The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1881-12-08
SANITARY Needs Of the State.

The address Of the special com
mittee of the State Board of Health
to the General Assembly deserves
careful consideration. In South
Carolina sanitary. measures have re-
ceived very little encouragement
from the State. The causes, the
prevention and the cure OF diseases
have been considered as matters
that concern the citizen only in his
private and individual capacity
and he. is left to obtain his know.
ledge on these subjects as best he
may. It. cannot ae be doubted that
the result Of this state of things is
,lamentable ignorance in the pub
lic mind on these vital subjects.
The South Carolina Medical Asso-
citation, with very lneagre, aid and
encouragement from the State, have
provided. a State Board of Health,
and, at q great sacrifice Of time and
labor, have done and are now doing
all. in their power, to enlighten the
public mind on, this subject. Their
efforts in this direction are rot only
npselfsh, but are directly opposed
TO self5interest.; for. their profes.
sional gains depend in g large
measure upon the ignorance and
the disregard Of sanitary laws. For
these efforts they deserve the graft
tnae of the, public. But is that
enough. Do they not also deserve
some substantial encouragement
from the State2 And do not the
interests. Of the State require that
this encouragement shall be given,
SO that the people may be thereby
educated, in " hygiepic laws; that
their health may, be better preserved
and disease may in q measure be
} prevented :; that they may be pro-
tected;a as. far as, human skill and
wisdom can devise, from the rava-
ges.: of epidemics and endemics :;
that!as a people they may be nur-
, .tured and reared into the highest
type OF physical manhood ? To-
ward these objects State Board
OF Health. armed with the proper
authority by the State and supplied
with. sufficient means, would con-
tribute IN very large degree, Some
ofthe work that such a Board would
10 would be to. secure. full returns
Of vital statisties"-of marriages,
births and deaths, and the causes
Of deaths to give information re-
garding the air we breathe. the
water we drink and the food we
eat; to trace ont and destroy the
4 causes of disease to point out the
causes Of malaria, of typhoid fever,
and of others diseases that are the
result OF, either an ignorance or a
disregard Of sanitary laws: and the
means of preventing them. For
some further workings of such a
Board Of Health we quote a few ex-
tracts from the committees ad.
J dress: =. u" ,''--''' '...
ist It must show even 10 the resident Of
the mounta in pfsteaU-wfo il fancied secu
sityiS invested by us with the possession Of
arcadian simplicity, virtue and health, and
all that poets enormously imagine TO be at
teudant upon 8 peasants l;fe-tbat the fresh
mountain air is not breafhed by him: tha.
: though he be g. goods citizen, j true and hon:
est man he is often stepped in ignorance Of
every sanitary law which increases comforts
or proiores-lifes or -ss-gHiltv Of exceSseS
=. which, nesralize or destroy every advantage
OF position or of climate which he may naru-
, rally possess; ;lthat though not a Whit of ma,
iaria inyades his dwelling with the eagles,
that he is living in discomfort and surround
cd by filth; i,that the air of his badly con-
structed house or cabin, with its small win
dows and its contracted rooms, is coltani-
mated through-h oWp. excessive rudeness,
and from this, arises the special fever which
af,icts him (typhoid); that he does not com
prchep6 or practice IN perfection Que single
art Of cookery,-he can stew or fry, II is true,
hut he can neither boR, nor bake, nor roast.
He eats and drinks without discrimination
or Judgment, nor does he conceive Of the
close relation which these besr 10 health.
lie also dresses inadeouately. Consequently,
though his stature be far above the me
dlum, and his environment the most desi-.
rable, be has ruined his digestion and i'm
paired his physical powers, his vigor and
energy, by his own deplorable mode of liy-
ing, and it is only the early rising and open
air fife which maintains his imperfect and
deficient vitality.
I'd: With regard o those living in the
lower countieS, along the borders OF the
sRamps, the sanita-ian must show them
also wherein. through disregard of the die
tates OF common prudence, through igno-
rance or indifference, they hare failed to
secure even tolerable health. We must teach
them how essential are awarL clothing and
temperance and lhe-disastrous results in
our climate Of those NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
they are vicious on only because they are
simply eScessiye-which impair health and
strength and the ability 10 resist the IN
roads Of disease. We"must instruct them
more preeisalyeaS to the i'll effects Of malaria,
its destructive influences upon the blood
making organs-tle liver, the spleen and the
blood itself; with the means Of either warding
il of, or preventing its reception into the
system by the creation Of an artificial atmoS-
phere, DS q better location Of their dwell
ings, me interposition of a barrier of trees
with the dangers Of exposure, whilst fatgued,
10 6ews, night air, damps and cold; or the
methods Of neutralizing or deSrnv'1~ me
poison after iehas been hFeathef:.
its not speaking too strongly 70 affirm:
tha. by the dissemination Of sanitary know
ledge, by-she' new resources ofthe physician
ami ri,crrisc.~by tifainage oi the soil, the