EARLY MARRIAGE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 659, 12 January 1933, Page 10

EARLY MARRIAGE.

Incidence of Tuberculosis Among Women. MEDICAL OPINIONS. Girls should marry early, declared Sir James Crichtqn-Browne, a London mental and nerve specialist, when speaking recently. He contended that young married women of up to twenty-five years of age did not die of tuberculosis like the unmarried ones, adding that hundreds of young women wage-earners were to-day suffering from the complaint owing to the present competitive era, representing a drastic change from Victorian homekeeping. Dr T. Fletcher Telford, medical officer for the Canterbury-Westland Health District, when asked for his opinion on the subject, said that he thought Sir James was speaking from generalities and not from actual figures. He would not go so far as to say that tuberculosis was more predominant in unmarried women over twenty-five years of age. Governing Factors. “ The occurrence of the disease is governed by a number of factors, all of which must be taken into account,' 1 said Dr Telford. “If a man and a woman, in fairly good circumstances, marry before they are twenty-five years of age, it is unlikely that tuberculosis will trouble the wife. Similarly, the children of such a marriage would be less prone to the disease as they would be brought up amidst pleasant and good surroundings. “ But, on the other hand, if the marriage is between a poor couple, who are prepared to struggle for a while until they have enough to live on in comfort, there is a danger that the wife may contract tuberculosis. The worry of trying to make ends meet and the responsibilities of keeping the home going, not to speak of the responsibility of children, if there are any, make the chances of infection greater.” Girls who worked in spinning mills or in other industries which gave rise to a dusty atmosphere were likely to be affected by tuberculosis, continued Dr Telford. Similarly, typists, clerks and shop assistants, who had to work at high pressure, often in badlyventilated premises, were liable to ini fection. These girls had to turn out in all sorts of weather after a hurried breakfast, often contracting colds which were neglected. Their meals, too, in many cases were dietetically incorrect. “ Not Enough Rest.” Distractions in the way of examinations, night classes, home work, cinemas and dancing prevented the girls from securing the right amount of rest, which had the effect of aggravating their difficult and straining working conditions. “ But for all that,” said the doctor, “ I would not say that the prevalence of tuberculosis in married women is less than that in single women.” An interview with a shop-girl revealed that she enjoyed her work and did not have the least suspicion that she was going to contract tuberculosis. Asked for her views on an early marriage, she said that there were few young men these days who could afford to marry a girl before the age of twenty-five. They had not enough money to marry so as to afford their wives comfortable homes, and, in any case, she did not think a girl would marry if married life held out a prospect of drudgery and a “ hand-to-mouth ” existence.