play. So he says, "Wrap
up warm, come out into the fresh air." Let the pure frosty air get into
your lungs, and sweep out old disease germs that may have hidden there.
Come with me to the pond. The ice is thick and smooth. Put on your
skates and let us go skimming over the ice. You will feel the warm red
blood, made clean and pure by the frosty air, tingling all over your
body. I tell you, Jack Frost is a good friend.
Jack Frost often hurts the poor, pinching too hard their fingers and
toes. So, while you are warmly clad and prepared for a frolic with him,
you must remember there are some children to whom Jack Frost is not such
a welcome friend.
He nips with his cold fingers the insects that do our plants harm. With
his icy breath, he kills many of the germs that would hurt you.
Jack Frost helps to give you health, and health means joy, strength,
happiness and success.
QUESTIONS
1. Who is Jack Frost, where does he come from?
2. What does he bring?
3. What does he say to the little seed babies and
buds?
4. What does he say to the young folks?
5. Who are the Eskimos, where do they live?
6. Of what, and how, do they build their houses?
7. What does Jack Frost do to some of the disease
germs?
8. Can you tell me something of the games the
children play in the lands where Jack Frost
visits? In the land where he never comes?
JACK FROST
A mischief-maker is old Jack Frost,
His pranks are many indeed;
He comes and goes with the speed of the wind,
But who has ever seen his steed?
He comes when the nights are clear and cold,
And the wind has gone to rest,
He comes with his magic wand,
And few things stand the test.
He rides o'er fields of waving corn,
And leaves them sere and dry;
He touches the flowers with his magic wand,
And they wither away and die.
He spreads on the walk a coat of ice,
That unwary feet may slip;
He freezes the leaves, the trees and grass,
And holds them all in his icy grip.
He pinches the apple's ruddy cheeks,
And the children's cheeks as well--
Oh, of all the mischief that Jack Frost does,
Who could ever tell?
But still we love this mischief-maker,
We could not do without him;
We think his little plays and pranks
The very best thing about him.
A STORY OF TUBERCULOSIS
PART I
Mary, did you and Tom see the poor, sick woman on the cars when we were
going to visit grandmother last week? Did you see how pale and thin and
feeble she looked? Did you hear her coughing so often that it seemed to
hurt her whole body?
How sorry we felt when we knew she was so sick. Don't you remember that
Uncle John, who is a doctor, told us that she had consumption. Uncle
John talked of the poor lady and of the dreadful disease which she has.
He called it by two other names, tuberculosis and the "Great White
Plague."
I'll tell you just what he told me, for Uncle John said that even little
children should know about this disease and that they could help to
prevent it.
He said that a very small plant, so small that we cannot see it with our
naked eyes, causes this terrible sickness from which so many, both old
and young, die. These plants are so small that a thousand of them could
be put on a pin head and still not crowd each other there. These little
plants are like tiny rods and are always found in the saliva or spit of
a person who has consumption. When Uncle John wants to see them he uses
a very powerful magnifying glass called a microscope. You have seen this
microscope in Uncle John's office.
Long years ago, a great German doctor tried to find out why so many
persons, young people and little children, died of this terrible
disease. Finally, after long years of study, he found that these tiny
plants are the cause of all this disease and sorrow. He also found that
these plants are different from the plants in our gardens, for they grow
best in dark, damp places where there are warmth and the kind of soil
suited to them.
These plants never blossom, but they grow and make more plants of the
same kind.
When father wants to grow more cotton he plants cotton seed, does he
not? He always sees that the ground or soil is well prepared for the
seed.
Our bodies are the soil or ground, and these little rod-like plants are
the seed of consumption. Persons who have delicate bodies and who live
in damp, dark places, and who do not eat good food furnish the best kind
of soil on which these plants will grow. They grow and make more
tuberculosis seed just as the cotton grows and makes more cotton seed.
Strong, healthy bodies are poor seed ground for consumption seed. They
do not grow well but shrink up and die just as cotton seed would if
they were planted on stony ground instead of nice mellow earth.
You have seen some plants that you were told not to handle or taste
because they were poisonous. Well, these little tuberculosis plants that
I am telling you about are more poisonous than the plants that you can
see.
If they get on cups from which you drink, and into your milk or any
other food, they may get into your bodies. If you think, I am sure that
you will remember some of your friends who have consumption.
You remember, Mary, you told me of your little friend, Lucy Stevens, who
has been ill a long time, and who is quite lame. She has to use crutches
to walk with because her hip is diseased. Uncle John says this is
because she has tuberculosis of the hip joint. It is strange, but often
after these little plants or seed get into the body, they may travel to
any part of it, and set up house-keeping for themselves in a gland or a
joint. They usually find their way to the weakest part of our bodies.
PART II
Uncle John says that the only cure for consumption is plenty of fresh
air, good food, and the proper amount of rest. He says that patent
medicines are fakes and do much harm.
You can, each of you, do a great deal to prevent these plants or seeds
from getting into your bodies and into the bodies of others by following
these simple rules:
1. Remember that fresh air and sunshine are necessary to good health.
2. Remember that cold or damp air will not do harm if the body is kept
warm.
3. Breathe through the nose only. Avoid dark, crowded, dusty, or damp
rooms. Breathe deep.
4. Hold shoulders up.
5. Use your own individual drinking cup.
6. Remember that consumption is spread by careless spitting. Do not spit
on the floor of rooms, halls, or cars.
7. Keep clean and bathe frequently, at least twice a week.
8. Always wash your hands before eating.
9. Brush your teeth after each meal.
10. Never put money, pencils, pens, or anything that another person has
handled, in your mouth.
11. Do not bite off fruit that other people have bitten.
12. Do not kiss babies or sick persons.
QUESTIONS
1. What do you call the little plants that cause
tuberculosis or consumption? How big are these
plants or germs?
2. What part of garden plants are these germs
like? Why do you think so?
3. Big plants in the garden get their food from
the water in the soil. I wonder if any of you can
tell me where these little germ-plants get their
food? When we see persons with consumption we know
that these little germ-plants are growing on the
cells of their lungs. This causes their lung cells
and the tissue that binds them together to decay.
Then these people have to cough and spit this
decayed matter up. Every bit of it is often filled
with these little germ-plants, or seed of
consumption.
4. Then what should be done with this spit to keep
any one else from taking the disease?
5. Germs are often carried in little particles of
dust. How may we keep from getting germs in this
way?
6. How else may these little plants get into our
bodies?
7. Can you think of another way by which we might
get these plants into our bodies? (From milk.)
What insect may carry the germs from the sick-room
to our dining-room table?
8. What did Uncle John say was the only cure for
consumption or tuberculosis?
9. What can each of us do to prevent these plants
from getting into our bodies, and to prevent them
from growing if they should happen to get into our
bodies?
IT IS TIME THAT YOU SHOULD STOP
"Whenever you spit, whenever you sneeze,
Whenever your rugs you beat,
When you scatter dust with a feather broom,
And shake it on the street,
Where rubbish you pile upon the road,
When ash barrels have no top
You're poisoning the air for somebody's lungs,
And it is time that you should stop.
--_Selected._
A TRUE STORY
In a little city near the great Mississippi River, lived two boys who
were the very best of friends. Every day they played together and had a
fine time. Life was as pleasant as a summer day to the little fellows.
One of the boys was named Oliver. He had a rich father who gave him
everything he wanted. The other little boy was Arthur. His father was
dead, but he had a gentle little mother who was as good as she could be.
Arthur's mother had to work very hard to make enough money to buy food
and clothes for her little boy and herself. Little Arthur knew this, and
he often said when he got big he would make enough money for them both,
so that the dear mother would not have to work so hard.
When the two boys were six years old, they started to school. They were
very happy and proud when the day to go came. Every morning Oliver's
mother would put his fine clothes on him and give him some money to pay
his way on the street car. After he got to the school he would not play
games with the boys for he was afraid he would soil his clothes. He
stood around and watched the other boys romp and play.
Arthur's mother could not give him the ten cents for car-fare to and
from school, so he walked to school every morning. He would eat his
breakfast early and start out for school in the cool morning air. As he
walked along whistling, his cheeks would get rosy and red and he would
run and jump; he was a happy little boy. He felt as if he would never
get tired. And all the time he would be thinking of the time when he
would be a big boy and ready to help to care for the little mother.
When he got to school he would join the other little boys in their play,
for his clothes were good and strong and not too fine to romp and play
in.
For a long time things went on in this way and Arthur was growing
stronger and taller all the time. He was learning very fast. Oliver was
getting pale and thin and he was beginning to be absent from school very
often. The teacher went to see his mother and found that the little boy
was absent because he often had headaches and colds. The two boys were
in the same class, but they were not as good friends as they had been.
Oliver could not keep up with his class, and after awhile he had to drop
into a lower class.
Arthur did not have much time to play after he came home from school
because he had to help his mother.
Their teacher lived just across the street from the two little boys. She
had noticed in school that Arthur could learn faster than Oliver. She
saw that Arthur was stronger and happier, and she soon thought she knew
why.
So one day she told them both to stay after school, that she wanted to
talk to them for a little while.
After all the other children had gone she called them up to her desk and
said, "Oliver, would you like to be like Arthur and have healthy, rosy
cheeks, and be able to run and play as he does?" Of course, Oliver said
yes, for he had long been wishing that he could feel as happy as Arthur
looked. He wanted to be able to come regularly to school, and he did not
want to have colds and headaches--he was tired of them.
"Well," said the teacher, "I want to tell you how you may grow as
strong as Arthur. You must stay out-of-doors, and play with the other
boys more than you do. You look pale because your blood is not red
enough.
"Boys and girls have blood in their bodies. You have seen it when you
cut your finger. The more you run and play, the more blood you will have
and the redder it will be. This good red blood is what makes you strong;
you must eat plenty of good food and play out in the open air with the
other boys. Keep your body clean, and get your mother to let you walk to
school each morning with Arthur. Now run along to play, and I am sure
you will soon feel better, and after a few days you will be as strong as
Arthur and the other boys."
QUESTIONS
1. Compare the two boys--Arthur and Oliver--as to
their pleasures and opportunities.
2. Why did Arthur study hard and love to work?
3. Why did Oliver ride on the street car to
school, and why could he not run and play with the
other boys after he got to school?
