OUR BABIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13900, 11 May 1909, Page 3

OUR BABIES.

By Hygeia

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." BURNING IN CHILDREN. Under the above heading, Dr Parry, M.D., 8.5.. F.R.CS, writes a long letter which appears in the current number of the British Medical Jofirnal The danger of fire is one winch cannot be too strongly impressed on mothers Where a child is seriously burned through catching fire, the greater misfortune in many cases is the fact that the victim has to live on in a horribly maimed condition. The rapid spread upwards causes the flames to expend their main heat on the neck and head, and these parts are liable to be so deeply burned that healing cannot be brought about without frightful scarring on the surface and permanent and pitiable distortions and disfigurements. An act has just come into force in England whereby if a. young child is seriously burned through parent, guardian, or nurse in charge leaving the Hiild in dangerous proxmity to an open fire, such nersons become punishable bv law for the wrong inflicted through their carelessness. It may seem cruel to further harrow the feelings of parents by charging them with an offence against their offspring at a.time when they are already almost distracted through grief, but something needs to be done in the interest of the innocent victims who are too often doomed by the carelessness of others to life long pain and misery. Dr Parry says: — There are in this country 1400 deaths annually from burns and scalds in children under five years of age. The great majority of these deatlis are, with a few simple precautions, absolutely preventable, and it is to this fact that I am anxious to call attention. Think of it—all these hundreds of babies lost unnecessarily each year; think not only of the dreadful waste of infant life, but also of the awful pain and agony of this terrible ending. In addition to those who lose their lives there are an enormous, number who are injured in varying degrees, so that the sum total of fuft'ering is appalling. The Legislature has recognised that some action was necessary, and a beginning has been made by Clause 15 of the new Children's Act, which came into force on April 1, and which enacts that—"lf any person over the age of 16 years who has the custody, charge, or care of any child under the age of seven years allows that child to be in any room containing an open fire grate not sufficiently protected to guard against the risk of the child being burnt or scalded, without taking reasonable precautions against that risk, and by reason thereof the child is killed or suffers serious injury, he shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding £10." The two most important contributory causes of this very large number of deaths and accidents from burning are (1) the wearing of inflammable garments, and (2) the absence of efficient fireguards. The chief material used by the poor for the undergarments of children is flannelette. It has the great advantage of being cheap, and the great disadvantage of being very inflammable. The varieties of flannelette which are said to be non-in-flammable ire not really so. 1 have procured a very large number of samples of flannelette from drapers in the town, of all prices, ranging from 23d to 10Jd per yard, many of them declared to be noninflammable, and with the single exception of one, to which I refer be- . low, they all flamed on the application of a match, the dear ones almost, if not quite, as readily as the cheap. The one exception is a patent material much advertised, especially by coroners, which certainly burns with great difficulty before washing, but which catches fire almost as readily as ordinary flannelette offer repeated washing, and as the cheapest variety of this costs 6gd per yard, we can hardly expect the poor to pay this price instead of or 3?d for advantages which are so transient. Dr. Parry dwells on the fact that, owing to flannelette-being so extremely cheap in England, and woollen materials so comparatively dear, it is impossible to do away with the use of flannelette for children among the very poor, in spite of the fact that the use of flannel would greatly diminish the risk of catching fire. However, in New Zealand the difference in price is not nearly so great owing to our having plenty of woollen mills, but no cotton factories. Cheap flannel can be bought retail at from lOd to Is a yard, and the cheapest flannelette that any Veailv thrifty mother would buy oosts Bd or more." Allowing, therefore, for the flannelette being a little wider, tht> price of cheap flannel is only double the price of flannelette. On the other hand, looked at from the view of comfort, warmth, and healthiness, the real

wool is worth more than the extra cost. The prime object in clothing children is to get enough warmth with the lightest, most porous, and unhampering material. Judged by this standard, the advantages of flannel over flannelette ;.re enormous. Practically' speaking, none of our mothers in the Dominion are so badly off that they can offer the excuse for using flannelette that is valid with the very poor in England. It must be borne in mind that in advocating the use of cheap flannel one is not recommending a poor material. Flannels of the cheaper qualities have advantages over the finer and more expensive ones in that they are more open in texture and less liable to shrink and become felted;

On examining the second cause, want of proper fireguards, I am much more hopeful. This fact was present in 85 per cent, of 1600 inquests held on children dying from bums. The difficulty of getting the poorer classes to use these guards is, of course, their cost. It is the bounden duty of all district visitors, nurses, and others who come in contact with the poor to impress upon them on every possible occasion the great danger which their children run by being left in rooms with unprotected tires.