Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-11-15
OUR STATES HEALTH
As Treated by Dr.. ResVes in a
Paper Read
BEFORE THE HEALTH ASSOCIATION
The Rapid Strides Onward Which Our
Authorities Have Made in Re-
gard to Physical Health
and Welfare.
Special TO the Register.

pared papers were read by various men,
eminent in the medical profession and
were followed with able discussions by
members of the Association. At the eve
| ming session OF the Association paper was
read by DR.. James E. Reeves, OF your city,
| Secretary of the State Board of Health OF
West Virginia. After dwelling at some.
length upon sanitary science and the emf
nent domain which it occupies and the
usefulness of state boards Of health in
guarding and advancing the public health
and welfare the learned gentleman con.
cluded with the following remarks upon
his own State and what it is doing in the
matter OF sanitary science:
The West Virginia Statute
provides that "the State Board OF Health
shall take cognizance of the interests Of the
life and health OF the inhabitants of the
State, and shall make, or cause to be made,
sanitary Investigations and inquiries re-
specting the causes Of diseases and the
means OF prevention" How broad the
charge land how humane and God like the
service which defends men, women, and
children from preventable diseases. inns
Is pTeClSGIH lut scINIbO % SshNS
board OF health may afford-the education
Of tie people respecting the economic and
political importance of public health; 10
exterminate and prevent pestilential dls-
eases, and thus largely contribute 10 the
general welfare.
During the last decade there has been
| most gratifying activity in the cultivation
| and diffusion of sanitary knowledge ana
| 1t is an encouraging sign OF the times tnat
so uch attention is now being given by
legislators 10 the prevention OF disease as
| duty of the State. The proud lead OF the
| gre at Northwest States in the cultivation Of
| sanitary science has awakened general
| interest in the subject in all parts OF our
| cotnmon country. All praise, therefore, to
| the industrious leaders in sanitary work
| in Illinois. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Min
Desota. Little West Virginia, nes..
| led in the mountains, looking
| into the near future for the
| coming true when her inexhaustible stores
| of native wealth shall be unlocked to hun
| dreds OF thousands of busy llaborers, has
| proudly acknowledged allegiance to the
| goddess Hygeia, under whose health-in
| spring banner she has already won sub.
| stantal victories and benefits for the saw
| irg OF her citizens. But while flushed
| with the stimulus OF her triumphs, she
| turns in sadness, and with outstretched
1 u
| ,ers, by whom she is Immediately sur
| rounded-Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
| and the dear old Mother State-and says to
| them: How long, oh, how long shall the
| land which the Lord thy God giveth thee
| be the Paradise ol QuaCkS:"
West Virginia is
Very Proud Of that Feature
Of her State Board of Health law resulat-
ing the practice of medicine and surgery.
| Nothing | am sure, could work more
| snt othIy and consistently with the inter
! est of the public health than its execution
as q part of the duties OF the board; and
commend the example OF its success TO
Lose States that have not yet taken the al
vanced ST. p TO secure higher medical edu-
cation. This provision Of the Law strikes
at none but those wholly incompetent to
assume and discharge the sacred trust OF a
| vfyscian. Neither does it attack any so
called school in medicine; and the law is
| n ost reasonable aud Just, both to the medi-
| c, profession and the general public.
| From time to time laws are passed to
sgulate the sale of intoxicating liquors
al the dispensing OF poisons; TO suppress
lotteries and gambling houses; TO prevent
| tie carrying of concealed weapons, to re
strain the sharper, the swindler, the rob
| er and the assassin. Why not, with like
! propriety, pass laws to restrain the igno'
ant, and the pretendcr in medical prac.
| ,iCe who strikes at life and purse, who can
| sill and then invoke the power OF the
| ,ourts to enforce payment for his murder
Gus service? And is it not ridiculous
! contradiction to say that n street nuisance
which is preJudiCisl to the public health
shall be abaied by the power Of law, and
Il en- with the next breath say any man,
without due qualification as a physician,
uay call himself doctor and kill his
| reighborP
A lawyer, whose practice and mistakes
IAN only affect the purse and property oi
! is client, must undergo examination by
learned judges before he can be admitted to
| The bar. TO become teacher in the com,
mon schools, one must pass an eXamlna
ion ar d receive certificate OF Qua!itica
tion before he or she can be employed, A
pilot on a steamboat, before he can be ad
mitted to the wheel, must learn every bar
and crook in the channel-r>ust know the
stream so we'll that he can steer his craft
| freighted with human life, as safely in the
dark as in the light OF the day. But such
is III e inconsistency Of law-such the com
mentsry upon unlicensed personal liberty
that in many OF the States any man call
ing himself doctor may swing his shingle,
| and. without the least restraint, prey upon
the lives and property of his fellowcitizens'
| The deprecated value Oh an
An American N ediCal Diploma
is a reproach TO the profession; and it is
therefore, high time that the comforting oi
degrees should be entirely divorced from
the department of instruction in medical
cole ees. This opinion is fully warranted
by my own experience as a medical ex
aminer. Not long ago young gentleman
"a graduate Of a medal college in good
star ding'-came to me for registration
aud, to my utter establishment, he could
! not answer the question, "What is sanitary
sclence?" Another graduate in medicine
when asked, What is semeiology?' an
swertd, "A description o. the spermatozoa.'
But the most shameful exhibit, inyoly
ing tie character of a medical college in
good standing" that has come to my
knowledge is shown in the following cor
respondence:
Ny DEAR SIE:-A friend writes me thai
you propose attending medical lectures.
write to present the claims Of -, the
medical centre of the North and West-tht
heaiihiest large city in America-beyonc
the reach Of yellow fever, etc.
Coed boarding, costing elsewhere twenty
10 twenty five dollars, can be had here fo'
twelve 10 fifteen dollars per month. OWNS
10 our -, railroad fare is only bal
rate. No school has better facilities fol
medical teaching than the - Medica
College, AS / am allowed a certain mum
Der Of benefcsries from your State Yves
Virginis), will take you as one and charge
you only fifty dollars instead OF eighty dol
lars, With this reduction, chespness o.
board and reduced railroad, you can attend
one OF the best schools for less money t1sl
90 inferior one. Let me near from you
Send names Of other students. Yours truly
!
This letter was a tsblet copy -probab' J
one of a hundred of the same sind sent ou
10 catch the uuwsry. 1t came addrssse,
by mistake, OF coursel to
A wheeling Physician
who had already honorably finished hi
college course, snd from him it came int
my hands, as medicsl college curo0tv
Itis without date. bat its caption is tre'i'
| illustrated with the name and picture /"
the college, and contains the names OF tn
faculty, trustees, and demonstrators Il
order 10 sound the depth to Which demon
| no Uillinp dSScHnI