Dr. W, W, Peter, of the Council on Health Education, gave a most interesting lecture on Wednesday evening at the Union Church Hall under the auspices of the Literary and Social Guild, on the. latest means of teaching health principles to the Chinese—by means of the cinematograph. He said that great interest was being shown at present in health questions, especially by Europeans, who now had the opportunity to devote themselves again to matters which had been allowed to lie dormant, during the war. They were devising many new means of bringing health principles before the people, prominent amongst these being the cinematograph, At present, he had 26,000 feet of films and several thousand lantern slides, while still more material was coming from great Bri tain shortly. Their purpose was te interpret modern health ideals to the Chinese and if there were any people who needed this, it certainly was the Chinese. Doctors here had nothing but general information to work upon. They had not even vital statistics, which Dr. Stanley found it difficult enough to secure even in Shanghai. So, recognizing how important it was to being health ideals before the Chinese, these films had been produced primarily for their education.
Dr. Peter then ran off some of the films—"The Care of Children," "Mosquito Control," "A Modern Health Crusde" and "Jinks, a Health Comedy." All were cleverly arranged, with sufficient of a story in them to maintain interest and a spice of comedy to enliven them, whilst all the time pointing morals and teaching either the cure or prevention of disease.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.