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About Dakota County herald. (Dakota City, Neb.) 1891-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1916)
KEtW" r-ryrr-fmiryye'rtri 3r,trtyff; fMMiW "is: DAKOTA COUNTY HERALD; DAKOTA CITY, NEBRASKA. I M tr fc 1 INFANTILE PARALYSIS HAS LONG BEEN A PUZZLE TO SCIENTISTS Disease Which Has Collected Awful Toll of Children Is Caused by Minute Organism That Attacks the Spinal Cord and May Turn a Healthy Baby Into a Cripple Over Night Picks ; Strong and Well Children in Preference to ' the Weak. New York. Tho condition known ns Infantile paralysis Is tlu result of an attack by un organism or minute para site on tho contents of tho spinal cord, Into which It makes Us way. The spinal cord becomes lllled with blood and the sensory and motor cells, as they are called, become disorganized and broken. A healthy baby may be turned into a cripple over night by the disease, which for a long tlmo battled the most expert skill In therapeutics. Dr. Simon Flexner, head of the Rockefeller Institute, and the man whoso discoveries In connection with tho disease have given him an Inter national reputation, declares, reports tho New York Times, that, according to all records, Infantile paralysis seems "to pick the stroug and well children In preference to the weak. Vigorous health seems to be no pro tection against the disease." "The Infectious ngent enters the body eltlelly, If not exclusively, through tho mucous membranes of the nose mid throat," he says. "Poliomyelitis, or Infantile paralysis, affects chiefly, but not exclusively, young persons; It may nnd not Infrequently docs affect adults and no ago Is absolutely free of danger of Infection." Doctor Flexner appeared before a meeting of physicians in Brooklyn and explained to them how the disease could be contracted. "Tho virus of Infantile paralysis ex ists In the secretions of the nose and throat and in the intestines," he said. "Jlenee the mode of spread may bo l)y kissing, coughing, and sneezing, which carry tho secretions of tho nose and throat from one person who may be infected ta other persons. "Since the disease attacks by prefer ence young children and Infants whose nasal and mouth secretions are wiped away by mother or nurse, the fingers of these persons readily become con taminated. The care of other children by persons with contaminated fingers may. therefore, lead to tho conveying of the Infectious micro-organism Indi rectly from tho sick to tho henlthy. This danger also exists In connection with vendors of food which Is eaten uncooked. Tho existence of enses of infantile paralysis In the homes of ven dors of food is, therefore, a perpetual source of danger. Dissemination can be made by means of house flies. As to Treatment. "Treatment involves Isolation of the acutely 111, proper care and destruction of contaminated discharges, supervi sion of persons In contact with tho ill nnd of all vendors of food, exclusion of all files, and general sanltnry con trol of tho personnel and habitations of families In which the disease exists. "No ago is absolutely free of danger of infection, although Infantile paraly ' sis affects chiefly young persons. It not infrequently nffects adults. More over, as indicated, the disease Is one that can be communicated by healthy persons who have been In contact with tho sick, but who aro themselves well." iieports of clinical cases indicate that the on&et of the disease Is likely to be insidious. Parents paying little heed to slight spasms In their children are in due tlmo shocked by the slow withering of limbs and the beginning of n state which in many Instances Is In distinguishable from physical helpless ness. Then, when It is too late, the question of contagion Is raised. On this last point. Doctor Flexner has written: Of Infectious Origin. Tho idea of contagion In respect to epl, cleima poliomyelitis Is i.ot a now one, but appeared In the literature of inoro than u quarter of a contury uko, and of late has been frequently Invoked The clinical course of tho dlseaso Indicated an Infec tious orlsln, but up to very recont times no convincing Hiiowledgo conormlng tho na ture of tliu agent causing Infantile para lysis existed The opidemlc V)f 1907 In this country, In Ftanco and In Germany led to a renewed study of the nature of tho In fection In tho course of which the more subtle nnd iccent methods of bacteriology wore employed. Those methods led almost slmultaneous, ly, In the United States, by Doctor Lewis nnd myself, and In Franco, by L,anrtsteln or and Ixivadltl, to tho discovery that the Infectious agent was an extremely minute micro-organism that readily passed through tho pores of earthenware filters Vnd constituted, therefore, an example of the so-called filterable viruses, of which at the present time several examples are Known to cuise Infectious diseases In man and the lower nnlmala. The filterable nature of the virus has now boen con Jlrmed Uiorovor the subject has been ac curately Investigated On acquisition of the fact of the nature of this virus, and of tho further fact, on widen the discov ery of the nature of the virus actually depends, that both tho higher and lower monkeys aro subject to the experimental IUeii.se, rest tho recent groat advances which have been made In the Investigation of Infantllo paralysis. Proved by Experiments. Experiments with monkeys conduct ed with extreme enro proved that In fantile paralysis could bo transmitted from one putlent to another. Tho di sease, moreover, Is caused by a most minute organism or germ, as the popu lar phraso hns come to be. "It Is, so far as wo can now Judge, one of tho most minute organisms known to cause disease." says Doctor Flexner. "This conclusion fotlous from tho fact that In aqueous suspen sion, such as Is secured through pre paring an emulsion of tho spinal cord in distilled water, It passes with great readiness and llttlo or no loss of po tency through the pores of tho densest uud flnofct porccluln Alters, uamely, the so-called Chamberland filter. It passes with even greater caso through tho somewhat less dense Bcrkefold filter. It Is extremely doubtful wheth er tho virus has actually been seen. On staining film preparations of tho illtrnto with mordanting dyes, prepa rations are secured which under tho highest powers of tho microscope ex hibit minute points, circular or slightly oval In form, which possibly, although not certainly, represent the stained parasite. Filtrates Highly Potent. "When tho filtrates aro examined under tho durkMnlcroscope, Innumer able bright dauclng points, devoid of definite size and form, and not truly motile, can bo discerned. That these particles represent the micro-organism of poliomyelitis ennnot bo nllirmed, since slmllnr particles are present in flltrntes obtained from nervous nnd other tissues which can bo viewed also ns consisting of simple protein matter. "The flltrntes ore highly potent. Quantities ns small as ono one-thousandth to ono one-hundredth of a cubic centimeter sufllco,to cnuso tho disease In monkeys after tho usual Incubation period, when Injected Into' the brain. The virus is highly resistant to cxter- MaaiiaMwHaamwini Dr. Simon Flexner. mil agencies nnd conditions. It with stands glycerlnatlon for weeks or months, :ery much as the virus of vac cinia or rabies does. It withstands dry ing over caustic potash for weeks with out any'or mnrked reduction In poten cy, showing n greater degree of resis tance than the virus of rabies." Doctor Flexner lias discussed the di sease before numerous medical socie ties, both In this country nnd Europe, and the following paragraphs are tak en from some of his papers : A Living Organism. That the virus Is a living organism must be concluded from the fact that such ml nuto quantities of It sunico to carry Infec tion through an Indennlto serlos of anl mals. Wo have propagated tho virus now through 25 generations, representing 25 beparate series of monkeys, and as many removes frqm tho original human material supplying it, and .the activity of the virus for the monkeys has Increased rather than diminished In the course and as the result of tho successive transplantations. Whether the virus has been or is to be IMPROVISED WELL IN MEXICO An impioWhCd well near field headquurters at the American Ijumj camp in Mexico. The UniU'd States soldier Is versatile. He can get himself out ol almost any predicament with only tho natural resources of the couutry at Ida commnnd. Tho water secured from the wells Is of hotter qu'jli'y tlmo thai found In the waterliclcs and rivers. cultivated outside of tho body Is stilt tin undecided question. I Tho spinal cord of n paralyzed monkey always contains tho virus we are