We Must All Take Care of Our Sick Neighbors, Says John Beasley, Feb. 17, 1920

From the editorial page of the Monroe Journal, February 17, 1920, John Beasley, Editor.

Look Out for Your Neighbor

The old Union county spirit, which has eased the suffering and misfortune of many of our people in the past, has been sadly lacking in some communities during the influenza epidemic. Through fear of contracting the disease, some persons have allowed their neighbors to sicken and die for want of attention.

A prominent Monroe physician told The Journal yesterday that 90 per cent of those who have died since influenza has been raging could have been saved had their neighbors gone to their rescue in time. Many neighbors did all they could for those who died when they learned of their serious illness, but it was then too late. Once pneumonia set in, the best of attention, in most cases, was of no avail.

Those who allow others to suffer for fear of contracting the disease ae cowards in the same sense as the man who will allow a child to drown before his eyes without attempting a rescue, or a man who will permit a defenseless child to be attacked in his presence without interfering. Neglect of your neighbor at this time is a violation of God’s law, and one who will not play the part of a Good Samaritan in this day of distress is certainly a sorry specimen of humanity.

Don’t wait for your neighbor to call upon you for assistance. Go right into his home when you learn he is ill, and stay with him until his recovery is assured. By taking proper care you can avoid contracting the disease. The “Union county spirit” is a precious heritage to us; don’t eradicate it form the hearts of the present generation through fear. That’s cowardice.