4. Oliver was sick a great deal and could not keep
up with his class. Why did his teacher say that he
could not do his work as well as Arthur?
[Illustration]
TWO LITTLE WINDOWS
In every house there is a window. Some houses have many windows to let
in the bright sunshine and the pure fresh air, and to let us see from
within the glorious world on the outside.
I am going to tell you of some houses that have only two windows; the
houses cannot do without them.
Many of the little windows are beautiful. On the outside are two
beautiful awnings with a pretty black fringe on the edge; the awnings
keep out the light when it is too bright, and keep insects and bugs from
flying in at the windows. At night these awnings are drawn over the
windows so that the little housekeeper within may have rest and quiet.
The window casings are white and on the inside there are dainty
curtains. Some of these curtains are blue, some are brown, some are
gray, and some are black. In the centre of these curtains there is a
round black hole. It is through this little hole that the housekeeper
can look out and see the beautiful world around.
When the windows are bright and sparkling we know that the house is
strong and well kept, and the little housekeeper is happy when she plays
and when she works.
Only one person can live in each house. A queer thing about these little
houses is that they can move from place to place.
Sometimes these little windows are not cared for; the little housekeeper
forgets how important the windows are. I know of some that are not cared
for. These were very pretty and seemed larger than most windows of this
kind. They had deep brown curtains and when you looked at the little
hole in the curtain, it seemed that you were looking down into a deep
well, and that you could see your own picture in it. The little
housekeeper who owned these windows was a little girl almost ten years
old. She would look through the windows and read fine print when it was
too dark to see the letters well, and would do many things that would
hurt these windows. Her mother had to take her to a person in a big city
who knew what to do to help the windows. This man put a piece of glass
in front of the windows, so that the little housekeeper could see
through them. How sorry this housekeeper was that she had not always
taken care of her windows.
We sometimes see little housekeepers whose windows are always dark. It
is a pitiful sight to see windows through which no light ever goes to
the housekeeper within the house. "Shut-ins," they are in truth. It
makes one's heart ache to know that if many of these windows had had
proper care when they were first opened the housekeeper's hearts would
now be glad, for they could look out on the glorious world, they could
read and play and work just as little children like to do. Instead, they
must go to special schools. They read from books that have raised
letters, and use their fingers to find them. Many of these little
housekeepers learn to read and do many wonderful things with their
fingers. Helen Keller, whose windows were always dark, even graduated
from Radcliffe College.
QUESTION
1. Can you tell me what these little windows are?
You have already guessed that the little house is
the body, and the little housekeeper any little
boy or girl.
MERRY SUNSHINE
"Good morning, Merry Sunshine,
How did you wake so soon?
You've scared the little stars away,
And shined away the moon.
I saw you go to sleep last night
Before I ceased my playing;
How did you get 'way over there?
And where have you been staying?"
"I never go to sleep, dear child,
I just go round to see
My little children of the east
Who rise and watch for me.
I waken all the birds and bees
And flowers on my way,
And now come back to see the child
Who stayed out late to play."
--_Anonymous._
[Illustration: CONSULTATION FREE AT THIS OFFICE
DR. SUNSHINE
DR. FRESH AIR
DR. GOOD FOOD
DR. EXERCISE
DR. REST
HOURS 6 AM-6 AM]
[Illustration]
A WONDERFUL STREAM
I am going to tell you of a wonderful stream that flows through our
bodies. We may call it the stream of life. It is made of tiny rills, and
of great branches, all of which join to form this wonderful stream.
This stream has a great, double force pump, which keeps pumping night
and day. It always pumps the same way, its engine does not make much
noise, but just a little sound that you may hear if you put your ear
close to mother's breast. You can hear this busy little engine pumping
away, forcing the stream on.
Many queer looking little boats float on its bosom. These boats carry
freight to the far-away countries in all parts in the body. They are so
small we cannot see them with the naked eye. They are of various shapes;
some are round.
They have a very important freight to carry. There are more of these
boats than there are of any other kind. They have a little cup-shaped
centre, a kind of deck, and in this centre they carry the freight. They
take on this freight at the Lung Station. They have something on deck
which holds on to the goods they get at the station, to keep it from
being lost on its long journey.
It never overflows its banks. Its color is not bright and blue as the
waters of the Hudson or Potomac Rivers. It is yellow and red, like the
Mississippi, the great "Father of Waters." If you would taste it you
would find it to be salty like the ocean.
As soon as the little boats load up at the Lung Station, off they sail
on this wonderful stream, carrying their freight to the Muscle Country,
the Skin Country or the Gland Country. When the boats reach one of these
countries, they unload and the little men of these countries (or cells)
take the freight and put it just where it is needed. The freight is
called oxygen. The Lung Station is filled with it every time a person
takes a good breath of pure fresh air.
The little boats come to Lung Station and load up with oxygen about
three times every minute, so you see how fast they travel. This freight
is the thing that paints our cheeks a rosy color and gives us good
health.
When each little boat has unloaded its cargo in the far countries, the
little cell men load them with a return cargo, which is made up of waste
matter (carbon dioxide). This cargo is carried back to the Lung Station,
and unloaded there. It is breathed out into the air, through the air
tubes.
[Illustration]
If we breathe impure air, the little boats go back to the far countries
with only a small cargo of oxygen. Then the cell men feel as if they are
cheated and refuse to do good work for us. In fact, they grow weak and
cannot do as good work as they could if the boats brought a full cargo
of fresh air.
There is another boat in the stream; just look at its queer shape, and,
queerer still, this little boat is changing its shape. Is not that
funny? Now the small end is toward us, now the large end, and now it is
round like the little freight boats, only it is larger.
I wonder what kind of a vessel it is. It is larger than the freight
boat. There are not so many of these boats either, not half so many as
there are freight boats. They are flying white flags, and belong to the
White Squadron. I wonder if that means peace.
No, they are war-vessels. Let us see what these white ships are doing.
We will call them Dreadnoughts. Watch them as they move slowly down the
stream; how powerful they look. They have their searchlights on, looking
for any enemy that may appear upon the surface.
Further on some germs or bacteria are coming up the stream; they may be
pneumonia germs, or typhoid germs. These are the Captains of the Death
Armada. The Dreadnoughts pull up along side. War is declared, a battle
royal is on. The victory will go to the strongest. When the smoke clears
away we may see the Dreadnought sailing calmly down stream. Where now
are these mighty Goliaths, the typhoid or pneumonia germs? As the
Dreadnoughts were in good fighting trim, we may find them on the inside
of the engine-room of the Dreadnought. They are being used as fuel in
its furnace.
Sometimes the battle is in favor of the germs, and the Dreadnought is
destroyed by the germs.
This happens when the little round freight boats have not found a full
cargo of fresh air and oxygen waiting for them in the Lung Station.
All this happens in this wonderful stream.
If we look further we would find that the muscle men in the muscle
countries are busy making heat to keep our bodies warm. The little
workmen in the gland country are making fluids to mix with the food we
eat. The fluids change the starch, the sugar, and the meat we eat, so
that the muscle men can use it to build us large and strong. The little
workmen in the skin are pouring water out of it in order that we may
keep clean and cool.
This wonderful stream carries all these things from one country to the
other, exchanges the produce of one country for the produce of
another--so to speak.
The little freight boats on this stream cannot do the work they were
intended to do, the Dreadnoughts cannot overcome and disable the germs
that get on their decks, if they are not kept in the very best
condition. The only way in which we can keep them "fit" is by living
according to the rules of hygiene.
Eat wholesome food.
Take outdoor exercise.
Sleep with the windows open.
Drink pure water.
Bathe the body frequently.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the little round boats?
2. What do they carry?
3. What are the Dreadnoughts?
4. What are the muscle men?
5. What is the stream, and what is the force pump
that forces the stream on?
6. What are the rules for keeping the little
freight boats, and the great Dreadnoughts on this
wonderful stream in the best working condition?
TWO MILLS
Come, children, listen to the story Uncle Ned told to me. It was the
story of a long time ago when Uncle Ned was a little boy. One day his
mother took him on her knee and said, "Ned, do you know that your mouth
is like a little mill?" It is. The mill grinds corn. Your teeth grind
your food. Look in the mirror. Are your teeth all alike? Some of the
teeth in your mouth are to bite the food into bits, and others are to
grind it fine so that it will not hurt your stomach.
You have twenty now because you are a little boy and do not need any
more. When you have grown to be a man you will have thirty-two teeth.
You will have more grinders in your mouth when you are a man than you
have now. The jaw teeth are called grinders, because they grind the food
you put into your mouth, just as the big mill stones grind the corn into
meal down at Grandpa's mill.
You wear clothes to keep your bodies warm, so the teeth need some
covering to keep out the cold. The enamel, a hard outer covering on the
teeth, keeps them from feeling the cold. Down in the middle of the tooth
is a place for the nerves of the tooth. When you break the covering on
the tooth the cold and hot things that you sometimes put into your mouth
will make the nerves ache. Sometimes things that are very sweet or very
sour hurt the covering on the teeth.
To use the teeth to crack nuts or ice will harm them, for it often
breaks the outer covering, and it will not grow again.
Your teeth should last you all your life if you will take care of them.
Grandpa's mill would not grind the corn well, nor would the mill last
long, if he did not take care of it and keep the big stone grinders
clean and free from grit and dirt. Your teeth must have just as good
care as the stones in the mill if you wish them to last you a long time,
and if you want them to grind your food fine.
This is why you must use your toothbrush, and wash your mouth out
regularly every day. If you do not keep your mouth clean, germs will
creep in and cause the little boy to have toothache. You are wondering
what the germs have to do with toothache.
These little germs always get into places that are not kept clean, and
when they get into the mouth they go to work, like so many little
carpenters, with pick and drill, and pick away the outer covering of
the tooth and then the tooth decays, and this causes toothache.
We all want to have pretty white teeth like Ned's, do we not? When we
are little we must take care of the teeth, and if they begin to decay we
must have them filled or treated by the dentist. Let us look at our
teeth and see who has the prettiest and the best ones. Has every one a
toothbrush? We must each have one. We must brush our teeth every day and
rinse them with pure clean water. This will wash out all the germs that
would soon injure our teeth if they were left in the mouth.
If we will care for our teeth when we are young we will not need to have
false teeth when we are old.
QUESTIONS
1. What are our mouths like? Why like a mill?
2. What is there in the mouth that corresponds to
the rocks in the mill?
3. Is there a little baby in your home? Has it any
teeth? Can you tell me why? Yes, that is right.
Teeth are given us to chew food with. The little
baby does not eat any hard or solid food, and
therefore he does not need any teeth yet. When he
is a little older pretty white teeth will be given
him. By the time he is four or five years old he
will have twenty of these little baby teeth. But
he cannot keep the first teeth long. They would be
too little and weak to do him much good when he
gets to be a big boy.
4. Did you ever notice the twig of a tree just
after the leaves had fallen? What did you find on
the stem where the old leaf had grown? That is
right, a tiny new leaf was pushing its way out.
And that is just what happens to the teeth. When a
boy or girl gets to be about eight or ten years
old, a set of new teeth begins to grow down in the
gums under the baby teeth. As these new teeth grow
longer they push up the baby teeth, and cause them
to get loose and fall out. When the new teeth
appear they are strong and hard, that they may
last a long time, if taken care of as Uncle Ned
did his.
5. How many things do we know that we may do to
make our teeth last a long time?
A CHILD'S CALENDAR
"January first is cold,
February winds are bold,
March runs whistling round the hill,
April laughs and cries at will.
Lovely are the woods in May,
Happy June is our time to play;
In July we lazy grow,
August hours are quite as slow.
But September school days are fleet!
In October nuts grow sweet;
Sad November's friends are few,
But, December, we love you,
For you bring Saint Nick!"
THE TOOTHBRUSH BRIGADE
The toothbrush brigade is a happy club
We boys and girls have made,
We try to care for our teeth
So they'll not be decayed.
And so we have promised one and all,
At morning and at night,
To brush them clean and white.
First across we'll brush them,
Well then up and down we go,
Then open wide the mouth you see,
And do just as before.
So carefully we'll rinse them, too,
You'll see a healthy sight.
Our teeth so clean and white.
[Illustration: TOOTH BRUSH BRIGADE]
And now my friends a word to you
Before we leave the stage,
If your teeth you would preserve,
Down to a nice old age,
Go get your toothbrush and water, too,
And start this very night
To brush them clean and white.
CHORUS
Happy, healthy, little children,
Happy, healthy, little children,
Happy, healthy, little children,
In our toothbrush brigade.
--_M. E. Stokes._
MR. FLY AND MRS. MOSQUITO
One day in the summer, Mr. Fly and Mrs. Mosquito stopped to rest on the
window pane of a house in the country.
[Illustration]
Mr. Fly, after sitting for some time rubbing his nose with his front
feet, looked up and said, "Good morning."
"Mr. Fly," replied Mrs. Mosquito, "I do not believe that we have met
before."
"No," said Mr. Fly, "but I am glad to meet you to-day. I have long
wanted to do so. May I ask where you live?"
"Ah me, Mr. Fly," replied Mrs. Mosquito, "I have been having a rather
hard time lately. You have heard of my family, and know that with a
number of brothers and sisters, I was hatched in a small pond near the
meadow. Life went well with us for a while. But one afternoon I heard
footsteps coming nearer and nearer. I could not understand what
terrible beast was coming down to the pond to drink. I shivered with
fear and darted as fast as I could to the bottom of the pond. However, I
soon had to come to the top again to get a good breath, as I thought I
was going to suffocate. Dearie me, why cannot we get air at the bottom
of the pond as well as at the top.
"My heart was beating with fear as I still heard the footsteps, and
presently I could hear voices. A voice said, 'Where are all the members
of this brigade?' What could it mean? What is a brigade? Someone cried
out, 'Here we come to give him the oil.' Looking up I saw a number of
girls and boys, 'The Mosquito Brigade,' they called themselves. They
laughed and talked as if they were a gay crowd. One said, 'Here they
are,' and then said, 'This will get them.'
"I wondered what in the world they could mean. I soon learned what they
were about.
"I smelled a terrible odor, and peeping out from the mud (at the bottom
of the pond in which I was hiding), I saw something thick and terrible
coming down like rain in the pond.
"I ran through the mud to the far end of the pond and hid. Oh, how that
stuff did smell! I thought it would surely smother me.
"I stayed in the mud until the next day. I did not dare peep out. When I
did look out nothing could I see on the bottom of the pond but my dead
brothers and sisters. They had not been as quick as I and had been
smothered by that dreadful stuff. Ah me! I had scarcely strength enough
to live. Life seemed very hard.
"The next thing I remember I was sailing down the pond in a canoe Mother
Nature built for me. It was just large enough to be perfectly
comfortable. I slept the greater part of the time I was in the little
canoe. I stayed in there several days and many times old Father Wind
sent a breeze that nearly upset my little craft. I grew some wings
finally and flew away from that awful pond. I hope that I can always
escape that 'Mosquito Brigade' and that deadly oil. I shall be very busy
for a while and may yet have my revenge, if I can poison some member of
it with malaria germs.
"I have finished my story. Pray, tell me of yourself, Mr. Fly, you look
very happy." "Well," said the fly, "I was hatched in the corner of a
stable where it was damp and warm. I stayed in an egg one day. Then I
was a white crawling thing for nine days. I ate all this time. At the
end of that time I slept a while and then I was grown. I can't tell you
how big I felt the day I first stretched my wings for flight.
"Just listen to what I have done since that happy day. I have crawled
over a person who had small-pox and got some germs which I carried to a
girl across the street. I went into a house and sat on a bed in which a
little girl was lying. The doctor came in and after staying there a
while he said, 'Typhoid fever.' I was sorry for the little child with
her red swollen face. I left her and walked on the bed. I knew that my
feet were loaded with germs when I flew out. Off I went to the country.
"The first home I passed, a little tot of a boy, sitting on the step,
was eating milk and mush out of a bowl. When he took the spoon from his
mouth I got into it and sucked all the milk I could get. I left him the
germs that I had been carrying. This was a pretty good day's work, don't
you think? The next morning I flew away to the next house, but dear me,
I found that a fly would have to carry his own rations there.
"This was a new thing to me. I met one of my friends who told me that it
would be just as well for me to travel on. The folks who lived in this
house had been going to the lectures of the Health Doctor. The doctor
had told them to clean up the stable, to screen the house, and to cover
the well. I tell you, Mrs. Mosquito, that man is trying to put me out of
business. I fear that I shall have a hard time in the future if he stays
in this neighborhood. I am not as happy as I once was, so I will say
good-bye."
"Good-bye, friend Fly," said Mrs. Mosquito, "I am glad we met near our
old home."
QUESTIONS
1. Where did the mosquito meet the fly?
2. What did the mosquito carry?
3. What did the fly do to the man who had
small-pox?
4. Why could not the fly get in the house in the
country?
5. What was the Health Doctor teaching the people
in the country?
A HYGIENE SONG
TUNE:--"YE-HO"
A FOLK SONG
[Illustration: Music]
1. We're for happiness and health, hurrah!
But we have no claims on wealth, hurrah!
And we stand for all that's clean,
Flies must go, this sure doth mean,
So we trap and swat and screen, hurrah!
2. We're for sunshine and fresh air, hurrah!
Microbes cannot live in there, hurrah!
Sanitation is our aim,
No mosquitoes do we claim,
For we oil and screen and drain, hurrah!
Chorus:
Then it's rah, rah, rah, for the Hygiene work,
The best we've ever done.
We'll have none who duty shirk,
We'll have only those who work,
Many to our cause are won, hurrah!
[Illustration]
OUR LITTLE ENEMIES
"Hello, Central, give me 1882, Mrs. Consumption Germ. Oh, is that you, I
am so glad to hear your voice. Do tell me what you have been doing this
long time!"
"Oh, my good friend Pneumonia, I have been hiding away all these years
to keep the doctors from finding me. I did not want them to learn about
me. I feared that they would destroy me entirely.
"But with all my care, do you know that just a few years ago, an old
German doctor pulled me out of my hiding place and showed me to the
world. Since then I and my family have had little peace.
"I have to be mighty careful, or I fear that these doctors who are
turning all sorts of magnifying glasses on my people will finally drive
us from the earth. They already have us on the run. In the meantime we
are playing a game of 'catch me if you can.' Sometimes we get on pencils
or sticks of candy. Then again we roll and turn somersaults on a nice
red apple and are passed from one mouth to another by over-polite
children.
"Sometimes, some of my children swim in the milk or travel on a fly's
foot.
"I don't like sunshine at all. I dote on dark places where the wind does
not blow.
"I like poor people better than rich ones, because the poor have not
money enough to buy good food, fresh air, and rest, the weapons the rich
use to fight us with.
"Last week I went to a Fourth of July celebration on a grain of dust--my
airship, I called it. Whom do you think I saw there? Young Mr. Lockjaw
Germ; do you know I think that he has gotten the big head. Probably the
war in Europe has something to do with it. For I believe that he and his
family are very prominent among the soldiers in Belgium. I hear also
that in America the folks are trying to put him out of business,
especially since fire-crackers are not used so much. Some man had to
start a 'Sane Fourth of July.' That was a sane Fourth of July
celebration that I attended, and I must say that Mr. Lockjaw Germ looked
a bit lonely."
"Do tell me, Mrs. Consumption Germ," said her friend Pneumonia Germ,
"have you heard about the Diphtheria family? They are having a hard
time."
"These French doctors have found something that will even prevent
children from having diphtheria. They call it anti-toxin. I never did
like antis anyway, did you?
"Mrs. Typhoid Germ tells me that her family is not as large as it used
to be, all because of an anti-toxin."
"My, my, what shall we do!" said Mrs. Consumption Germ, "even the school
people are after us. I heard Miss Measles and little Master Scarlet
Fever say that a doctor comes every day to some of the schools. They
said that in some of the school-rooms the teacher had the nerve to hang
a placard, on which was printed, 'Prevention Better Than Cure.'
"I'll tell you I don't like these new times; this Hygiene the people
talk of is a regular ogre to our children.
"In some schools the teachers are even having lunches for the little
children who are pale and thin. They are having their eyes examined.
Some are having adenoids taken out, just to make those children so
strong that we can't catch them.