consid ering. If a camera hair pencil or pledget of cotton Is covered with some of tho broken up tissue of such a cord and painted upon tho mucous membrane of tnonkevs thoso animals will develop In due tlpio tho paralysis and othor symptoms of poliomyelitis. The chief terror of tho disease lies In Its appalling power to produco deformities When death does occur It Is not tho re sult, ni lit many Infections, of a process of poisoning that robs tho patient of strength and consciousness beforo Its Im minence but Is cnuscd solely by paralysis of the respiratory function, sometimes with merciful suddenness, but often with painful slowness, without In any degree obscuring the consciousness of tho suffo cating victim until Just before tho end Is reached. No moro terrible tragedy can bo witnessed. Tho employment for treatment of the Immune serum, taken from monkeys or from human beings, exercises a definite If not very strong proteetlvo action upon In oculated monkeys. Klthor tho disease Is provonted altogether, or Us evolution Is modified In such a manner ns to diminish Its severity. When the virus used for In oculation Is highly adapted to tho monkey and thus vory virulent, It Is moro difficult to control tho result than when It departs less from tho original typo and Is less ac tive. How It Acts. Tho lmmuno scrum has thus far acted best when It was Injected Into the sub dural space on several succosslvo days. This is In conformity with tho fact thnt however Introduced Into tho body the virus establishes lts61f In communication with tho cerebrospinal liquid whore It propagates for a tlmo. loiter tho virus localizes In tho nervous tissue Itself and becomes accessible not from this liquid only but, probably, from the general blood also. Tho serum Introduced into tho subdural space soon escapes Into the blood; and thus a double action Is secured; on th ono hand It reaches tho nervous tissue di rectly from tho cerebrospinal liquid, and on the othor Indirectly with the blood. An lmmuno horso serum at first gave disap pointing results, but latterly Its employ ment by Intramuscular Injection has given moro promise. ' Tho point of departuro which wo have adopted Is the drug hoxamethylonamln, (urotropln,) which possesses a degree of antlsoptlo action In tho body and Is known to bo secreted Into tho cerebrospinal liquid. When the drug Is administrated by mouth It can bo detected by chemical tests In tho liquid In a short tlmo. When Inoculation of virus and administration of tho drug aro begun together and the administration continued for some days aftcrwurd, tho development of the para lysis is sometimes but not always averted, llexamethylenamln londs Itself to modi ncntlons by tho addition of still other antiseptic groups to Its molecule. Wo have tested n, largo numbor of such modifica tions nnd have found certain ones to ex ceed tho orlginnl compound In protective power, and others to promoto tho onset of paralysis. Nono is wholly without some degree of Injurious action upon tho sen sitive and vital organs of tho body. But manipulative skill 1ms already succeeded In eliminating tho objectionable, and im proving tho valuable features of certain drugs so that they exert action but little upon the organs and severely upon the paraslto, when thoy become useful thera peutic agents. Power May Return. In tho less severe cases of Infantile pnialysls only a group of muscles un dergo complete paralysis and atrophy, and there Is alwnys hope of some re turn of power In a paralyzed limb. As sociated with tho withered condition of the limb due to the muscular atrophy Is an enfeebled circulation, rendering tho limb cold, blue and livid; tho nu trition of the bones and other parts is Involved, so thnt a limb paralyzed In early Infancy does not grow and Is shorter than Its fellow. In Scandinavian countries the dl seaso is prevalent and sometimes as sumes nn epidemic form, whereby ono Is led to believe that it is duo to an Infectivo organism. Beginning in 1007, or thereabout, n pandemic of tho disease arose. Tho United States, Austria, Germany, and latterly Franco have certainly hnd epi demic outbreaks. It Is considered a matter of significance that tho original foci of tho epidemic dlseaso in tho United States, occurring In the summer nlno years ago, wero umohg tho At lantic seaboard states, and thnt tho two centers of