University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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Ilivlzltinn nf the lglaggrnunh tu Evalili O school can do the best work unless the chil- dren in that school are healthy and have the physical ability to sustain mental strain. This question of health is one of the greatest problems confronting teachers, and one that cannot be put aside. In working out this problem, out door exer- cise presents itself as the most successful means of providing the children with strong, healthy bodiesg and, without a doubt, school athletics is to be com- mended as a way of securing this exercise. S. M- FURLOW I It is a recognized. fact thatthe condition of Copiah County the mind while exercising is a very important factor in determining the results that will be obtained. In this, athletics is superior to all other kinds of exer- cise, for it produces excitement that stimulates the mind, and at the same time gives it the relaxation from work and worry that it so much needs. Instead of giving only the skillful players among the large boys and girls an op- portunity to use the equipment furnished, each szhool should have a large, well equip- ped play-ground sufficient to accommodate the entire school. If it is impossible to have one this large, the several classes may use it at different times through the school day. For the greatest efficiency, the ground should be carefully planned and the equipment placed so as to permit of the greatest number of games. Inexpensive equip- ment-as basket ball and tennis courts, base ball field, jumping pit, and standards for high jump, for the larger pupilsg sand-bins, see-saws, ropes for jumping, and swings for the smaller ones will be found practical and sufficient. Unless properly conducted there is a very great danger, however, that the re- sults from exercise will be illness instead of improved health. While playing strenuous games on the school yard, the children should not be allowed- to use the clothing that they will wear the rest of the day, for it becomes damp from perspiration and will cause colds on account of the child's becoming chilled after he stops playing. The use of ath- letic suits, which can be obtained at very little cost, prevents any bad effect of this kind. Another important thing is to have bathing facilities for use after participating in the games. The great good resulting from the increased ability of the children on account of better health would many times pay for the cost of fitting out the bath rooms. Each child should have a physical examination by a competent physician and be allowed to participate in the games only as his physical condition permits. Then, the teacher should be very careful to allow no one to play too long and hard, thereby weakening his physical condition and destroying the very effects sought for. 1 With these precautions, athletics offers to our schools great opportunities for making the boys and girls strong and healthy, thereby laying a foundation that will be invaluable in later life. S. M. FURLO W. 14

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illllrntal Elnrftirirlirg---Gpnv Glaum M O N G the many habits that affects and de- range the mind is that of cigarette smoking. One author says that some of the most familiar marks of the habitual smoker are:- chronic hoarseness, lack of appetite, dyspepsia, pallor from impaired blood, rapid and intermittent pulse, pain in the region of the heart, disinclination for healthy athletic exercise, mental weariness, slowness of thought causing muddled ideas, and defective memory. The poison of tobacco affects t h e whole E- E- FOX human system, but the controling organ, the brain, Neshoba County seems to be the hardest hit. This is very conspicuous- ly emphasized in the fact that a great per cent. of the employers and superintendents of the nation's most responsible institutions, depart- ments, and concerns now unconditionally require their young men employees to be total abstainers from cigarettes. Mr. E. H. Harrison, head of the Union Pacific Railroad, says, Officials may as well go to a lunatic asylum for their employees as to hire a cigarette smoker. In John Wanamaker's store the blanks to be filled out by boys applying for position, read: Do you use tobacco or cigarettes? A negative answer is expected and is favorable to the applicant. The Assistant General Manager of the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company has issued the following order: You are directed to serve notice that the use of cigarettes after August 1, will be prohibited, and you are further instructed to refuse to employ anyone who is addicted to this de- vitalizing habit. Judge Stubbs of Indiana says that every year boys by the hundreds are brought to him for judgement, and that manliness and good conduct can be aroused and stimu- lated in most boys, no matter what the offense of which they have been guilty, if only they are not cigarette fiends. When a boy has become addicted to the use of this form of tobacco, the disease is in his blood and brain, his moral fiber is gone, he is listless and indifferent in school, and often fails in his work. Of 4117 boys received into the Illinois State Reformatory, 4000 were in the habit of using tobacco and over 3000 were cigarette smokers. , Now, from the requirements of these practical men who are leaders in the world of Hnance and industry, and from the testimony of leading jurists, as well as from our own experience and observation we are convinced that the cigarette habit is banefulg and it devolves upon us as teachers to instruct the boys of our State in the bad physical and mental effects of tobacco: to use our influence to prevent in them the for- mation of such a habit, and to throw around them a good environment by effective legislation in regard to cigarettes. E. E. FOX. 13

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flhr Cbrrat mhiiv lglagur UBERCULOSIS or consumption, as it is often called, has come to be known as the great white plague, from the fact that it is so wide spread, and that 50,000,000 die annually, in the world. People do not either realize the danger or refuse to think about it. If yellow fever, or smallpox, or scarlet fever breaks out in town then newspapers publish an Extra with glaring headlines, and the greatest alarm is felt. Yet little attention is given to tuberculosis, a disease much more deadly. It is now known that tuberculosis is not ordinarily an inherited but an acquired contagious disease. It is preventable, can be checked, and is Forrest County curable if treated in the incipient stage, but is fatal when too long neglected. It is during the period when tuberculosis exists Without making itself felt that the infected person has best chance of recovery, but the period in which he least suspects that he needs medical help. That is why it is called the dangerous perion. It is not as dangerous as the latter stage, but it deludes the victimg he believes himself well when he is really tubercular. Dr. Tredeau, who was the founder of the fresh air Sanitariam in the Adirondack Mountains for the treatment of incipient tuber- culosis, has proven conclusively that the disease can be cured. How are you to know that you have it? First, by the loss of weight, a cough, and fever. The best thing is to consult a physician, demandinga thorough examination. If, the physician finds that you have tuberculosis, refuse to be frightened. Be hopeful, Cheefful, wld Patient. Your state of mind will have much to do with your physical condition. Do not listen to talks, or suggestions of others. Avoid all patent medicine cures , and artificial stimulants, Only these are necessary: Fresh air, day and night. Plenty of sun shine. Wholesome food with an abundance of fresh milk and eggs. Rest for body and mind. Personal and household hygene. If you have not tuberculosis you might express your gratitude for ycur con- tinued health by lending a hand to those civic health movements, which are trying to bring the blessing to your less fortunate fellow men, and to protect you from exposure to it. VERA GALBREATH In every city the Women's clubs, civic organizations and schools are trying to educate the public to the golden rule of the antituberculosis league: Don't give tuberculosis to others. Don't let others give tuberculosis to you. They are also asking, Will You Help Build the Fence to Protect the Citizens Against Tuberculosis? VERA GALBREATH. 15