Sanitation Practiced Twenty Centuries Ago Tn a recent issue of Modern Medi cine, James A. Tobey takes up the early story of sanitation. Referring to the discoveries of the last forty years, Mr. Tobey suggests that these have so enriched the knowledge of man that what had gone before may seem almost negligible, but at the same time the practice of systematic sanitation goes back to the dawn of civilization. Traces of these prac tices have been found in Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Crete and Greece and Rome. History begins about 6,000 years ago, and the earliest known civiliza tion is that of the Sumerians, who lived between the Tigris and the Euphrates, in what is now known as Mesopotamia. Here recent excava tions show that the dwellings of the people were provided with drains and cesspools. The Chaldeans and Assyrians who came later, with great capitals at Ninevah and Babylon, had water supplied from great distances and the whole city was sewered. Another great civilization flour ished in the valley of the Nile some 8,000 years B. C. These Egyptians worshiped the dung beetle, the scar abeus, possibly recognizing its scav enging powers. The well of Joseph, near the great pyramid, is excavated through nearly 300 feet of solid rock. The ancient Hebrews were the founders of real public health. The laws of Moses, who was born about 1600 B. C., the first hygienic code known, apply about as well to-day as when first promulgated. The Hebrews recognized the sani tary significance of bathing, cooked all meats and vegetables and ab stained from the use of certain infeats considered unclean. The city of Jerusalem was well sewered and had a good water supply. Previous to the eighth century B. C., the city bad two aqueducts. In 727 B. C., King llezekiah built a reservoir, the Pool of Siloam. and to supply it pierced the rock hill behind the city with a tunnel. Crete had the most elaborate sani tary engineering of the remote past. The palace of Broad Knossus (B. C. 2100) had rainwater conductors which flushed the drain. Under Cyrus the Persians had ex cellent sanitary ideas, derived from the Egyptians. In talking with his father Cyrus received good advice, to the effect that while physicians could euro sickness in the army, the better course would be not to permit the army to get sick at all. Here was the voicing of prevention more than five centuries before Christ. The Hindus had rules of hygiene, but public health appears always to have been unconsidered in China as it is to-day. They knew in antiquity the inoculation against smallpox and the importance of good water, some of their wells being 1,500 feet deep I and very old. The Druids of Britain, antedating Moses, knew medicine and are be- ' lieved to have practiced sanitation. I In North America there are pre- ! historic wells, and in Yucatan one J such is bored to a depth of 100 feet, following then a horizontal gallery 2.700 feet long to the source of sup ply. Mr. Tobey sketches also the sani- j tation of the Greeks and Romans. The former recognized the benefits of preserving health, and their tem- | pies were usually situated in groves i near springs. Athens obtained a wa- i ler supply in 625 B. C., through a ! tunnel 4,200 feet long and eight feet j square. Hippocrates clarified medical ] science. He wrote three books on hygiene and sanitation. He advo cated boiling drinking water. Carth age had the oldest known cisterns, eighteen in number, each 100 feet long by 20 feet deep. Koine hud sewers as early as 800 B. The cloaca maxima was built in 735 B. C. and is in use to-day. The great Roman aqueducts arc monuments to the genius of the an cient engineers. Some of them are ] still in use. The Romans made | batiiing a luxury. Pompeii had a i water supply In the fifth. centuiy B. C., and bath atrines,. Rome used the water supply for flushing. Crete depended on the rain. Truly the ancients had good ideas about some essentials of sanitation.—Kan- i sas City Star. Captures 5,000,000 Rubles From Bolshevists By Associated Press. Kharkov. South Russia, Nov. 2S.— | General Andre Skouro. of General Denikine's South Russian forces op posing the Bolsheviki, is credited | with the capture from the Bolshe- I viki of 5,000,000 rubles worth of booty. Americans here call hini the ! "Million Dollar" General. Me is the idol of the Cossack country and the I leader of "Skouro's Wolves," whose ! daring and fearless cavalry warfare I has made possible many of the Vol unteer Army's big advances. This dashing 32-year-old Cossack general turns all his money over to his wife, a beautiful young Cau casian girl who resides here. And I she in turn has offered her fortune j and services to the American Red Cross. Mrs. Skouro came to the American relief headquarters shortly after the Red Cross unit arrived and was enrolled as a volunteer worker, being placed in charge of civilian re lief work in a large district behind the Denikine army. Mining Industry in Bolivia Being Revived Snn I'rntidsco. Cal., Nov. 28.—A j great revival in the silver mining in dustry is in progress in Bolivia, ac cording to Alberto Paluciou, Boliv- i ian consul here. During the war silver mining was 1 replaced by tin and tungsten, thou sans of tons of which were sold by Bolivians to the Allies. The low price of silver during this period caused many of the silver mines to I be abandoned, but with tile return I of a demand for silver bullion and consequent high prices, the silver ] industry is taking on something of | Us ancient aspect us the leading In- j dustrial activity of the South Amer ican republic, Mr. Palacioa states. Crop Reports in Mexico Arc Poor Mexico City, Nov 28.