population most seri ously affected wero Greater New York and Boston. The particular point of Importance In this respect arises from the fact that thoso two centers of pop ulation receive first nnd in a most con centrated way tle tmmlgrant popula tions from northern and eastern Europe. THINKS INDIANS REAL JZAKAGER&LlJXL'tGrmr arjcfV Yoxfc wwbq&s There Is at least one manager In the American league who doesn't believe the Cleveland Indians arc going to "blow" nnd he Is "BUI" Donovnn. Tho Indians have Impressed tho Yankee lender as being ono of tho strongest clubs that ever represented that city nnd Donovan says It Is tho most dangerous team In the league. When It comes to bnttlng In runs the other members of the Indians must "kow-tow" to the hard-hitting right fielder, Elmer Uobert Smlth-ltoth or ltobert Elmer ltoth-Smlth, whichever wny you prefer, the combination right gardener having driven in -12 runs for tho Indians this senson, which Is only one-third gone nt this writing. The Smith half of the linn has sent 20 runs across, whllo tho Both half has accounted for 28. "Chic" Gnndll, however, Is tho Individual leader, having driven In 30 runs. "Trls" Speuker, though, is giving him a merry battle, having chased HI of his team mates ncross the rubber. "This," however, is batting some 100 points better than "Chic." After passing by the right field firm, we find "Jack" Graney has driven In 2-lmen, an unusually large number for a lead-off man, who In forced to follow weak batters. In fact, nil the Indians tire hitting and this com bined with the splendid pitching they have had to date has kept them well on lop. BA5EBAL Outfielder "Greasy" Neale Is playing sensationally for Cincinnati. Tho Itcd Sox don't miss Speaker any more than an auto would miss u bpurk plug. Ping llodlef with an average of .305, Is leading the Pacific Coast league bat ters In hitting. Chicago newspapers have learned that Tinker would like to get Johnny Evers from the Braves. McGraw has decided to make a pitcher out of George Kelly, tho Giants' extra first baseman nnd outfielder. Speaking of encouragement, there Is the headline : "Brooklyn Hooters Won- derlug Whether Team Will Crack." Gllhooley of tho New Yorks, Is be ginning to hit as he did In the Interna tional league. He Is u capital lead-off man. , According to importers, Ivory is hrowlng scarce, but you'd never be lieve It ufter attending a few baseball games. Brick Owens Is doing sterling work as umpire In the American league, dno thing about Brick he's on tho square. Thoy are saying that Danny Sliuy, who once played short for tho Cardi nals, Is liable to get let out as mana ger of Kansas City. Pitcher Bill Hurrlngton, formerly a big card In tho New England league, has Joined Lynn, thnt club satisfying the Denver claim to him. The Boston Braves have another outllelder. Ho Is Fred Bnlley. Mike Knhoe dug him up for Stalllngs out of Washington nnd Lee university. Manager McCredle of Portland, Ore., makes his players walk to all parks at which they play ball. This Is n means of keeping tho men In condition. An umpire In Llttlo Itock has been sentenced to two yenrs in prison for bootlegging. Which same oughta get more than u passing guffaw out of Johnny Evers, And sjienklng of whiskers, there was a time In the early days of baseball when big leaguers pet formed on tho diamond adorned with facial fringe and got away with It. Al Demareo has only won seven out of eight games from the Giants since McGrnw gave him tho gate. This merely proves that pitchers cast upon tho water return la tho form of tor pedoes. Oscar Ilorstmnn has taken tho place of "Speed" Martin as tho pitching youngster of the Pacific Coast circuit, (Iorgtmnu is the kind of a twirler thnt lives on hard work and gets better with each performance. STORES FLAG CONTENDERS I -- CSP v I JBosiBynxxrff XJ&3 JT CWCXGMW, - 0 PATIENCE OF BILL SULLIVAN Incident Illustrating Determination and Tcnnclousness of Veteran Tiger Coach. A little story Is told of the patience and determination of Billy Sullivan, the veteran catcher and Tigers' coach. The Tigers wero In San Antonio, Tex., this spring for a couplo of ex hibition games. The morning of the first day Sullivan started to clean an old pipe. lie shoved n mntch In tho stem, and the wood was caught In the curve of tho amber, whero It stuck. Sullivan worked on tho pipe all morn ing. He used half u dozen strips of wire In a vain attempt to force tho match on through. Hu' fulled, how- .