1014. 
THE RURAL N E YV-YOR K ER 
t>AL5 
09 
09 
Care of the Eyes 
From Cradle to “Old Sight” 
By Jos. E. Sternberg, M.D. - 
The subject is one of vital importance 
to all mankind. As you should all 
know, the eye is one of the most import¬ 
ant and delicate organs in the body. You 
will then agree with me in the fact that 
the necessity of perfect sight is not only 
essential to our happiness, but necessary 
for our success in life. 
INFANTILE CARE.—The care of 
the eyes must begin at birth. Statistics 
show that more than one-tliird of all 
those suffering from loss of sight, wheth¬ 
er in our hospitals, institutions, or at 
large to-day, can trace their affliction to 
neiglect of their eyes at the time of their 
birth, either through lack of knowledge 
or cleanliness on the part of the attend¬ 
ants at that time. No physician or at¬ 
tendant has discharged his duty or obli¬ 
gation to State, mother or child, who has 
neglected to employ the necessary pro¬ 
phylactic measures. The family is, and 
should always be, instructed by their 
family physician in the proper hygienic 
care of the eyes. When these instruc¬ 
tions are not given, P is safe for the 
mother to do this herself, washing both 
eyes morning and night with a solution 
of boric acid, which is made as follows: 
Get about 10 eents worth of pure boric 
acid (not kitchen borax), take half a 
teaspoon of the powder, and dissolve it 
in half a pint of hot water. When thor¬ 
oughly dissolved it is ready for use 
(should always be used lukewarm). Be¬ 
fore using the solution be sure to thor¬ 
oughly cleanse your hands with soap and 
water. Tear off a bit of clean absorbent 
cotton, dip it in the solution, and wash 
both eyes, allowing the solution to get 
into tho eyes, or a medicine dropper may 
be used, which should be boiled before 
using. What is left of the solution 
should be tightly corked in a clean bottle 
until needed again. 
CONDITIONS IN CHILDHOOD.— 
Passing to childhood, the most common 
conditions we find are those of defective 
vision and cross eyes. In defective 
vision the child usually complains of 
headaches, holds its book too close to its 
face, the eyes water, tire easily, and 
there is a feeling of general discomfort. 
Never make light of such complaints. 
Children do have headache and stomach¬ 
ache when they believe it to be to their 
advantage as an excuse for not attend¬ 
ing school, with a remarkable recovery 
by half-past nine, but many a child is 
considered wayward and backward at 
home and in school, when a proper ex¬ 
amination would at once reveal the true 
cause. Statistics show that 10 per cent 
of all headaches are due to faulty muscle 
action, and 75 per cent to eye strain. 
CROSS EYES—This trouble may be 
noticed during infancy or in childhood. 
As a rule this condition occurs early in 
life. Here much, can be done when at¬ 
tended to early. Do not allow the child 
to go on, hoping the eyes may come 
straight. They seldom do; if not at¬ 
tended to, the turned eye is apt to become 
blind from disuse. Treatment for de¬ 
fective and cross eyes consists of a care¬ 
ful examination by a physician or oc¬ 
ulist trained for this work, who will 
use the necessary methods to relax the 
child’s eyes, find the true and exact con¬ 
dition, and prescribe the proper glasses. 
No child is too young to wear glasses if 
needed. I have on several occasions pre¬ 
scribed glasses for children aged as 
young as IS months, with excellent re¬ 
sults in defective vision and cross eyes. 
Taking into consideration the abuses 
during school life it is essential that 
proper examinations be made by the 
teachers and parents at the very begin¬ 
ning, examining each eye separately, cov¬ 
ering one while the other is being ex¬ 
amined. This examination will show any 
deficiency. In cases of cross eyes, when 
wearing glasses does not help after a 
reasonable time, operation is the only 
means of overcoming the difficulty. You 
owe it to your child. When this is de¬ 
nied the child, who will be responsible 
when the child reaches adult life? 
It should be the duty of parents to 
visit the school in order to observe the 
arangement of desks, light and sanitary 
conditions; where the parents will co¬ 
operate with the school, defects are quick¬ 
ly remedied. Following school life, va¬ 
rious occupations carry with them a 
number of accidents, the most common 
of which are burns, foreign bodies in the 
eyes, and inflammatory conditions. Burns 
are always serious. If from acids neu¬ 
tralize and wash out thoroughly with bi¬ 
carbonate, cooking soda, or a borax so¬ 
lution. If from lime use a strong solu¬ 
tion of sugar water, olive oil, milk, or a 
weak solution of vinegar. Never use 
A Future R. N.-Y. Subscriber. 
No Fear Of The Dog Here. 
water alone in a lime b::rn. Blows, as a 
rule, cause hemorrhage under the skin 
(commonly known as black eye). This 
condition as a rule clears up without any 
treatment in about a week. In the early 
stage, however, cold compresses may 
help, while later hot compresses will 
hasten absorption. A solution of arnica 
is very beneficial applied hot or cold. 
