PICKLES FOR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7806, 10 September 1903, Page 2

PICKLES FOR BABIES.

STRANGE -STORIES TfILD AT THE HEALTH CONGRESS. \ The great Health Congress at Liverpool, in July, was frankly alarmist. In one section doctors described the bacilli that- attaaft a mani who plunges into a public .swimming bath; various speakers •descanted on the dangers of our milk supply, and stories were related of cow-sheds . which were enough to lead to the formation of an anti-milk league. ' Onej lady detailed the doings of some Lancashire .mothers, who feed their babies in arms on pickks; and mustard ; there was a vigorous ■discussion on the -folljj or wisdom of feeding starving slum; children ; and one section was concerned with the dangers of military drill in elementary schools, in the women's saction, Miss Heald described the work of the Liverpool Corporation in supplying sterilised milk for ba ; bies, which has saved many lives. Many mothers, s%id Miss Heald, not only of the very' poor, but of the respectable working classes, were extremely ignorant about the rearing of children. ,-r---"Can anyone imagine a more hopeless spectacle," she asked, " than a small child gnawing a piece of raw, dirty suet? It may have beer.! more nutritious, but not njpre suitable as an article- of diet, than fried meat with pickled cabbage, or a basinful of -pickles and mustard. That all these things have been given*, and' are- being given, is a fact. I have also heard of a poor miserable infaait being 'fed' on a •' dummy ' with a bit of sugar on the end of it." ' ■ • Mr Eaton. Jones, the chief veterinary authority of Liverpool, drew a startling picture of rural dairy conditions. In places that supply towns, cowsheds, he said, are often in a most deplorable condition. Sanitation is unknown ; the animals are packed together as closeiy as possible, and kept largely in • darkness ; drainage is bad, and the cattle are not groomed. The main danger is from the development of tuberculosis. Probably 50 per cent of milking cattle are infected, Mr Jones declared. Dr E. E. Glynn and Dr J. C. Matthews presented a paper on the dangers of a contaminated water supply in public swimming baths. At first, their story sounded very alarming, as they told of the millions of dangerous bacilli fastening on the courageous swimmer. But the conclusion was reassuring — saltwater baths are almost abso-4 luf«V safe, and no harm can be traced as having arisen from fresh water ones.