-rrzr. v xa ,V i k , 1 y'f'ti ' . ii ,. .. V- ,. I . . !-...'. 'I Tfc 'ii Bill Sulllvnn. over, and was still working on It when the call camoto go to tho park. Sulll- van put tho plpo tiway. Thut night ho worked again, nnd tho next morning ho was out In front of tho hotel still workluic on the pipe. Along about noon ho started to grin, and persons Interested knew tho end was near. A few minutes lutcr tho broken match was driven put and Sullivan, taking the stem between his teeth, blow long and vigorously. "That must bo a valuable pipe," re nmrked a bystander. "Nope; It cost 50 cenfs," replied Sul livan. "Why didn't you go nnd buy an other? It wasn't worth whllo to work that long on n C0-ccnt pipe." "Muybe not, but I'm not going to let any CO-cent plpo get me down. I start ed to get that out of I ho stem nnd I Intended getting It out If It took me a week or a month." The Incident Illustrates tho patience, the determination and tenaclousuess of the man. Fohl Signs Two Pitchers. Loo Fohl lias ndded two moro pitch ers to his staff In Dana Fllllglm, tho star hurler of the South Atlantic leaguo, and John Ferguson, said to bo the best in the Ohio Stntu league. Fohl certainly will need moro pitchers If ho Intends to keep his team up at tho top of tho list. Tamsett Returns to Game. Jimmy Tamsett, who announced somo time ago that he hnd retired from baseball, has consented to piny somo semlprofesshlonul games In Sclicuectiidjr. -'iiiii.:MMtiirmnifVW'? 4 9'' 't -4 Evk ft a & MB i m ' '' t- '- 'n KS. 'SAJk SET-.!:?; e.4m!mz-zy&&mw,i Sk-..vi-.ijF "ir :J ALTROCK IS A FAVORITE $ Charles Comlskoy, owner of the Chicago Whito Sox, hns n high regard for AUrock, "He's always n favorite here," re marked Commy. "Ho did some great work for us. I remember thnt post-season tie wo had with tho Cubs many years ago the ono which was never settled. "The West slders thought wo wore through us regnrds pitch ers for the fourteenth game. I went down to the bench nnd rt8kctl ltoy Patterson how he felt. Before ltoy could answer, Nick chimed In nnd nsked If he couldn't work. "I took hint up on Ids proposi tion nnd let him go In. On tho first ball pitched Jimmy Slnglo cracked n terrific slnglo to cen ter. Then Altrock wound up nnd threw the ball over to first, catching Single asleep by several feet. " 'It's all off,' I said to myself, ns I stood behind tho screen un der tho stnnd. 'We'll win now.' t t And we did win. Yes, I've nl- J wnys liked Alt rock and am glad whenever he comes to town." teMr'W"M'H"W" HOLD REINS SEVERAL YEARS McQraw and Mack Have Piloted Re- spectlve Teams Longer Than Any Other Leaders. During tho Inst ten years In bnsc ball every team In tho National nntl American leagues, with tho exception of tho Philadelphia Athletics nnd tho Now York Giants, hnvo hud two or John McGraw. more mnnngors. Ten yenrs ago John McGraw was niannglng tho Giants and Connie Mack was leading tho Athletics. Thoso two men nro still piloting thoso teams and bid fair to do so for many, years to come. McGraw started his career with tho Giants In 1009. Under him tho Now Yorkers won tho Nntlonnl leaguo pen nants in 1001 nnd 1005, nnd tho world's title in 1905. They lost the Nntloual league championship in 1008 becnusq of Morkle's famous "boner" and fin ished third In 1009. In 1010 tho Gi ants finished second, and wero first la 1011, 1012 and 1013. Tho Ginnts lost the world's series with tho Athletics In 1011, nnd In 1013 wero ngalu beaten by tho Athletics for the big honors'. In 1014 the Giants wero nosed out la tho pennant light by tho Braves, after tho latter had mndo a whirlwind fin- ?wBm&22S Connie Mack. Ish. In 1015, for the llrbt tlmo In McG raw's management, they finished In tho cellar. Connie Mack organized tho Athletics In 1001. They won the American leaguo championship in 1002, 1005, 1010, 1011, 1013 and 1014. They also captured tho world's title in 1010 from tho Cubs, and from tho Ginnts In 1011 nnd 1013. Last year they finished last, for tho first time In their enreer. Another Pltchir Flaherty. There's another pitcher Flaherty In tho American leaguo. ' Ho is.u young bter from Dean academy takou on by Hugh Jennings. Ills first immo Ik Ed ward. The nowcomer, by the way, n nophew of Pat. ?"'& fflWRMR j"? h JiiSri .-, .u J ,f th,