Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-06

Lie nSSCluS 4dSt SF6u1Asa u JIG GULL
mittees of the chamber of commerce and
of the city council and the representatives
of the people and the medical profession,
at the city hall, for the purpose of consid-
ering what Is necessary to be done to aid
in preserving the health Of the city of st.
Paul, was better attended than either of the
two preceding gatherings. Mr.. D. D. Mer-
rill was called to the chair and Mr.. Nc
.Qlung was selected as secretary.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.
Mr.. Williams from the committee ap-
pointed at the atet Meeting two weeks ago
and to when Vas referred at the last meet
ing CT the committees and citizens the re-
port III the committee together with the
paper by DR.. Stewart Of Red Wing, read
the following report which was adopted:
RESOLVED. That the necessary wants of our city
Of proper sanitary measures demand an efficient
execution of existing laws and the introduction
of such further regulations as may be necessary
o secure the best possible results, and for that
purpose be it further
Resolved, That the valuable suggestions and
recommendations contained in the communica-
ton by DR.. Charles n. Hewill, secretary of the
state board of health, dated March 30, 1883, be
and the same are hereby adopted as basis for
practical operations.
Resolued, further, That citizens committee
OF six be appointed by the chair to lay the pro-
Ceedings of this meeting before the common
council at its next meeting, with the recommen-
dalton that such action be taken by that body as
may be deemed best to promote the object of
these resolutions.
'ReSclued, further, That said committee on be-
half of the citizens of st. Paul, tender its ser
vices for cooperation, to the common council
q 4O vrbo
matter may be referred for consideration.
WHAT OTHER CITIES HAVE DONE.
Mr.. Willins also reported that Mr.. Fogg,
the secretary of the chamber of commerce,
had addressed to the city clerk of each the
following cities-Milwaukee, Chicago, In
dianapolis, Cincinnati. st. Louis, Pitts
burg, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore,
Washington, New York, Albany, Rochester,
Buffalo and Detroit, Mich.-a letter
asking for copy of the ordinances and
rules for sanitary matters in each of the
cities named. Only two cities responded,
st. Louis and Buffalo. The Buffalo ordi-
nances were read.
THE HEALTH OF ST. PAUL.
DR.. Wetherlee, at the request of the meet
ing, read statement in regard to the
health of st. Paul during several years
past, of which the following is an abstract
At the conclusion of the reading vote of
thanks was extended to the doctor, and the
same was referred to Messrs. Hodgson,
F. Willius, B. F. Wright, DIR. d. W. Hand,
DR.. Leasure and DR.. Witherlee, for the pur-
pose of presenting the whole matter of
the health of the city to the city council.
In his paper DR.. Wetherlee said he would
present few statistics on the health of st.
Paul from 1876 to 1882, inclusive. He then
went into very full and elaborate state
ment, showing the average death rate in
st. Paul to be 1862 per 1000 from 1876 to
1882. He says that in Analysing this table
the first thing that strikes one is that our
death rate is very small for q city. Twenty
per 1000 is considered low average for a
whole country, and city mortality is almost
invariably higher. Seventeen per 1000 is
the average for healthy country districts
in England. There are two principal
causes, he says, which contribute to give
st. Paul a low death rate. First, our eli
mate, which exempts US, to great degree,
from consumption. Second, the fact that
SO large e proportion of our population is
made up Of people from twenty to forty
years of age when the liability to death is
comparatively small. The death rate
must increase as the city grows. There
has been a noticeable increase the last two
years. For the five years from 1876 to
1880 the rate averaged 1913 per 1000;
from 1881 the rate increased. The in
crease was due to a special cause,
but still this cause is clearly connected
with increase Of population. Previously
to the fall of 1880 diphtheria was rare
disease in ST. Paul, causing about four
deaths year. For the last two years it
had increased. Attempts to establish a
definite connection between diphtheria and
the seasons of the year had failed. Epi-
denies Of diphtheria have occurred at all
seasons Of the year. There is no doubt,
however, that the air of poorly ventilated
rooms affords the best medium for con-
tagion when the contsgion has OBJ
tanned a start. When we cannot get rid
of the poison, the best means we have
of avoiding its contagious effects is to di-
Lutte it with pure air. While we have had
it in st. Paul for two or three years deaths
from diphtheria in every month, by far
the greatest number of deaths occur in
the months when children stay in the house
and have the least opportunity to get a
regular supply of good air. In this con-
nectien the appointment of an inspector
of buildings is a matter of the greatest
importance. A sanitary engineer should
be a member of the board OF health.
He should have power to
enforce the proper ventilation,
drainage and water supply of all school
houses and other public buildings, of all
new buildings, public and private, and of
all buildings or their surroundings, when
actual disease could be traced to defective
sanitary conditions. Such at least should
be his powers at the start. Later his su-
pervision might be extended over the
sanitary arrangements of all buildings, bat
it is better not to attempt too much at
first. The doctor submitted a chart or
map showing by different colors the cause
of the diphtheria, and says he has not
been able to trace any close
connection with the drainage system, or
with the digging up of the streets. Certain
localities have suffered much less than
others. Such are Dayton's bluff, the trian-
gular area bounded by Grove, Broadway
and Seventh streets. st. Anthony hill has
not been by any means exempt, but has
suffered less than the average. In drawing
conclusions from the map, the different
densities of population at different points