| Show A GOOD RULE kissing la Is a very common as ae well as very tory popular custom among some rome classes notably young people and those of the gentler sex of all ages it may be the outcome of spontaneity ot of affection or a method of greeting between female friends and acquaintances ut auces some sometimes timeR it is even used as political ammunition in an election campaign as is stated was the case came with a candidate for office in sevier county at the last election the local paper of his hie town gave as the actual reason of his hia running ahead of his hia ticket and beating his opponent by a small email majority that be went around winning the hearts of parents by kissing their babies while the other man was prosaically sticking close to what he understood stood to be regular bu business kissing is ia all right and proper in its place jut just where that la is we will not now discuss further than tu to say that there is ii a vast amount of it carried on outside of the rules of pro propriety and that a 9 large share of the responsibility for this improper osculation rests upon parents and people of mature years one particular in which kissing is carried on to a dangerous extent is sug rested by the health officer of san ban ff francisco dr J W keeney to the proprietors of the gulden golden rule bazar in that city these instructions are directed to a christmas christinas day festival in iii which the officer requires the pro prie tors to prohibit in their establishment the kissing ot of children by t the he representatives of santa banta claus tt this action says the health cf ficeri Is in ten taken to prevent slay possible danger from the spread of diphtheria or other sickness among the thousands of children who will visit the place during the next few weeks it is the experience of medical men and others othen who have investigated this subject and whose admonitions are not to be passed lightly by that not only a great deal of sickness but sometimes deaths are directly traceable to the evil of indiscriminate kissing particularly of babies by older people it is quite possible for a person particularly a bearded man who kisses a great many children to transmit the bacteria of diphtheria from one child to another without being affected himself the germs cling to the whiskers or face of the indiscriminate kisser and while he or she may not inhale them they may be borne a considerable distance and bring disease and death to a family y far from where the germs were obtained it is not a great while since a peculiar case occurred at a wedding in the east where eight of the guests became victims of diphtheria at the time of the reception the bride had bad what was wa believed to be only a slight cold but which was found to be diphtheria which had been transmitted to those who suspecting no evil kissed the lady in offering their congratulations A good place for a start to check indiscriminate kissing is with the children they should be taught that when visitors or strangers pucker their mouths months for the exer oise it is time to be on guard babies do not usually enjoy being kissed by strangers and submission la Is frequently gained by compulsion children in the schools should be taught the dangers ot of the practice and when this Is done the extent of its range may be limited in the next generation it may be impossible to effect a reform in this generation for the reason that the mass of people are averse to shaking oft off a long established habit even when their judgment is convinced that it to Is injurious but educators of the young should place before their pupils demonstrated facts and if this is done with the topic under consideration indiscriminate kissing particularly of babies will be re legat ed to its place among the foolish errors t of the past the sin ban francisco health officer bus baa started a good rule the I 1 NEWS end endorses orsea and commends J him in it not only on the sanitary ground but for moral reasons and con sidera tiona of modesty and purity which may form the subject of a future article on the subject |
