PUBLIC HYGIENE.
One of the great questions in which governments in all countries are
interested is how to keep down the death rate in great cities. In olden
times there were many plagues and epidemics. These often destroyed
thousands of lives. People did not understand why the plagues came; they
used to think them punishments for sin, or sent by some evil spirit out
of hatred to humanity. They did not know how to meet them or how to take
care of those whom the plagues attacked, and so whole cities were
sometimes emptied by disease before which the science of those days was
helpless.
But now we have come to know that all epidemics have natural causes. An
epidemic is always caused either by bad water or neglected sewers or
poisonous gases arising from long-gathered filth. In Europe and in
America every city has its system or systems of sewers, its boards of
public health and of street cleaning. Great care is taken, and enormous
sums of money are spent, to keep the cities clean, that the people may
be as healthy as possible.
Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is one of the largest
cities on the Asiatic coast. It has been, in the past, in very bad
condition because of filth. One of the first things the Americans began
to do when they came here was to try to make the city clean, so that it
would be more healthful. This was a very difficult thing to do, because
of the dirt which had been allowed to gather during many years. It was
also difficult because of the way in which the city of Manila is built.
The ground is low and marshy. Two feet below the surface of the earth
under the city, water is found almost everywhere. This keeps the earth
damp. Those who built houses in the past knew this, so they laid cement
floors in the basements of their buildings.
But the cement floors were not made as they should have been. Instead of
digging down into the earth and filling in the excavation, builders
spread the cement on the surface of the ground and then built their
walls around this platform. The cement which has been used here is not
the best for such a country as this. It is what is called Roman cement,
very porous, and not hard and solid, as is the Portland cement in use in
America. The walls of the houses, as well as the ground floors, were
very often of this cement.
If you take a lamp wick and hold one end of it in oil, before long not
only that end but the whole wick is wet with the oil. This is because
the porous fibers of the wick have soaked up the oil. Now, these porous
walls of the houses in Manila take up the moisture from the earth, so
that many of them are completely soaked with water. When this is the
case, mold begins to grow on the walls. It is not unusual to see walls
quite overgrown with green mold and moss that always feels a little damp
to the touch.
[Illustration:
GATE COVERED WITH UNHEALTHFUL MOLD.
]
This growth on the walls is a great hurt to the health of people living
in the houses. It breeds disease, and keeps the moisture in the walls,
so that the houses are damp and unwholesome. It is of no use to shut our
windows at night, for the early morning chill that we hope thus to shut
out is in the walls themselves. It is far better to leave the windows
open, that fresh air may come in and drive out some of the poisonous
vapors that rise from the walls and creep into the house. The walls of
the house should be kept clean of mold. They should be scraped and
whitewashed very often, and the green, unhealthy growth kept down.
In the cities of Europe and America there are great sewer systems to
take the waste and refuse from the houses and carry it far from the
city. The sewers empty into the sea or into drainage canals, and thence
to points where the sewage can be destroyed so that it will not endanger
life. The city of Manila has some sewers. We can see the openings into
them in the streets. They are small, square openings, covered with
stone. But the sewers that run through the streets empty into the open
moat that surrounds the walled city! It will become necessary, before
many years, to fill this moat, to save the people of Manila from being
killed by the gases that rise from it.
Damp walls, damp floors, damp rooms close to the ground, make the very
best sort of places for dirt to gather. It is not enough that walls
should be scraped and floors cleaned once in a while; they must be kept
clean all the time. This is why sanitary inspectors go about the city to
examine houses and walls and report on their condition. We should be
glad that they do this; for we know that if they are faithful about it,
the city will be more healthful and many lives will be saved.
The dirt that gathers in the streets is of many sorts. A great deal is
made by the horses and carabaos, mules and oxen, that draw loads about
the city. The wheels of the vehicles, too, grind the stone pavement to
dust, and this is blown about by the wind. Dead leaves drop from the
trees, choke up the gutters, and, left to themselves, will make sodden
masses of decayed vegetation in corners. Waste paper blows about, and
all sorts of unclean things are thrown into the streets by careless
people. It takes a small army of laborers to keep the streets in order.
They go over the city with brooms, shovels, and dust-boxes, and sweep
and gather up refuse and dirt. They put it into carts and take it away
to where it is loaded upon barges and sent out to sea, or used to fill
in low places where it can do no harm.
There is a great deal that each of us can do to help keep the streets
clean. No one should ever do anything that is likely to leave any dirt
about them. Banana and orange peel should never be thrown on the
sidewalk. This is not only a dirty and untidy trick, but often a bit of
peel does serious mischief; a person may step upon one, slip, and get a
very dangerous fall.
School children are the very best sort of helpers to the street-cleaning
department. They can form what are called “Good-Government” clubs or
societies, to help. They can keep a sharp lookout for careless people
who are about to throw paper or fruit parings into the street. When they
see any one doing this, they should not be afraid to remind him that it
is a dangerous and an untidy thing to do. Most great cities now provide
sheet-iron boxes along the sidewalks to receive all these things. We
should have them in Manila. The children could then point them out to
any one who needed to have his attention called to them. If they saw
paper or peelings lying about, the boys might pick them up, if no
street-cleaner were near, and put them into the boxes. We may be sure
that girls and boys who were thus careful, never would do anything
themselves to make the city untidy. They would not throw paper and
peelings about, nor spit upon the sidewalks. Even school children ought
to remember that they are growing up to be citizens. They cannot begin
too young to take pride in their city or town or village and try to make
it one of the best-governed places in the country. They should take
pride in keeping school buildings nice. Even if these buildings are old,
as so many are, at present, in the islands, they can still be kept so
clean that any one entering will know that the pupils are
self-governing, order-loving boys and girls, who will some day be
self-governing and order-loving citizens.
The elements of good living are, after all, very simple. If we would
live long and keep our bodies in condition to do their work, we must be
clean. We must have clean surroundings; we must drink pure water and eat
clean, wholesome food. We must not eat or drink things that will hurt
us. We must do nothing that will make our bodies less fit
dwelling-places for our souls. We must be honest and kind, ready to help
and to take part in keeping everything about us clean and well ordered.
Thus we shall be useful citizens, each ready to do his own part to make
this world the place it should be.
QUESTIONS.
What are the causes of epidemics?
Why are damp walls and floors unhealthful?
Is it best, in this country, to sleep with our windows closed?
Where should sewers empty?
Why is the sewer system of Manila a bad one?
What sort of dirt gathers in the streets?
How can school children help to keep the city clean?
What should we all try to do if we would live long?
Why is it our duty to do these things?
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.