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Show THE HIGH COST OF DYING Consider the high cost of dying and forget for a few minutes the high cost of living. Each year more, I than ono thousand flvo hundred persons' per-sons' dlo In Utah from proventablo causes. Tho cost of these fifteen hundred unnecessary funerals alone probably amounts to moro than sov-cnty-flvo thousand dollars or about four times the annunl appropriation appropria-tion to tho State Hoard or Health. Most of theso deaths aro proceeded by long costly Illnesses which must bo ndded to the high cost of dying. Tho people of Utah probably pay out each year on account of theso unnecessary unne-cessary deaths at least ono-fourth of a million dollnrs. Wo niU3t tako nccount nlso of tho nluo to tli,o community and to tho stato of theso lives about which wo seem so Indifferent. What Is the llfo or"n man or women or child worth In cold blooded figures or dollars nnd cents? A conservative estimate puts tho valuo or an adult workman ntl flvo thousand dollars. That means that every able bodied workman Is worth on an average of flvo thousand thou-sand dollars to tho state for the wealth ho can produce. Since many of these who die through our neglect nro not producers It is estimated that tho avorago economic value of theso lives Is seventeen hundred dollars. This amounts to moro tbnn two and ono-half million dollnrs waste. Thus it appears that tho peoplo or Utnh lose each year about threo million dollnrs through needless deaths. And this cost of dying Is only a part of tho toll of prcventablo disease. dis-ease. There aro probably about ten cases of disabling cases of sickness for each death from prcventablo caufoi. Probably one-hn'f million dollars Is spent each year In tho caro I of theso enses. Wo must tako Into account nlso the loss of productive labor due to needless disease. Evory day that a workman Is Idle on nccount nc-count of sickness ho and his family aro tho poorer by the amount ho should havo earned that day. Also tho stato Is tho poorer by the amount ho should havo produced. An Investigation In-vestigation or this subject was recently re-cently mado In tho city or Mllwnukeo which hns a population about the equal to the population or tho whole or Utah. It was estimated that tho workmon of Mllwnukeo loso annually annual-ly moro than threo million dollars In wage3 alono on account ot slck-ness. slck-ness. Thoro nro no statistics on this subject for Utah. Rut ono million dollars wago loss annually through proventablo sickness' would bo u conservative con-servative estimate for this state. Tho yearly money lo38 to tho peoplo peo-plo of Utnh from preventable sickness sick-ness and death 1b probably moro than llvo million dollnrs, moro than ten dollars for ovciy man, woman and child In tho stntc. Far greater oven Is the cost In suffering nnd sorrow sor-row which cannot bo exprcssod In figures and for whloh no money valuo val-uo can compensate. There was a tlmo when men might Told thoir hands and nay "This Is tho hand of Providence, wo are helpless help-less and blaniolpss," but not so today. to-day. This terrlblo toll or sickness and death, moro than ono-thlrd tho total amount oT sickness and death In tho stnte, can bo prevented. Do you want to stop this tremen dous loss or wenlth and human wel-rare? wel-rare? It can bo dono. Some day It will bo dono. Why not do It now? Succeeding articles or this sorles will tell how It can bo accomplished. |