The daily gazette., 1875-11-13
THE COST OF AN EPIDEMIC.


Dr. benjamin Lee, of Philadelphia,
read a very long, full and interesting
paper, before the American Health
Association, in Baltimore, on Thurs
| day, on THE Cost of a Great Epidem-
ic to Great City" The object of the
paper was to furnish an estimate of the
cost of smallpox to Philadelphia in
the winter of 1S71-72, and to suggest
to what decree jddicio4s sanitary legis-
lation would have prevented the NAL
ady and its cost The author took the
view that an ounce of prevention was
worth a pound of cure, and divided
his tLeme into "What Was" and
"What Might Have Been. Under the
first head were recited the actual ex-
penditures of the Board of Health, the
loss by diminished travel and traffic
the loss by siknes>; the loss by death
| and the loss by disability, Under the
| second, liberal estimates for increased
expenditures by the Board of Health,
| and determination of the degree in
which the measures TINS carried out
would have diminished the losses. The
sum of $50, ,4649t was expended by
the Board of Health in those years
| ''Nh ohh oOO'C SApCHSCS III tODbt-
quence of the smallpox. The loss by
travel on passenger railways alone was
> per cent. ION incoming railroads 6 De,
cent. and outgoing, 4 per cent. Hence
a loss to hotel keepers and wholesale
and retail merchants. These items
were detailed in figures by DIR. Lee
showing total loss in money value OF
IS, 429, 149. Then comes the loes bv
sickness; in the details OF cost of care.
wages lost, loss of production, cost to
hospitals, &c, &C.; the loss of product
I've labor was estimated at ST. ,072, ,065
The loss by disability was carefully
estimated at $40, ,000, 900; the expense
incurred in care of sick at $203 ,879 and
the loss by death, placing a money
value upon human life, OF from $500
to $4,000, according to age, at S. ,01S,-
0O0. To this must be added the ex
peuse ot premature funerals, reckoned
at $74 ,42O. The items above enumer.
ated make total loss of sic, 1868 ,3Gl
Had the Board of Health taken the
| prccaution suggested by DR.. Gross and
the State Medical Society. vaccination
would have been enforced the staff o.
vaccinating physicians doubled; cen
trail bureau of vaccination founded
| with chief; vaCcinate farm estab-
lished for propagating kline pock,
thereby removing the danger of yacci-
nal syphilis but disinfecting station
would certainly have been established
DR.. Lee, continuing, estimated the de
gree to which smallpox might have
been prevented by thorough yaccina-
ton, careful revaccination and disin-
lection at ~ per cent. of all cases, and
81! per cent. of cases in adults. Sum
ming up the matter, it is calculated
that had Philadelphia made ar
additional expenditure of about
$50, GOO for prevention, with the hearty
co-operaton of its citizens, $25, AIS, ,97S
would have been saved.
UTILIZATION OF REFUsE.
John = Schultz, of New York. next
made a statement on the utilization CT
animal and vegetable refuse substances
III large cities, giving the results Of his
two years observations on the New
York Board Of Health. The advances OF
European cities in this direction wer
, mentioned and ealogized. New York i.
5 lately as ls27 depended on the swine 1
do its scayenger work. In 1850 the O..
dinances discountepaneed the presence
, Of swine in the street, and now the hun
. dreds Of tons of valuable feed are week
! ly collected, towed out 20 sea and cas-
. overheard. This may answer sanitary
. purpose but 1t Is not economical. /,
e should be made source of income. The
= present Board Of Health is EN- barrassec
: by the fact that il must pay 20 cents pc:
y hour for poor service, while another pub
Z lie department has III its care hundred,
Z of paupers and thousands of able bodlet
; prisoners, whose labor is turned to Il.
e good account! But how to make profit
; able use Of this waste, with one hanC
h tied and the other paralyZed by the po
: litical lazzareni, with which they ar,
g compelled to work presents Il problem
:, which no man can solve.
4 \ family OF five persons produce,
enough OF vegetable and animal refust
from the kitchen to support one pig.
: propose 10 keep city swil barrel and
:, feed one hog tor every family eontrlbut
d ing. There are in New York certainly
60.ttu families If We supplement hote
kitchen and market refuse with tbs
nutrllueU. to be derived from these an!
Il mails, now so imperfectly and dangerous
q ly utilized. fully 5000 swine could be
. supported. Mr. Schultz protested agains
: contracting Tor sanitary work, as no az
9 equatp spec .tications can be drawn by
o board Of health. Hotels in New Iorl
5 sell their garbage from $500 to 81 600 pc
year 10 lien VINO IeSQ SN lDe IN IQS Su II
4 urbs. The garbage from kitchens j.
Y collected by private persons, and NOR
than pays the cost entailed, to utilize i:
: yerious ways. A wholesale collection
Il was urged b. the city. 1t was PROPOSED
that New York buy or lease one of th'
numerous islands IN Long Island Sound
=, erect adequate shelter for swine an,
q feed them from the city otfal. The Ia
I Dor of paupers who now ea1 the Dread Q
;, idleness, should be employed on thi
!, island. 1t is also proposed 70 couver
g all the dead animals into nutritious foo,
= = tor hogs. In New York 100 horses di
% each week. The hide is worth 81. Fa
ones dying by accident should be use,
i. for swine's food and others for fertilizer
. . The work except that of collecting, ca
+ be done by paupers: 1t is calculate
i that the remun GRAFTON TO New Yor
- would not be less than $4,000, whic
q would compensate doubly for collection
: and utilization. In closing his paper
e Mr.. Schultz said the plan he suggeste,
= would absolutely control at one place al
1 e ~ ,aA1 y