—Exceedingly I pessimistic reports of crop and har vest conditions In Mexico have been received by the Department of Agri culture. The unusually heavy and j persistent rains have destroyed at least 4 0 per cent of corn and bean I crops, the two national staples, and ' unless immediate measures are ■ taken both as to conservation and ! r' planting, the department says, there will bo a real shortage of those foods. Prior t"o the long sea son of wet weather crop reports in dicated the biggest harvest in many years. INDIA'S EX PORTS BREAKING RECORDS Delhi. India. Nov. 2S. —India's ex ports for September amounted to approximately $103,220,000. This exceeds all previous rocords. FRIDAY EVENING, Flanders Mud, Bane of All Annies, Being Used For Building By Associated Press. Holders, Belgium, Nov. 28. Flanders' mud, the bane of all ar I" The Live Store" Always Reliable" " Sure of Your " a Doutrichs "Overcoat-Fair" I Where You Can Buy Your Overcoat for the Least Money Judging from the thousands of people tdSHL who have been to this "Live Store" during the past S&jTfflr three weeks since we began "The Overcoat-Fair," you would M f. I hardly think anybody had stayed away from this Fall event. Yet there are men and young men who have been waiting until after Thanksgiving Day to purchase their new / iV Hfe&kv j Overcoat or Suit I That time has arrived, the festivities are over for November and you are going to turn your thoughts toward the Jf greatest holiday "season that this country has ever witnessed. Most of those who served our country are back home and they are going to share in the great Ameri jjj| can Christmas this year. Be sure that each and every one receive suitable as well I Let us suggest a new "Stetson" Hat, a "Interwoven" or "Monito" Hosiery, "Munsing," "Duo fold" or "Cooper's" Underwear, "Adler's" Gloves, "Universal" Pajamas, "Pioneer" Suspenders, Belts and Garters, Initial Handkerchiefs, Sweaters and Cardigan Jackets; last, but not Ha; Schaffner & Marx MMA I Kuppenheimer & I fjjjf I Society Brand Clothes / ill If fH I We guarantee everything we sell to |jp| | : || give satisfaction to the wearer, but if you buy your jHH gifts from Doutrichs they can be exchanged or money refunded either before or after Christmas. That's a big advantage in buying your gifts from Doutrichs. #iiriptg Uratth (HUitljFa I JThe Real Christmas Store !> | T/ie Boys' Department j | Shirts for Christmas Gifts f Ever since we announced that we were the Harrisburg distributors of Boys' i You'll see the most beautiful Silk, Madras and Mercerized Shirts that you've ever " +O-*% Is-t/lsv FT L/ ILa 'IJ.D T I l°°k e d at if you step into Doutrichs. We are selling these Handsome Shirts for V W 6UrPL6ug6 CtnCL JJUOOetOlit f A Christmas Gifts. It's none too soon for you to think about getting ready. J l Suits, Overcoats and Mackinaws, we have been selling boys' clothing as never be- S J t £ fore. Our salespeople are so busy fixing up the boys and little kiddies that they T I FVPYV /q Pll~t II Y) IT! fi ISlppft $ don't get time for anything else. Come in and see the boys and their parents buy- j A - i UIVCUL, I J ing Suits and Overcoats, "Kaynee" Shirts and Blouses, "Black Cat" Hose and the § t liIQFTIITIPn Hf)llflflV fIOY H VPP 9 I Dandy Hats and Caps we have. The women are not forgetting to buy "Wash T i j? Suits for the little folks. My, but they look pretty. y FREE Gift 1 i mles operating In Belgium, is of | some use after all. ! Lime is practically unobtainable , | in Belgium to-day and in many of I the ruined villages, the refusees are ! laying stones and bricks with mud | for temporary shelter against the I coming winter. Others till the chinks HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH in their chimneys and walls with it, and altogether it becoming as | much of a comfort to the refugees as 1 it was a handicap to tlio soldiers I who lived in it for months. At Dixmude, the mayor divides his time between public affairs, weigh i ing out coal, distributing supplies i and cleaning mortar oft of old bricks from the ruin of his house. He is laying these In mud, too, for his winter's shelter. His example Is be -1 Ing widely followed in Dixmude and surrounding villages and Flanders' 1 mud is pluying an Important part in the making of temporary homes 1 until new materials can be secured i in the spring. RED CROSS HOSPITAL GOES Vl' IN MOXTENGRO INnlKoritza.- Nov. 28.—A gift of $20,000 made by the Junior Red Cross of America, for hospltul and educational work in Montenegro, Is being utilized here. The Podgoritza hospital of seventy beds, established some months ago ' NOVEMBER 28, 1919. 1 by the American Red Cross, and which lias been daily turning away enough patients to fill 500 beds. Is being enlarged Immediately. Two additional wards, made of barracks and set In the beautiful grounds of Prince Mlrko's palace are being added to the hospital. A section of the hospital will be devoted espe cially to the treatment of children. Girls! Girls!! Save Your Hair With Cuticura 17
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers