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Show 00 COMMON WASHRAG SOURCE OF DISEASE Washington, Aug. 31. The United States public health service and tho various state and local boards of health have taken adequate moasures for the abolition of that distributer of disease germs, tho common towel. Now comes tho news that the common com-mon washrag Is even a greater menace men-ace to health. The hotels and public hostelries have recognized this for some time, and have supplied their guests with sterilized wash cloths in Individual sealed packets. The damp "sour" smelling washrag still exists, : howover, in many private bath rooms. : Imperfectly washed out after use, fre- 1 quently not wrung out at all, It is 1 often hung over a rack or a radiator j near an open window, there to col- 1 lect dust and dirt. Frequently the I same washrag Is used by tho entire family, thus affording an easy means 1 of transference of mouth secretions from person to person. In many households each Individual has hiB own wash cloth and his individual towel, but these hang so close to one another that thero is ready inter- t j i i 1 in. in 1 . , change of bacteria. Each individual should have his own wash cloth It should bo thoroughly washed out with clean hot water after use. It should be then wrung as nearly dry as possible, pos-sible, and If possible hung in the sun to dry. It should not come In contact con-tact with other wash cloths. In the Investigations tho United States public pub-lic health service is conducting in regard re-gard to the prevalence of trachoma it has been 'found that common towels probably acted as a medium of distribution distri-bution of tho germ of disease. |