Lancings THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1918. TO FIGHT " THE FLU FIEND."

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 958, 21 November 1918, Page 8

Lancings

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1918. TO FIGHT " THE FLU FIEND."

Courage, Common Sense, Cheerfulness,

Sere ehal the Press the People'aright maintain Unawed by principle and unbribed by gam j Hete patriot Truth her glorious preceptsdraw. Pledged to Religion, Liberty,and Law

S purgation by the V Y "Flu Fiend" is an ugly and bitter business, but courage, > common sense, and, above all, cheerfulness, will in time givei this mischievous demon as bad a fall as that experienced by the Hun. Courage, thank Heaven, courage of a very noble kind, is being freely displayed by a,n army of willing and self-sacrificing helpers, who lend a usefully helping hand to the hard-worked doctors —alas, all too few —and trained nurses. But this fine , spirit of courage should be accompanied by a public and private display of common sense and the equally important quality of cheerfulness. » 9 ® This epidemic is the most deadly visitation from which it' has ever been thei misfortune of New Zealand to suffer. Its ravages have brought suffering and sorrow into all too many homes, and not for one moment would we attempt to under-rate the danger it spells to the community and the individual. But if the enemy is strong and persistent there is no need to infer that he is impregnable entrenched, and that he cannot be driven out and destroyed. He is being attacked with an unremitting energy and fine intelligence by the Health Department, the Ministerial head of which (the Hon. G. W. Russell) is proving himself emphatically the right man in the right place; by a medical and nursing staff which ignores fatigue, and ■ is displaying a self-sacrificing ardour which merits, as it is obtaining, the warmest admiration of the public; and by a small army of equally devoted volunteer workers. All this fine organised effort needs only to be supplemented by a public and indivdual display of the two qualities of common sense and cheerfulness, and all will be well in a very short time. Let every citizen take note of and carefully observe the official instructions as to cleanliness and as to frequent inhalation, and the use of the simple and cheap preventive medicines publicly prescribed, and the work of those who are so manfully fighting the "Flu Fiend" will be rendered far less arduous and much more speedily crowned with complete success. The careless man or woman who neglects to observe the officially designated precautions is not only a fool to himself or herself but is endangering the lives of others. •» * «• Finally, as to that splendid preventive drug which costs nothing but which is worth so much at a time like this— cheerfulness. Thesre has been, it is

true, some depression, but there is much greater cause for thankfulness. Things might have been very much worse than they are and they certainly will not he improved by meeting trouble half-way, as we fear so many foolish people have been, doing. The death rate, after all, has been relatively very low, and it is steadily decreasing as the good work of the officials and their assistants makes itself felt. Despondency is the enemy's most dangerous ally. Fight against that ally and you fight against the enemy in chief. Keep calm, be courageous, exhibit common sense, and, above all, be bright and cheerful! Already the enemy shows signs of coming defeat. Press forward against him with a stout heart, a common-sense decision to follow the advice of the medical experts, and a determination to look at the best and not the worst side of things, and the victory is more than half-won.