St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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PALACE OF EDUCATION 9 through all this wreckage of thought it was a quiet and ele- vating relief to come upon a modestly curtained booth where was displayed a replica of the chapel of Mary Immaculate which is soon to rise on the grounds of the Catholic Univer- sity at Washington. This reminded one of the quiet, yet superior and enlightened manner in which our Holy Mother the Church nestles right in the center of disbelief, sending out messengers and slowly but surely conquering the foe in a manner peculiar to her own, bequeathed to her by the Redeemer Himself. I said in the beginning that the department devoted to medicine could be divided into those exhibits handled by individual or private concerns, and those handled by the Government. Of the former we can include the Hook- Worm Cure exhibit, the Mouth Hygiene exhibit, the Amer- ican Medical Association's display, and two California tuber- cular exhibits. The Hookworm Cure exhibit was more or less repulsive according to the angle at which it was viewed. To those who enjoy such things it undoubtedly proved of keen interest. As to the Mouth Hygiene or Dentistry ex- hibit, of its very nature it proves interesting, and is of advantage to all, for who is there who has not had more or less trouble with his teeth? The American Medical Associa- tion devoted itself to making public the utterly false and extremely poisonous nature of our common patent medicines. They ridiculed and exposed every quack concern in the country. This proved most profitable to a multitude of the deceived. Now in our last step we shall consider those who have given us a demonstration of the public work being done in the prevention and cure of disease. The United States De- partment of Labor devoted a good deal of space to this question. The proper care of children was explained and demonstrated in a unique manner. Here, too, was shown the striking similarity between cakes of real chocolate, and those of painted or imitation chocolate. The people of the little

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8 IGNATIAN paintings, its charming pagodas, its exceedingly well wrought Statuary, its most minutely and intricately carved pieces of furniture, and its oddities of every description, all these ren- dered the exhibit of the Jesuit orphanage of Zi-Ka-Wei of special value, and drew to the booths of this department a continuous stream of admiring visitors. Japan confined the greater part of her floor space to economic questions, and so hardly comes under this head. This void, however, was filled by Argentina? whose exhibit, although consisting almost entirely of pictures, was nevertheless a very comprehensive display. Uruguay gives an idea of its summer resorts to- gether with some information about its schools. We are done now with the educational exhibits properly so called. There remains to be considered the Religious dis- play, the medical outlay, and the moral reformers. The first topic just mentioned was treated in a very loud and egotisti- cal manner. It is almost to be wondered at why they didnlt allow most of these people to own a concession on the Zone and charge ten cents admission. Ridiculous, fantastic, and most inartistic banners and drawings were stuck up all around, and spoke so loud as to be grating on the nerves. After going through that quarter one felt relieved in step- ping out of its domains to examine some more quiet and instructive exhibit. And when one feels relief in retiring from a certain department it certainly is a very peculiar life exhibited there. On every side one needed to give but a few hasty glances to be convinced of the utter illusion and ignorance of the persons advocating these principles. What must there be in the poor mind of the person trying to prove that the earth is concave? Then the American Buddliisfifii society venerating the god Buddha 5 and the Theosophical society displaying chaits and pictures of enlarged angle- worms and microbes with the sign, What our thoughts look like. Taking pictures of or even trying to draw a purely spiritual thing is in itself enough to show their foolishness. But there was an oasis in this desert. After wandering

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10 IGNATIAN island of Cuba set up an exhibit that treated of nothing else but of their up-to-date methods of exterminating disease- carrying insects and animals, together with models of their modern hospitals and sanatoriums. Japan gave us an excel- lent idea of its hygienic systems. But since mankind is prac- tically the same all over the world, so disease is common not only to these people, but to all peoples in more or less the same forms, and as all modern countries keep right in touch with every advance in science, we can see that these different exhibits owed their interest and attractiveness not so much to the different diseases drawn attention to, nor yet to their prevention or cure, but to the light in which the display was regarded. A Japanese looking over scenes famil- iar to him would enjoy that exhibit of japan much more than he would enjoy the work done by the United States on the same subject. So without dwelling longer on this par- ticular phase we shall consider those States of our country which gave us a comprehensive view of all their sociological activities. Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland laid out their systems in full. They explained their methods of handling the convicts, treating the insane, and caring for the sick. Massachusetts seemed to be very strong in every department. Pennsylvania excelled in its treatment of the tuberculosis and smallpox problems. New York was first rate in all, but particularly in its exposition of its methods in the prisons, and its mode 'of handling the insane. Mary- land dwelt on all in a vague and general manner. Touching this subject is the question brought up by the Child Labor Bureau, the Social Hygiene booth, and the Race Betterment exhibit. The Child Labor Bureau and the Race Betterment exhibit work for a stronger race physicallyg the Social Hy- giene booth is for physical improvement certainly, but it maintains that this can primarily be procured 'by a better training of the child morally. And it was this third depart? ment which touched the soul of the question. The others,