Foreign bodies most frequently lodge 
and can be found under the upper eye¬ 
lid ; they are easily removed by the fol¬ 
lowing method. Have person look down, 
grasp eyelashes, draw lid down and away 
from the eyeball; then with a toothpick, 
match, or pencil turn lid up over it, 
when it is easily removed. If the for¬ 
eign body is seen on the eyeball, do not 
rub it. as this will tend to embed it. 
Use a bit of absorbent cotton on a tooth- 
Laid Up For Repairs. 
pick, or a clean handkerchief, and quick¬ 
ly wipe it off. Do not .under any cir- 
stances use cpestones or an unclean 
handkerchief, nor poultice an ei/e. If it 
is a small piece of steel use a small mag¬ 
net. Should you fail to remove it see 
your physician at once. 
INF1 ,AMMATORY CONDITIONS.— 
These always mean a condition which, 
unless thoroughly understood, should not 
receive home treatment, as they often 
mean the loss of sight. Pink eye is a 
contagious disease, and is most prevalent 
in the Spring and Fall. The discharge 
is contagious; it is spread by unclean 
towels, handkerchiefs, and after washing 
in the basin of an infected person. If 
this occurs in school the child should be 
sent home at once, and not allowed to 
return until a certificate is had from the 
attending physician. It is not safe to 
attempt home treatment in this condi- 1 
tion, as it is not in the danger of the 
condition itself, but in the possible com¬ 
plications which may arise. Consult your 
physician at once, or better still, your 
oculist. 
OLD SIGHT.—Arriving at the age of 
-10, a change takes place in most eyes, 
commonly known as old sight. This 
change is a natural one. The first thing 
noticed is, while reading a person holds I 
the book too far from the eyes (normal ! 
distance is about 14 inches from the 
eyes). At this time it is advisable to 
consult your oculist at once, who will 
prescribe the proper glasses. Do not g ■> 
into the village store or to the peddler 
and pick out a pair of glasses. You i 
may think you are getting them cheap; 
later you may regret it. Glasses pur¬ 
chased from peddlers and general stores 
are likely to result in improper fitting, 
causing much trouble difficult to eradi¬ 
cate later. 
In conclusion it will be well to con¬ 
sider what defective sight means, what 
are the chanc n later in life. It reduces 
the value of the individual; partial loss 
of sight reduces the earning power in 
proportion to the degree, while complete 
loss of sight removes him from the wage- 
earners to the classes of dependents. 
Treat your eyes well; they are your 
best friends. 
Sewage Disposal and Sewing. 
Here are two pamphlets which should 
interest all country women. First is 
Bulletin 57. issued by the U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, at Washington, 
This tuseusses “Water Supply. Plumbing 
and Sewage Disposal for Country 
Homes.” It is full of pictures and dis¬ 
cusses this big water question in a prac¬ 
tical way. This question is how to get 
the water into the farm house, how it may 
circulate as needed and then pass harm¬ 
lessly out. Your home cannot be right 
until this question is settled. This free 
pamphlet helps settle it. The other is 
“Sewing, Darning and Patching.” by 
Miss Della Hughes, issued by the Ontario 
Agricultural Department at Toronto, 
Out. Miss Hughes is probably guessing 
at it, but her guess as to how thread and 
weaving originated is as close as we can 
get it: 
While furs were still man’s only cloth¬ 
ing he discovered the use of fire. In 
absence of matches, the starting of the 
fire was a difficult problem, so it fell to 
a woman’s lot to remain at home, to keep 
a perpetual fire, while man hunted for 
food. True to a -woman’s nature, she 
made use of her time, trying to keep her 
surroundings neat and tidy. She discov¬ 
ered that the reeds used for the floor 
covering stayed in place better if en¬ 
twined. This was the origin of weaving. 
Long reeds were placed side by side on the 
ground corresponding .to the warp thread 
of our modern textiles. In and out these 
were woven reeds not so strong, corres- , 
ponding to our woof threads. Basketry 
of various kinds developed from this form 
of weaving, but no great improvement 
could bo made until the advent of other 
fibres which were the result of the spin¬ 
ning industry. Spinning probably began 
by twisting fibres, -hairs, grasses and sin- j 
ews. or by rolling them between the ' 
thumb and fingers. Then it was found ; 
better to roll them between the palms of i 
the hand, and later between the palms of 
the hand and the naked thigh. Yet in ■ 
these rude methods we have the founds- 1 
tion of the spinning wheel and the steam- | 
driven cotton spindle. When the primi- , 
tivo woman started to use goats’ hair or ' 
wool, she fastened strands of it to a 
stone, twirling it around until the yarn 
was twisted as desired, after which it 
was wound around the stone and the 
process repeated. Some time after this 
the spindle came into use. then the whorl, i 
then the distaff. 