"I thought that I had a fair chance to get little Jimmy Brown, but his
teacher talked to his mother one day at recess. The next day his mother
whisked him off down town and had the doctor take the adenoids from
behind his nose. Now he is as strong as any little boy, because he can
breathe through his nose. So I lost my chance at him, you see."
"Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Consumption Germ, "one can't even hide in an
old stump of a tooth. Some man with sharp-looking things tells you that
o-u-t spells 'out and begone,' as we used to say in playing the game."
"Do you know I believe that man Pasteur was our greatest enemy?"
"Tell me, who was he?" said Mrs. Consumption Germ.
"Well, he was a man who lived in France. He discovered the germ that
killed the silk-worm and also the cause of the loss of grapes in that
country.
"The wine and silk merchants of that country paid him immense sums of
money for this work.
"He studied all about our friends and relatives, and it was he who first
started all this anti-toxin, which saves the people, but which kills us
by the millions.
"But with all this great work and the work of their great men, we
sometimes catch folks napping. We catch our greatest enemy, the white
blood-cells, when they are without their fighting clothes on, and then
we get busy. In this way we can make up for a great deal of lost time.
"Of course, you have heard of Dr. Jenner. He was another enemy of ours.
He taught the people about vaccination, which keeps them from having
small-pox. I am glad to say there will always be a few persons who do
not follow these new ideas. If this were not true, one would starve to
death."
"I know, Mrs. Pneumonia Germ, that you love close, damp, places. I am
sure that fresh air makes you nervous. What will you do now that the
factories and mills are to be cleaner and better ventilated? We used to
find plenty to do with the old order of things.
"Dr. Sunshine, Dr. Fresh Air, and Dr. Good Food are certainly doing all
they can to drive us out of the country.
"We will go to the great cities, and I suspect that, for a long time
yet, we can find a home for our little ones in the miserable homes of
the poor; and, notwithstanding all this talk of hygiene, health, and
sanitation, I believe that some of the homes and factories will always
furnish us with hiding places in which to rear our families."
"Well, I must say good-bye, Mrs. Germ, as I see Dr. Fresh Air coming,
and I do not care to speak to him; he does not treat me cordially.
Good-bye."
QUESTIONS
1. Who was Pasteur? Where did he live? What did he
do for the merchants of France?
2. Who was Jenner? What disease did he show the
people how to prevent?
3. Why did Jimmy Brown grow well and strong?
ONE LITTLE GIRL
One little girl
Said, "Oh, dear, dear,
I want to go to school,
I will be late, I fear.
"I am sure I won't forget
To brush my teeth to-night,
Just to put off a while,
I know will be all right."
One little germ
Said, "Here is work to do;"
Other little germs
Said, "We are coming, too."
A million little germs
Got to work right then,
Made a little hole,
And soon made ten.
One little girl,
In very great pain,
Said, "I never will forget
To brush my teeth again."
CLOVIS, THE BOY KING
Long, long ago, on the banks of the Rhine, there lived a brave and war
like tribe called Franks. Their name means "Freemen." I always think
Frank is a very nice name for a boy or girl to have. It is so grand to
be really and truly free.
These Franks had for their leader a king, and, at the time I am going to
tell about, their king was a boy. His name was Clovis and he was only
sixteen years old. You would hardly think that a boy could rule those
fierce warriors, but he was such a brave and fearless boy, and had such
a good sensible head that they were glad to follow him. He was never
afraid of anything, even when he was a little fellow, and he could tame
and ride the wildest horse as well as the best man among them.
One day a great idea came into the heads of the Frankish warriors. They
thought they would leave their old homes on the banks of the Rhine and
go and settle in a new country called Gaul. It would have been easy
enough, perhaps, if there had been nobody there but the natives and the
wild beasts, but that was not the case.
The Romans were there. I am sure you have heard of the Romans and how
very strong and warlike they were. Their soldiers conquered the world
and were very seldom beaten. They had an army in this country of Gaul.
Clovis was not afraid of the Romans, however, and he marched against
them. The two armies stood facing each other and the two leaders came
out to speak together in an open space between the camps.
The Roman general was very big and grand, and he had Roman soldiers on
each side of him in splendid uniform. Clovis was accompanied by some of
his brave followers. When the Roman leader saw Clovis, he burst out
laughing and cried, "Why, he's a boy! A _boy_ has come to fight against
the Romans!" He thought it was so funny that a boy of sixteen should
dare to fight against him that he couldn't do anything but laugh. Clovis
did not like this at all, and he shouted back, "Yes, but the boy will
conquer you!"
[Illustration: "YES, BUT THE BOY WILL CONQUER YOU!"]
Then came the battle, and the Roman general found it wasn't so funny
after all. For the boy did conquer him and he ran away. Afterwards the
Franks gained the country for themselves and called it their own name,
France.
I believe in boys. I think they can do almost anything. I believe in
girls, too, just as much. The girls did not fight in this battle I have
been telling you about, but there is another and better kind of battle
in which boys and girls fight side by side.
The old kind of battle in which men were killed, and little children
lost their fathers, was very bad and very sad, at the best. In the new
kind of battle people don't kill each other, and yet they fight very
hard against their enemies and have to be very brave.
Let me tell you about a few of these battles. One that is going on now
is the battle against Disease. Very likely you have heard the grown
folks talk about consumption, and saying that it is one of the worst
enemies of our American people, and kills thousands and thousands every
year. Men and women and boys and girls are joining together to fight
against consumption and make an end to it, and a big fight it is. Then,
again, in the struggle with yellow fever some of our noble American
heroes willingly laid down their lives.
Another great battle is against Dirt. Dirt causes people to get sick and
die, and since we have known this we have been fighting hard against it.
The boys and girls have helped a great deal in this battle.
One of the finest fights to be in is the battle against Tobacco. What do
you think? Could the boys and girls defeat the use of tobacco and drive
it out of the country if they tried hard enough? I really believe they
could.
But, perhaps, you have not all made up your minds that it would be a
good thing to fight tobacco. Let us think of some of the reasons why we
should fight it.
REASON NUMBER ONE is because the tobacco habit is a dirty habit. Are the
lips of the smoking boy nice and clean for mother to kiss? What about
his hands? Isn't he ashamed of that yellow stain that won't come off?
How much cleaner the streets, and cars, and railway stations would be if
nobody used tobacco!
REASON NUMBER TWO is because tobacco injures a boy's body. It hurts his
heart, causing it to beat too fast for a while and afterwards making it
weak and tired. It hurts his lungs, for when he draws the smoke in he
carries the poisonous nicotine to the tender and delicate air-cells. We
must talk more about that at another time. It hurts his stomach and
gives him indigestion, and no one knows how bad that is until he has had
it for himself.
REASON NUMBER THREE is because tobacco harms a boy's mind. Boys who
don't smoke make better grades than those who do. Some college boys
found this out for themselves a while ago. Don't you forget it.
REASON NUMBER FOUR is because it is a dangerous habit. The insurance
men, whose business it is to find out what causes the fires, say that
cigarette smokers are often to blame, because they throw the cigarettes
down with fire on them.
If you spend nickels on cigarettes, a dollar is soon gone. You don't
exactly burn the dollar bill, but you spend the bill and buy cigarettes,
and burn them. Isn't that just the same as burning the bill, after all?
If a boy spends a nickel a day on cigarettes, how much will he lose in a
week? Thirty cents in six week-days. In four weeks, what will he have
spent? A dollar and twenty cents. A month is a little over four weeks,
so we will add an extra nickel to find what he spends a month. A dollar
and a quarter. How much will this come to in twelve months? Is that too
hard for you, I wonder? Fifteen dollars. Dear me, how quickly money runs
away! Surely no one ought to smoke cigarettes unless he has more money
than he knows what to do with.
REASON NUMBER FIVE is because smoking is an enslaving habit. By that I
mean it makes boys into slaves.
So here are five reasons why we should fight against it. Let us see how
many of them you can remember.
I hope that all you boys and girls will be as brave as Clovis, and now
that you see how much harm tobacco and alcohol are doing to your people,
you will get ready for the fight and will say, "Yes, you are strong and
terrible foes, but boys and girls will conquer you."
QUESTIONS
1. Who were the people that were called Franks?
What does the name mean?
2. Who was Clovis? What kind of a boy king was he?
3. What country did the boy king with his Franks
want to conquer?
4. Who won the battle?
5. What kind of a battle can both girls and boys
fight?
6. Name some of these battles. (Disease, Dirt,
Tobacco, and Alcohol.)
7. What are the five reasons why all boys and
girls should fight the battle against Tobacco?
WHAT TEMPERANCE BRINGS
More of good than we can tell;
More to buy with, more to sell;
More of comfort, less of care;
More to eat and more to wear;
Happier homes and faces brighter;
All our burdens rendered lighter;
Conscience clean and minds much stronger;
Debts much shorter, purses longer;
Hopes that drive away all sorrow;
And something laid up for to-morrow.
[Illustration]
THE WHITE SHIP
We are going to have a story to-day about something that happened nearly
eight hundred years ago.
In that far-away time there lived a King of England whose name was Henry
I. He was a great warrior, and his enemies generally had the worst of it
in battle. But he was still greater as a ruler, and he made the people
of England keep the laws. When they disobeyed, he punished them
severely.
A certain scholar wrote down the story of his reign and we have it
still. He said Henry "was a good man and great was the awe of him."
That is, the people rather feared him because he was so strict. He said,
too, that while Henry was king no one dared "ill-do to man or beast."
King Henry was sometimes called the Lion of Justice, because he was so
great and powerful, and all wrong-doers were afraid of him.
He had another nickname, too. They called him Fine Scholar because he
could read and write. Very few persons in those old days could do these
things. The clergy were almost the only ones who went to school and
learned how.
We who live now-a-days should be very glad and thankful that we have
good schools and kind teachers, and lesson books that are full of
interesting things.
King Henry had one son whom he loved very much, indeed. His name was
William. He was a fine boy, and the people of England were very fond of
him. They expected that some day, when his father died, William would be
King in his turn. Indeed, they had already promised Henry that whenever
that happened, they would be faithful and true to his son.
Not very far from England is the country called France. A narrow sea
separates the two. The English call it the Channel and the French call
it the Sleeve--perhaps because it is something like a sleeve in shape.
Henry was very often over in France because he had some possessions
there. His father had come from France and conquered England, so he had
land on both sides of this narrow sea. Though it is narrow, it is very
rough, and sailors have to be very careful in crossing it.
One time Henry and his son had been over in France doing some fighting.
They overcame their enemies and made ready to set sail for England. They
were about to start when a captain came up to the King and begged him to
sail in his ship. He was very anxious to have the honor of carrying him
across the Channel. He had carried over the King's father, William the
Conqueror, when he went to invade England. He said that he had a
beautiful new boat called the White Ship. There were fifty strong men to
do the rowing, and they had sails besides. Of course, there were no
steam-boats in those old times.
Now King Henry had already made his arrangements, and he did not like to
change them. But, to please the captain, he said he would send his
treasure in his new ship--the precious things he had taken in war and
was carrying home to England. More than that, he said he would let the
captain take charge of the greatest treasure he had in the world, his
only son, who was then seventeen years old. So William sailed with
Captain Fitz-Stephen.
The King was in a hurry to get home, and he started as soon as the tide
would let him.
In the White Ship with Prince William a great many knights and nobles
sailed. Some of his own relatives were there, and many boys and girls
belonging to the chief families of England. They wanted to have a good
time, so they had a grand feast on board ship before they started on the
voyage. They shouted and danced on the deck, and, I am sorry to say,
they drank a great deal of wine. They did one thing that was specially
foolish. They made the sailors drink, too. They opened three barrels of
the wine and divided it among them. They ought to have known that the
sailors would need steady hands to take the ship across that dangerous
sea. But they did not think. It grew later and later, and darker and
darker, and there was no moon that night. Some people began to be afraid
to trust themselves in that ship, and they got off and waited till
morning for another one. Most of them, however, were feeling too merry
and jolly to be afraid of anything, and away they sailed. The rowers
pulled with all their might and the helmsman steered for England.
A man who has been using strong drink, though, is not fit to steer a
ship or anything else. It has been found out that after even a very
little wine or beer one cannot guide so well, or do anything else
properly that needs a clear brain and steady nerves.
Alcohol makes people stupid. We all know that if they drink a good deal
of it, it takes their senses altogether away, so that they don't know
anything and can't do anything. So, if they drink a little of it, it
takes their senses partly away and they are not so bright as they should
be. They do not see danger when it comes and then accidents happen.
The helmsman of the White Ship was made stupid by the wine and he was
not able to do his work. They had not gone very far before he steered
the ship on a rock. There was a terrible crash and a terrible cry, and
the water began to rush in through the hole which had been made.
Quickly a boat was lowered and Prince William was hurried into it, and
the rowers rowed away with him. But he heard a voice calling for help
and knew it was his sister's, so he made the sailors turn back to save
her. When they did so, ever so many people jumped in and the little boat
could not hold them. They all went to the bottom.
No one escaped from that dreadful shipwreck except one man who held on
to the top of the mast till help came next day. When, at last, he
reached land he told how the young prince and his sister had been
drowned, and also a hundred and forty noble youths and girls, and the
Captain and the fifty rowers, and everyone else on board except
himself--all because of wine.
What a dangerous drink this alcohol is, and how many accidents it has
caused! It sends the brain to sleep so that it cannot do its work, and
when that is the case we never know what dreadful thing may happen next.
When anything puts the brain to sleep, we call it narcotic. Alcohol is a
narcotic poison. No one should ever use it who wants to pilot a ship, or
steer an automobile, or drive a train, or shoot a gun, or run a machine
in a factory.
King Henry was a busy man, and he went home as quickly as he could and
attended to his work. He was very much surprised that William and the
others did not come, and he kept wondering where they could be.
When the sad news reached the palace, no man dared go in and tell the
King. At last, they sent a little boy into his room--a page who waited
on the ladies and gentlemen--and he fell at the King's feet.
"O, King ... Prince William ... the White Ship!"
When poor King Henry understood what had happened, he fell down in a
faint. They say that all the rest of his life he was very sad. No one
ever saw him smile again. One thing we must never forget about strong
drink is this: It does not only bring trouble to the people who use it,
but to many others besides. King Henry had nothing to do with the
drinking on board the White Ship. He was not even there, and did not
know about it. But it caused him to lose his boy and girl, both in one
night.
In our days, too, it makes more trouble than any one can possibly
imagine. Although the wreck of the White Ship happened nearly eight
hundred years ago, it was not by any means the first accident brought on
by alcohol. Drink has always done these things. It has always made men's
heads dull and their hands unsteady. It has caused them to be hurt and
to lose their lives. The strange thing is that, although every one knows
it does this, so many people venture to use it. We should all do well to
remember the proverb, "Where there's drink there's danger."
"Write it o'er the railroad wreck,
Write it on the sinking deck,
Write upon our hearts the truth,
Let us learn it in our youth--
Where there's drink there's danger."
A QUEER CASE
Agnes, you and John may look at this watch. Don't you think its covering
is very pretty? The covering of the watch is called its case. Now we
will open it, and you may look inside and see what this pretty case
covers. Look at all these little wheels. How small they are! Do you
think they would stay in place long, or run and keep time, if we bruised
them or took off the case? Then you see the case is not only pretty, but
useful. It keeps the little wheels from getting broken or dirty. It
protects them from harm.
Look at the covering or case of your body. It covers and protects you
just as the case does the works in the watch. Well, let me tell you a
story about it. The covering of your body covers a number of organs
which are even more wonderful than the little wheels in the watch.
This covering of your body is full of little holes. These holes are too
small to be seen with our naked eyes. Through these holes air and
sunshine get into your body, and through these tiny holes little drops
of water come out. This is sweat, and it helps to keep our bodies cool.
When you run and play, these little drops of water keep you from
getting too warm. They also help to keep your body clean by bringing out
the little bits of dirt.
[Illustration: IS THIS YOU?]
I wonder if we are like a little pig, who, when his mother asked him
what kind of a house he wanted, said, "mud house?" If so, we will have
the little holes all closed up. Then we won't have a nice, soft, pink
skin that will let the little drops of water through, but we will have a
dirty, muddy-looking skin. When we run and play we get so warm that it
will make us sick. But if we take nice warm baths twice a week at night,
and a cool sponge bath every morning, with good clear water and soap, we
will be like the watch, and have a beautiful covering, and this will
help to keep our wonderful organs and body well and strong. We must
bathe our hands often, and keep the covering on them nice and clean.
Sometimes germs get on our hands, and, if we do not wash them often, we
may carry them to our mouths. Sometimes this is the way we "catch" a
disease, because we do not keep the covering, or case, on our hands
clean.
[Illustration: WATCH THE BIRDS]
Did you ever watch the little birds as they fly down to a gutter, or
little stream of water, how they dip their bills into the water? Do they
just fly down into the water only to get a drink? No, indeed. They fill
their bills with water and pour it all over their feathers. They get
into the water, and such a splashing they have! All birds and animals
wash themselves clean and nice when they can get to water. Old Rover has
a good time swimming and bathing in the creek. This is the way they keep
their skins nice and clean, and their hair and feathers slick and
shining.
"Drink less, breathe more;
Eat less, chew more;
Ride less, walk more;
Worry less, work more;
Preach less, practice more."
--_Selected._
THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Virginia is a little girl who lives in Not Far-Away Land. Her mother is
a wise woman, and she wants her little girl to grow up into a strong and
beautiful young woman.
[Illustration: THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BUTTERFLY]
Some days Virginia pouts and is cross. She does not go out to play. She
cries for things her mother does not want her to have. She will not
take a nap in her snug little bed. She cries for candy, and will not eat
her bread and butter.
One day Virginia was sitting on the door-step, pouting; she had
forgotten to be good that day. Presently, a beautiful butterfly
fluttered down near her.
Virginia forgot all her naughty thoughts and said, "Tell me, pretty
Butterfly, where did you come from and what made you so beautiful?"
The Butterfly turned its pretty head and looked at Virginia a moment.
Then it said, "Little girl, I'll tell you a secret if you will forget
your pouts and listen."
Virginia promised.
"I was an egg once; for you know, little girl, every living thing comes
from an egg. This egg hatched, and a little green worm crawled out. This
little green worm was I, and I did not know then that some day I would
be a beautiful butterfly.
"I was a good little worm, and did all the things Mother Nature told me
to do. I ate the things that were good for me. I liked nice, juicy
leaves--and Mother Nature told me they would make me grow big and
strong. Little babies and little calves have nice warm milk to make them
grow, and little worms eat nice, tender, green leaves. I chewed them up
fine, so that my very little stomach could digest them. Do you like your
bread and butter?
"I do not cry for things Mother Nature tells me are not good for me.
Every day I take plenty of cool, fresh water to drink from the drops I
find on the leaves. Little worms, as well as little girls, need cool,
pure water.
"You should see my bath-tub; it is a rose leaf filled with dewdrops. Oh,
how clean and sweet I am after my daily bath! I am fresh and fit for my
travels over the green bushes and pretty rose vines.
"Once I climbed to the top of a high maple tree, and rested on a leaf,
while I watched the folks below passing.
"After I had eaten, and bathed, and played as long as Mother Nature
wanted me to, I curled up in a tiny cradle and went fast asleep.
"My nap lasted a long time--all winter. All babies need sleep, you know;
it makes them grow healthy and strong. Mother Nature was wise; she hung
my cradle to the branch of a tree, where it would be in the pure fresh
air while I was sleeping. The winds sang sweet lullabys to me. Some fine
days Jack Frost would go whistling by. Sometimes an icicle would swing
on the same branch with me. When the warm sun came out from behind the
clouds, down would go the little icicle to the ground, shattered and
sparkling like a thousand diamonds. All this time I was tucked away in
my warm, brown cradle, waiting for the gentle spring breezes to wake me.
"One day I woke from my long nap to find that I was a beautiful
creature. Mother Nature had dressed me in wonderful colors. My wings
were gaudy. She had given me graceful legs on which to walk, and a
pretty head and body. I could fly from flower to flower. I did not eat
leaves any more, but I drank nectar from the flower cups.
"I love the sunshine, the clear water, the green grass, the bright
flowers, and I love to hear the birds sing in the trees. I love to see
the bees, as they rove from flower to flower to gather honey. Life
seems one long, sweet song as I flit here and there.
"Little girl, if you will listen to your mother as I listened when
Mother Nature told me how to grow strong and beautiful, you will grow to
be a strong, healthy girl, with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes. To be
strong and healthy is to be beautiful."
QUESTIONS
1. Why was Virginia cross? How did she behave?
2. What fluttered down by her? What story did the
butterfly tell Virginia?
3. What kind of food did Mother Nature prepare for
the little baby that one day was to be a
butterfly? Was this different from the food it
needed when it grew into a butterfly?
4. What food is good for the little babies in the
home and the little baby calves?
5. When did baby butterfly sleep? Is fresh air
good for the baby in your home? Was it good for
Virginia?
6. What was the baby butterfly's cradle made of?
[Illustration]
LITTLE BAREFOOT
"Look out, little Barefoot, the hookworm will catch you if you don't
watch."
This is what Will seemed to hear a wee small voice say one day as he
stepped briskly along the dewy path. Will was driving the cows to the
cool, green pasture down in the meadow.
Will always drove old Brindle and Bess to the pasture every morning
before he went to school. Brindle and Bess loved the juicy grass in the
meadow pasture. They loved to drink the cool brook water. They would
stand knee-deep in it on hot days. Soft pictures of the cows, and the
tall trees, and the clouds could be seen in its water.
When the sun was high in the sky, at noon-time, old Brindle and Bess
would lie down under the trees near the brook, and chew and think, and
chew and think.
One afternoon Will came home from school limping, and tired, and hot.
His feet hurt him, so he begged his mother not to send him for the cows,
but to let some one else bring Brindle and Bess home at milking time.
Will's mother knew that something was surely wrong, for Will liked
nothing better than to call faithful Rover and romp away to the pasture.
His mother looked at his feet and found them blistered and very sore.
"We will call the doctor," she said.
Uncle John looked wise when he came to see the little fellow.
"Ah, ha! you have been going barefooted, my little man, and some young
hookworms that were in the ground or grass have gone through the skin
on your feet and made your toes and feet sore."
"What are hookworms, Uncle?" asked Will. Uncle John told him this:
"The hookworm is a very small worm, about a quarter of an inch long, or
a little more, when it is grown. It was first brought to America from
Africa by the negroes--the slaves that the Dutch people traded to our
forefathers in the colonial days.
"The little worm is called the 'American Murderer,' because it kills so
many people of the southland. It does not hurt the little negro children
as badly as it does the white children.
"The hookworm eggs are hatched in the sand. The young hookworm sheds its
skin two or three times, growing a little larger each time it sheds.
"Sometimes it will crawl upon a grass blade, or lie in the sand until a
little barefooted boy or girl comes stepping along. (The worm is now so
small that it cannot be seen.) The little folks step on the worm, and it
pushes its way through the skin. This is when it makes the sores on the
feet and between the toes.
"As soon as the little hookworms get through the skin they go into the
blood. They are carried to the heart and lungs by the veins. They go
from the lungs into the wind-pipe, and then crawl from the wind-pipe
into the gullet. It is then an easy matter for them to get into the food
tube in the body.
"The mouth of the hookworm has a sharp hook which it fastens into the
wall of the food tube. It hangs there and sucks all the blood it wants.
A hookworm will suck a drop of blood a day. In feeding themselves they
are slowly bleeding the person, drop by drop. This is the reason the
boys or girls who have hookworms look so pale, and feel so tired all the
time. The hookworm robs them of the good rich blood, and makes children,
and even grown persons, dull and lazy. The disease keeps children from
growing.
"It is easy to cure the disease, but it is better to prevent it. We can
prevent hookworm disease by preventing the ground from being polluted.
Polluted ground means that which is made unclean with waste matter from
our bodies. The eggs are found in this matter which pollutes the
ground.
"Now, Will, always wear your shoes, and see that the soles are good and
thick. Then, even though the ground is unclean, hookworms can't get to
your feet. I am sure, now that you know about hookworms, you will not go
barefooted through the lanes again."
QUESTIONS
1. What was the matter with Will's feet when he
did not want to go for the cows?
2. What caused the ground-itch blisters on his
feet?
3. How did the hookworms get into Will's feet?
4. In what part of the body do the hookworms make
their stopping-place?
5. How do they get from the feet into the
intestines?
6. How may infected persons get rid of hookworms?
7. How may the hookworm disease be prevented?
THE LITTLE FAIRIES
Once there was a little girl who was very beautiful. This little girl
was a princess, and her name was Hilda. Hilda had many servants in her
home to do her bidding. She had two little servants to wait on her, and
each of these little servants had five other little servants. These
little servants were called hands and fingers.
She had two little servants to carry her everywhere she wanted to go.
These were called feet. She had two little servants to see for her,
called eyes, two to hear for her, called ears; one to talk for her,
called tongue; and servants to chew for her, called teeth.
Hilda took great pride in keeping these little servants clean and sweet.
But one day Hilda grew cross. She would not keep her little
hand-servants clean, and they would not wash her little eyes, or ears,
or feet, and these other little servants would not do their duty.
Soon her little teeth were dirty, for her hands gathered all the germs
they could find and carried them to her pretty little mouth. Her little
hand-servants would not curl her hair, which got tangled and ugly. The
little teeth would not chew her food well, so Hilda had a bad night with
the colic. In fact, her little servants treated Hilda so badly that her
mother was afraid some wicked person had sent an evil spirit over them.
I am afraid that this was true, for Hilda was cross, and sent that spell
into her little servants.
Things went on this way for a whole day, when Hilda's mother decided to
carry her to her Fairy Godmother, and see if she could do anything to
take this evil spirit from Hilda.
Hilda's Godmother was at home. The mother told her about how things had
been going. The Godmother was very sad. After talking it all over, she
gave Hilda a large bundle to carry home, and told her not to open it
until she reached the nursery. As soon as Hilda got to her own clean
little room, she started to untie the bundle. She heard a tiny little
voice, saying, "Hurry up, little Hilda, we are waiting for you." As soon
as she unwrapped the first piece in the bundle, a pail of nice warm
water, with sponge, soap, and towel, jumped out, and began washing her
face and hands. A toothbrush jumped out, and began washing her teeth; a
golden comb combed her pretty curls; a little fairy jumped out and took
off her dirty dress and put a clean one on her; and another small fairy
laced up her shoes, and then ran about, killing all the germs she could
find.
When the fairies and all the other wonders had finished their work,
Hilda was again a beautiful little girl, and more like a little princess
than ever. The Fairy Godmother came into the room and stooped and
kissed her.
[Illustration: WHAT THE FAIRIES DID FOR LITTLE HILDA]
Hilda, all of a sudden, opened her eyes and saw her beautiful mother
standing over her, kissing her. Hilda rubbed her eyes and found that she
had been asleep.
"O, mother," she said, "I have been asleep, and I had such a funny
dream, and the fairies were so nice to me." Hilda promised her mother
that she would never neglect her little servants again. This made the
mother very happy, and, for making that promise, she bought Hilda a nice
new doll, dressed like a fairy.
Hilda was so proud of her doll that she named her Fairy. Fairy has been
very good to Hilda, for every time she plays with her doll, Hilda always
makes sure that her face and hands are as clean as her little doll's.
QUESTION
1. What lesson can we get from this story?
THE RED CROSS SEAL
I am only a tiny bit of paper, with a little green and red color in the
form of a cross or a wreath. I am not much larger than a postage stamp.
I am going to tell you of some of the work I have done for mankind in
this big world, notwithstanding my small size. Please don't think I am
boasting of myself in an unbecoming manner. I was made long, long years
ago, when our grandfathers were just soldiers, and fighting each other
in a long and bloody war.
[Illustration]
The mothers and wives of these soldiers were constantly thinking out
some plan by which they could do something for the "boys" at the front.
It is hard to sit with idle hands when those we love are in the thick of
battle, and I sometimes think that the women and children suffer most in
our great wars.
So, in 1862, when the days were very dark, when the battle seemed so
fierce, and when the hospitals, North and South, were crowded with the
sick and wounded, some good ladies of Boston thought of me. They decided
to make me into a stamp, and to sell me to get money to help the sick
soldiers. I was made and sold at a kind of "post-office booth" at many
fairs.
I did not look then just as I do now--you see the style of my dress has
changed with the change in fashion. I have taken as my color the Red
Cross, the emblem of that great army of workers who, in 1864, first
organized the Red Cross Society at Geneva, Switzerland. This society
works for the sick and suffering; it does not matter under what flag
they live.
Did you ever think of what a great thing a flag is? Just a little bit of
cotton with a few colors on it, the red, white and blue, the tri-color
of France; the red, white and black, of Germany; the stars and stripes
of our own free land; or the Red Cross of Greece on a white field, the
flag of the Red Cross Society.
Men have fought and died for the thing which these bits of rag and color
mean to them.
But I am getting away from my story. With all the newness of the idea,
and my very small size, I helped to make nearly a million dollars during
that terrible war between our own beloved States. This money was used
for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers.
My mission has always been one of mercy. I cannot but feel good when I
think over the days of the past, and recall to memory the deeds I have
done.
For a long time after that war I had nothing to do but to think of these
past deeds, and, as I thought of the poor fever-stricken soldiers to
whom I had brought medicine to cool their fever, and how I had gotten
bandages to bind the wounds made by shot and shell, I thought sadly that
I was forgotten, and that my mission was ended. These thoughts were sad,
for I knew there was a work to be done, and I wanted to be up and about
it. I wondered if the time would ever come when I could go on another
errand of mercy. I felt that I must be needed somewhere in the big
world, but I hoped I would never see another war.
The time of waiting was a weary one, but one day in 1892 I heard a call
from little Portugal, far across the ocean. I was needed by the Red
Cross there to aid in getting money for the sick and suffering.
Since I answered that call I have been at work in every country in the
world; in coldest Russia, in sunny Italy, and even in far-away
Australia.
Sometimes I work to provide money for soldiers, for men will not stop
fighting each other, and the Red Cross owes allegiance to the sick and
wounded of every nation. Sometimes I work for the benefit of the
homeless ones; and, again, I work for hospitals for sick children. My
work is broad, indeed.
I have always been happy in this work, for it is a great one, but in the
year 1907 I started the work I like best of all.
It was that year that Miss Emily Bissell, a little woman of Delaware,
did what Jacob Riis suggested. He suggested that Americans adopt the
plan already begun in Norway and Sweden. This was to sell the Red Cross
stamps to aid in raising money for the great fight against tuberculosis.
So the first real seal for this purpose was issued in 1908, and since
that time I have brought to this cause over a million dollars. One
little seal, on which shines a red cross of Greece, for one little
penny, has grown and grown, until with the seals and pennies I have made
over a million dollars to help suffering human beings.
Now, let me tell you how it has been done. I am printed about six weeks
before Christmas. After I am printed, with my red crosses and holly
wreaths, and "Merry Christmas," agents advertise me in every nook and
corner of the country. I go to every little village--especially where
there are women interested in doing good for others.
I am sold to seal packages to go to far-away countries; I am used to
paste on the back of letters; I go everywhere carrying the message of
"Peace and good will to men."
In every place that I go some one is talking and writing about how to
prevent tuberculosis, the "great white plague," as Oliver Wendell Holmes
called it--the terrible disease that has killed so many people--more
than all the wars of the world. Seventy-five to ninety per cent. of all
the money I bring is used in the community in which I am sold.
The money I bring is used to hire nurses to go down into the crowded
city districts to care for the poor consumptives crowded in the tenement
houses. It may help to send a poor little cripple, with tuberculosis of
the hip-joint, to the "Fresh Air Home" in the mountains, where she has
a chance to get well. It often aids in sending a tired, sick mother to
the seashore in summer, where she finds rest and health. It aids in
sending some one to the schools to teach the gospel of fresh air, good
food, and pure water for the children.
So you see my mission has always been one of mercy, hope and health. Yet
I am such a little thing--just a bit of paper, bearing a little red
cross on a white shield, worth only a penny. "Great oaks from little
acorns grow," you know.
QUESTIONS
1. When were the first stamps used to make money
for charitable purposes?
2. Who first suggested using such stamps to aid
the fight on tuberculosis?
3. Who was Jacob Riis? Who was Oliver Wendell
Holmes?
4. Why is the cross of Greece used on the stamps?
What does it signify?
5. What is done with the money gotten from the
sale of the Red Cross seal?
6. Do you think it a good cause? Why? Will you
join the band of workers who are fighting "the
great white plague?"
[Illustration: OUT IN THE SAND BED WHERE I PLAY]
THE SAND BED
I have a sand bed, and there I play,
There in the sand for half the day.
And mother comes and sits by me;
And little sister likes to see
The many things I make of sand,
But she's too young to understand.
And then I make believe and say
My sand bed is the sunny bay;
These blocks are boats, and far away
They sail all night and sail all day,
And carry iron. When they return
They bring us coal that we may burn.
And now my sand bed is a farm.
This is the barn. Here, safe from harm,
My horses and my cows I keep.
These sheds are for the woolly sheep.
And there you see my piggie's pens.
The yard holds in the lively hens.
This is the garden, where I hoe
My plants: and here the flowers grow.
The sticks are pines, so straight, so tall
And dark. But these aren't half of all
The things I make each pleasant day
Out in the sand bed where I play.
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
"Oh, Jack, Uncle John says, if we will build a play-house for Mary and
her dolls, he will take us to Washington with him when he goes next
month."
"All right, Stuart, we can do it. Let us begin right away. Here is a
nice place for the house, just on the little hill. The ground is nice
and sandy, and the rain-water runs off. Here are some pretty trees for
shade. The hill is not high enough for it to be very cold.
"Now, for the house. We will place it so that it will face the south.
Then the living rooms will have plenty of sunshine. We will put it about
two feet off the ground, in order that it will not be damp; we can have
a wide piazza nearly all around the house; and on the south piazza we
can screen off a part for a sleeping porch. I am sure the dolls would
like one.
[Illustration: THE SLEEPING PORCH THAT JACK BUILT]
"We will screen every door and window to keep the flies and mosquitoes
out of the house. Mary says that each room must have at least two
windows. She wants the walls of the rooms painted a soft cream color. We
will oil and wax the floors. She can put a few rugs on them. She does
not want large ones that she cannot take up when she sweeps.
"The little white iron beds, with dainty pillows and white covers, will
surely please the dolls.
"Even in the parlor we will not have a single chair with plush or velvet
on it, for, Uncle John says, such furniture collects and holds germs.
The plan for the kitchen is a beauty. Everything is white except the
stove. There is a nice little table, and a cupboard, where the pans and
dishes are to be kept. The table is covered with zinc, and the floor is
covered with oil-cloth, so that it will be easy to keep it clean. A
shelf, on which are fastened hooks for spoons and forks, is near the
sink.
"The windows will have white muslin sash curtains. Mother says it is
just the kitchen to delight the heart of a neat little cook, with 'a
place for everything, and everything in its place.'
"Look at the cloth-covered broom we are going to use for sweeping, no
dust and no feather-dusters in this play-house.
"We can put the well here, this is near the house and on a hill above
the barn and chicken houses. We can put a little gasoline engine in, to
pump water into the bathroom and kitchen.
"We will plant some roses in the yard.
"Well, Stuart, we have worked hard on Mary's doll-house, and, now that
it is finished, I am sure Uncle John will take us on the promised trip."
"I showed the house to Uncle John to-day, Jack, and he said he wished
that some of the 'grown-ups' houses were as carefully planned for
sunshine and health as Mary's doll house."
QUESTIONS
1. Why did Jack and Stuart build a sleeping porch
to the doll house?
2. Why did they put the house on a little hill?
Why did they put the barns and out-houses at the
foot of the hill?
3. Where did they place the well?
4. Why did they use a cloth-covered broom for
sweeping?
5. Would this be a good way for grown-ups to build
their houses?
[Illustration]
A NEW STORY OF THE LION AND THE MOUSE
A long while ago, so the story goes, there was a time when the Lion,
King of Beasts, had a little mouse at his mercy. The Lion was about to
crush the mouse with his paw. The little mouse begged for his life, and
the great King of Beasts spared him.
Not a great while after that day the Lion was caught in a net. He could
not get out, and howled with rage. The little mouse heard him, and ran
to help his old-time friend.
The great King of Beasts did not think the little mouse could help him.
But the mouse gnawed the cords in the net with his teeth, and thus set
the Lion free.
This story that I am going to tell you is of a rat--a kind of cousin to
the mouse.
In many of our cities the City Fathers have not thought much of the many
rats that live in the alleys and big warehouses, where cotton and grain
are stored.
The City Fathers, like the King of Beasts, have looked with contempt on
the little rats. They did not believe they were large enough to do any
great harm, but rats and mice are dirty little animals and can carry
disease. The Health Doctors, who are always digging into things, have
made a serious charge against Mr. Rat. They say that he is the "Carrier"
of a terrible disease, and that he is to be more feared than the biggest
lion.
The rats have brought this disease from the far-away countries in Asia.
You will ask--How could the rats bring this disease, which is called
"the plague," since they cannot swim across the ocean? No, that is true.
But you know that the rats are great wanderers, and they frequently get
on the ships which are loaded in the harbors in China, or Japan, and
travel with the ships to the next port. You must remember that rats have
fleas on them. In the far-away country the fleas bite persons who have
the plague. The fleas then get on the rats in the neighborhood, and even
give the plague to the rats.
When the ship unloads its cargo, in Mobile, San Francisco, or New York,
these rats, with their fleas and plague germs, go ashore, and in this
way they spread the disease.
When the fleas from the rats bite persons, they poison them with the
plague germs. Many persons in Asia die of this disease every year.
In this country we prevent it by doing what the Lion of long ago did not
do. We kill the rats, for they are dirty little animals.
QUESTIONS
1. Tell the story of the Lion and the Mouse. Who
wrote this fable? What is a fable?
2. Why are we not so merciful to the rat as the
Lion was?
3. What disease germs does the rat carry?
[Illustration]
FIRST AID TO THE INJURED AND THE BOY SCOUTS
"I say, Jack, what do you think; I am going to join the Boy Scouts."
"What is that, Tom? I don't know anything about Boy Scouts. Is it
something new? You are always starting some new stunt. Is it playing
soldier?"
"Oh, no, Jack; it is a company made up of boys, who are learning to be
manly and brave. Being a Boy Scout takes you out-of-doors a great deal,
and in that way it helps make you strong and healthy. I wish you would
come with me and join."
"Well, tell me all about it."
"The Boy Scouts were organized in England, in 1907, and a brother
organization was started in America in 1910. It was started by men who
knew all about boys, and who wanted to help them to get the best out of
life.
"The Boy Scouts elect leaders; they form troops, that is, so many boys
under one leader. They go camping. They go on long 'hikes.' A hike is a
trip into the country, over hills and through meadows.
"The Boy Scout must learn to swim, and to do many things to help
himself, and to help others. A Boy Scout has to promise to do something
for some one each day--lend a helping hand.
"Mr. Brown, the lawyer, is our Scout Master. Come, Jack, join us. You
are twelve years old. It will help to make a man of you. A number of us
are going to be initiated this afternoon; then we will be Tenderfoot
Scouts."
"All right, Tom, I'll ask mother. I am pretty sure she will let me join.
She wants me to be a manly, healthy boy."
SOME THINGS JACK AND TOM LEARNED TO DO AS BOY SCOUTS
(FIRST AID, IT IS CALLED)
When a person faints, lay him flat, loosen his collar and belt, and
bathe the face in cool water.
When a person is cut, and the wound is bleeding, put a clean cloth on
the wound, and press on it with the fingers until it stops bleeding, or
until a doctor comes. Tie a bandage above the cut.
If a bone is broken, carry the person so the broken bone will not tear
or injure the flesh near it. Put a board or pillow under the broken bone
to steady it.
They also learn to bind wet soda to a burn.
To put clove oil or turpentine on a bit of cotton in an aching tooth.
To put three drops of carbolic acid in half a teaspoonful of warm
glycerine into an aching ear.
To put wet cloths on the throat for sick stomach.
To bathe a sprain in hot water, and not to bandage until it stops
swelling.
To turn an eyelid and take out a cinder, or a bit of dirt, with a soft
cloth.
When a person has taken poison, to give him something to make him
vomit--salt and warm water, or mustard dissolved in warm water; call for
a doctor.
For sunstroke, to put the person in a cool place, and bathe in cool
water. To put ice-cap on head.
For heat prostration, to give stimulants, 10 to 12 drops of aromatic
spirits of ammonia in a little water, or hot drinks. Put hot-water
bottle to the feet.
When on fire, to lie down, not to run. Wrap in a rug or blanket, or
anything that will shut off the air from the flame. To protect the face
from the flames.
In nose bleed, to raise the head and arms. To press on the nostril from
which the blood is coming. That a small piece of cotton dipped in very
weak vinegar or lemon juice and placed in the nostril will cause the
bleeding to stop.
Should a child swallow a penny, or ring, or other small things, to give
bread and potatoes; not to give a laxative, or purgative.
If a child has convulsions, to put it in a warm bath without waiting to
undress it.
For snake bite, or the bite of a dog, tie a string above the bite, wash
the wound with clean water, and rub carbolic acid or luna caustic on it.
The most important thing that the Boy Scout learns is that common sense
and self-control are two of the best things to possess.
The Boy Scout must be well trained to use the last two aids for the
benefit of the injured.
AN INVITATION
"What do you say?" said the Work to be Done.
"Shall we start bravely together,
Up with the morning sun,
Sing, whatever the weather?"
Come, little busy folks, what do you say?
Let's begin fairly together to-day.
Shall we keep step with a laugh and a song
All through the runaway morning?
And when the noontide comes speeding along,
Whistling his chorus of warning,
"Then," said the Work to be Done, "let us see
Who has kept in the hurry with me?"
Hark, in the midst of the long afternoon,
When you are a little bit weary,
How all the meadows keep sweetly in time,
Toiling, and prattling and cheery.
"What do you say?" said the Work to be Done,
"Shall we be comrades till the setting of sun?"
--_Selected._
A GREAT FIGHT
Tom, Uncle John told me last night that he was going to make a hard
fight. I thought he was going to war. He could not tell me all about
this fight then, because some one came for him, to go to see a sick
child.
When I went to bed, I dreamed Uncle John was a soldier, and that he had
on a uniform, and was riding away on a big black horse. In my dream, I
could hear the bugle blow. Then I dreamed he was fighting wild beasts.
My! how hot I got while I was dreaming this.
This morning, when I told Uncle John about my dream, he said he was
going to fight something that did more harm than wild beasts. He told me
that, as soon as I helped mother, to come over to his office, and he
would tell me all about it.
I could scarcely eat my breakfast, I was in such a hurry to learn what
my Uncle John was going to fight. I could just see him with a sword
buckled to his side, getting on a big war-horse, galloping off to the
music of fife and drum.
After breakfast, I ran to the office. "Well, my boy," said Uncle John,
"you have come to learn about the big fight your peace-loving Uncle is
going to make. I am fighting for others, not for myself, and I hope we
will win this fight.
"I will show you the enemy, he is in ambush." My eyes were wide open
when Uncle said that. Uncle John walked quickly over to a shelf and took
down a bottle of "Soothing Syrup." I wondered what he was going to do,
when he returned and said, "This bottle holds one of the greatest
enemies of little innocent children. It contains opium. Opium is a
poison. Little babies don't need it. Sometimes a mother will give too
large a dose, and kill her little one. The mother does not know that the
'soothing' part of the syrup is opium.
"The English people have told the makers of such stuff that they must
take the opium out of it, or label the bottle _poison_. Much of this
kind of medicine is sold. The people do not know how harmful it is. I am
going to fight this enemy of little babies to the last ditch.
"Some of the well-known captains of regiments of these fake cures are
known as 'Compounds,' 'Bitters,' 'Kidney Cures,' 'Cough Cures,' 'Asthma
Cures' and 'Liver Regulators.' These are mighty captains, and flaunt
their false colors in the daily newspapers which come to our firesides.
Many of them contain alcohol. 'Corn Cures' and 'Skin Foods' are little
corporals in the army of the enemy.
"The great generals are the fake consumption cures which are advertised
in so many daily papers and magazines. Their shot and shell are the most
dangerous, because they attack those already weak. They rob persons of
the judgment to choose such allies as Fresh Air, Food and Rest. They are
not even brave soldiers--they strike the weak and ignorant.
"_These_, my boy, are the enemies I am going to fight--in the trenches
and out. I am buckling on my armor and sword. Will you join me, and help
to put down quacks and patent medicines of all kinds?"
QUESTIONS
1. Give the names of some patent medicines you
know.
2. What do nearly all patent medicines contain?
3. Will you promise to help in stopping the use of
patent medicines?
THE FIVE BEST DOCTORS
The five best doctors anywhere,
And no one can deny it,
Are Doctors Sunshine, Water, Air,
Exercise and Diet.
These five will gladly you attend,
If only you are willing;
Your mind they'll cheer, your ills they'll mend,
And charge you not one shilling.
GLOSSARY
To facilitate the pronunciation of the words in
this glossary the correct syllabication has been
indicated. Of course, it is expected that the
teacher will assist the pupil where any difficult
combinations occur.
AC´CI DENT--an event which is unexpected.
AD´E NOID--growth between the back of the nose and
the mouth, which prevents or disturbs breathing
through the nose.
A JAR´--open.
AL LIES´--friends.
AM´ BUSH--secret or concealed place where troops
lie in wait to attack unawares.
AN´TI TOX´IN--against poison.
AWN´ING--a covering stretched upon a frame and
used as a shelter from wind or sun.
BAC TE´RI A--very small plants; some bacteria
cause disease.
BOAST´ING--bragging.
CAP´TAIN--a leader.
CAR´GO--load; freight carried by ships or other
vessels.
CAR´PEN TER--one who builds houses, ships, etc.
CEL´E BRATE--to keep a festival holiday.
CLEV´ER--having skill; good-natured.
COL´O NY--of, or pertaining to, a colony or
colonies; the thirteen British colonies which
formed the United States of America.
CON´QUER--overpower; win.
CON SUMP´TION--progressive wasting of the lungs.
CON TEMP´--scorn; to despise.
COR´PO RALS--lower officers in an army.
CRYS´TAL--pure, transparent; resembling crystal.
DE STROY´--to kill; to break up the structure of a
thing.
DIS AP POINT´--defeated of expectation or hope.
DRAG´ON--a large serpent; legendary animal.
DREAD´NOUGHT--a fearless ship.
DREAM--a series of thoughts, images or emotions
occurring during sleep.
DU´TY--that which is required by one's station or
occupation; any assigned service or business.
EN GI NEER´--one who manages an engine.
ENG´LISH--the people of England.
ER´RAND--a trip to carry a message or do some
special business.
FAKE--anything prepared for the purpose of
deceiving; trick.
FA´VOR--a kind act; kindness.
FEAST--a meal of abundant and satisfying food; a
rich treat.
FEE´BLE--weak physically.
FORE´FA THERS--one who comes before another in the
line of direct descent; especially a male
ancestor.
FREIGHT--goods carried from one place to another.
FRE´ QUENT LY--at short intervals.
FU´EL--anything that feeds fire.
FUR´NACE--a structure in which heat is produced.
FUR´NISH--to provide; to give.
GEN´ER AL--an officer who commands an army or any
body of troops.
GIN--a machine for separating cotton fibres from
the seeds.
GLAND--an organ of the body.
HELMS´MAN--a man who steers a boat.
HOS´PIT AL--a place where sick and afflicted are
cared for.
I´CI CLE--a rod of ice formed by the freezing of
drops of dripping water.
IN´DI AN--member of one of the aboriginal races of
North, South and Central America.
IN FECT´ED--to taint; to contaminate; to give
disease.
IN I´TI ATE--to introduce.
IN´JURED--damaged; hurt.
IN´NO CENT--free from; clean; pure.
IN TES´TINE--that part of the digestive tube below
the stomach; bowel.
JOUR´NEY--passage from one place to another.
KNIGHT--a man of gentle birth, bred to the
profession of arms.
LAX´A TIVE--a gentle purgative, having the power
to loosen the bowels.
MA LA´RI A--(old meaning, bad air), a disease, the
cause of which is carried by the mosquitoes.
MEAD´OW--low or level land covered with grass.
MER´CY--the act of relieving suffering.
MI´CRO SCOPE--a magnifying instrument for seeing
very small objects, such as germs.
NEC´TAR--the honey of plants.
NO´BLE--a man of lofty lineage.
O´PI UM--a poisonous powder gotten from the poppy
plant.
OR´GAN--any part performing a special work.
OX´Y GEN--a chemical substance in the air
necessary to life.
PALE--lacking in color.
PAS´TEUR--a French scientist who studied and told
us much of germs.
PI AZ´ZA--a porch.
PLAGUE--a disease of Asia; a pestilence.
POL LUTE´--to make unclean.
POI´SON--a substance taken into the body which
injures or kills.
PNEU MO´NI A--an inflammation of the lung tissue,
caused by a germ.
PUR´GA TIVE--a medicine which purges or cleans out
the alimentary canal.
QUACK--a pretender to medical skill.
RAID--to make war on.
RA´TIONS--food; a ration; amount of food used.
REG´I MENT--a body of soldiers.
REIGN--to preside over; to rule.
REL´A TIVES--near of kin.
ROY´AL--kingly; pertaining to kings.
RUB´BISH--trash; waste.
SEARCH´LIGHT--a powerful light used on ships.
SMOTH´ERED--prevented from breathing.
SOL´DIER--a member of an army.
SOOTH´ING--to make quiet.
SQUAD´RON--several war vessels detailed for
service.
STIM´U LANT--something which excites or spurs on.
TRENCH--a large ditch.
TY´PHOID--a long slow fever, caused by a germ; it
can be prevented by cleanliness.
U´NI FORM--special dress, usually with braid and
buttons.
VAC CI NAT´TION--producing a mild form of a
disease to prevent a severe form.
VEINS--tubes that carry blood to the heart.
VEN´TI LATE--to supply with fresh air.
VES´SEL--a ship.
VIC´TO RY--act of overcoming an enemy in battle,
or an opponent in a contest.
VIR GIN´I A--an eastern state in the United
States.
WARE´HOUSE--storehouse.
WEAP´ON--any implement used for offense or
defense.
WHOLE´SOME--healthy.
WIND´PIPE--a tube that carries the air from the
throat to the lungs.
WITH´ERED--dried up.
ZINC--a metal.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
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