The work of sewing, darning and I 
patching is taken up in detail. It is of 
course impossible to teach such things 
entirely through print, but these pictures 
and descriptions will interest all needle¬ 
women. _ 
Tun Brown, an American, was touring 
Scotland and one afternoon mounted a 
high hill in company with a Scot who 
began bragging of the extensive view. “I 
suppose you can see America from hereon 
a fine day,” said the American, jocosely. 
“Oh, aye, farther than that.” replied the 
other. “Farther than that?” “Aye! On 
a fine nicht we can see the mime.”—Ore- 
WESTERN CANADA NOW 
The opportunity of securing free home. 
BteiMlH of 1GO acres each, and the low _ 
priced lands of Manitoba, Maskal cliewaii 
and Alberta, will soon have passed. ^55 
Canada offers a hearty welcome to the Settler. ^ 
to the man with a family looking for a home: =§ 
to the farmers son. to the renter, to all who 
wish to live under better conditions. 
Cana<la r s grain yielil in 1013 is the 
talk of the world. Luxuriant Grasses give 
cheap fodder for large herds: cost of raising 
and fattening for market is a trille. 
The sum realized for Beef. Butter. Milk and 
Cheese will pay fifty per cent on tlu- 
investment. 
Write for literature and particulars as to 
reduced railway rates to 
Superintendent of Imm igration, 
Ottawa. Canada, or to 
Canadian Government Agent, 
( 
I 
J. S. Crawford, 
301 E. Genesee Street, 
Syracuse, N. V. 
DAIRY 
FARMERS 
WANTED 
HP H E Sou t heastern 
States nerd more 
milk, cream and butter 
producers. Each year $32, - 
500,000 worth of Northern 
dairy products are shipped in¬ 
to the South. You can make • 
money in this many crop, all 
,-— the y ear- grazin country. 
Ample rain, (irrigation unneces¬ 
sary) mild winters and pleasant summers make 
living enjoyable and highly profitable. 
GOOD LAND $15 AN ACRE UP 
produces heavy yields of alfalfa, clover, corn, wheat, 
Iruit and truck. Profitable local 
markets greater than supply. 
Alfalfa booklet, the “Southern , 
Field ' magazine and facts about 
dairying along the Southern Ky., 
M. & O. R. R. and Ga. So. & 
Fla. Ry., sent on request. 
M. V. RICHARDS. LAIAg’t 
Room ST Southern Ry., 
Wnahlngtoo, D. 0. 
JACK’S 1914 CATALOGUE 
just off the Press. Kiving truthful descriptions and 
cuts of HO fertile farms of all sizes, near Philadel¬ 
phia. Splendid locations for Dairy, Fruit and Poul¬ 
try. Liberal terms. Information and catalogue lree 
Write today JACK'S FARM AGENCY. Schwenkvilte, Pa 
Send for our FARM CAT¬ 
ALOGUE. 100 VIEWS of 
FRUIT. POULTRY and 
GENERAL FARMS in or 
near VINELAND,the FRUIT 
and POULTRY CENTRE of NEW JERSEY. Health¬ 
ful climate. Mild Winter. Purest Water. Unex¬ 
celled Markets. Within 100 miles of TEN MILLION 
people. ERAY r & MACGEORGE, LARGEST FARM 
AGENCY in SOUTH JERSEY. 1077 Drexel Building, 
Philadelphia, Pa., or Vineland, N. J. 
FARMS of all Sizes PURPOSES 
Cheap enough. Mild climate. For information write 
State Beard ef Agriculture, Dover, Delaware 
FARMS ALL L PUR I P0SES LIST FREE 
Model Poultry Farms, handsome country seats 
A. W. DRKSSEK, Burlington, New Jersey 
C. D. Rose Farm flgev. SELLS FARMS. Send for list. 
————• State & Warren Sts . Trenton. N.J 
HOME COMFORT 
A Good Percolator is a necessity in 
every household. We will send you 
the percolator described below, delivery 
charges prepaid for 
Three (3) New Yearly Subscriptions 
or Six (6) Renewal Subscriptions 
(One of these may be a renewal of your 
own subscription.) 
Percolation is the automatic process 
of pumping hot water up the tube ami 
over the coffee grounds extracting only 
the good of the coffee, leaving the coffee 
free from any muddiness or bitter taste 
—a perfectly clear. delicious, full 
strength beverage, wholesome and always 
uniform. This Seven-Cup percolator is 
made of the best grade Lake copper, 
handsomely nickel plated; aluminum bas¬ 
ket : rosewood handle—handsome pat¬ 
tern. The percolator is of simple con¬ 
struction : no complicated mechanism to 
get out of order; easy to operate; easy 
to clean; absolutely sanitary. 
The percolator “pays for itself in the 
coffee it saves.” The retail price of this 
percolator is three dollars. 
If your neighbors are not subscribers to the 
Rural New-Yorker, get their subscriptions. If 
they are subscribers, get their renewal. 
dit Lost. 
Rural New-Yorker, 333 West 30th St., New York. 
