The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-04-30
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Abstract of the Proceedings OF the Last
Meeting.

STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Abstract of the Proceedings OF the Last
Meeting.
The annual meeting of the Michigan
State Board of Health was held at its office
in Lansing, Mich, April a. 1885.
The members present were John Avery,
M. D., President; Arthur Lakewood. M.
D., G. V. Tyler, NJ. d., Prof. V. G. Vaughn,
M. D., and Henry B. Baker, M. d., Secre-
tary.
This being the annual meeting the Presi-
dents address was the first order OF bust
ness. The President said that he had pre-
pared no formal address. He thanked the
members for the many courtesies shown
him during his administration. He had no
change of policy to recommend to the
Board; nc marked change, he thought is
desirable. The work is we'll understood
and is in satisfactory condition. The
Board must be governed somewhat by
emergencies, as they arise. He could con-
graduate the board on what ii had achieved
He thought it would be wise to continue
holding sanitary conventions in different
places in the State. He spoke of the prob
able advent of Asiatic cholera, and thought
that it might tax the board to its utmost.
The board had done all it could TO prepare
to resist the disease, but should be ready
for further action. If the bill before the
Legislature becomes law. the duties as
well rs the powers of the State Board of
Health to prevent and restrict that disease
will be increased. 1t would be desirable TO
continue to advise police regulations in
Cities adapted to preventing unsanitary
conditions and the introduction or spread
of cholera; and the health officers of cities,
villages, and townships of the State, espe-
cially as they are just now being changed,
many being entirely new in that Office,
should be instructed in regard to their
duties.
The Secretary read q report of the work
of the Office during the past quarter OF
the 760 pages of copied letters sent out,
153 pages were modified circular letters to
local health officers in regard to prompt ac-
ton to restrict contagious disease. In
connection with those about ten thousand
copies of the documents on the restriction
and prevention of certain contagious diseases
and on the duties of health officers have
been sent to health officers for distribution
to neighbors of families in which such con-
tagious diseases have been reported Since
the last meeting of the board the outbreak
of smallpox at South Boardman has been
suppressed. During the past quarter there
had been one case of smallpox at East
Saginaw, two cases in Grand Rapids (con-
fined to one house,, the first of which was
q commercial traveller who thinks he was
exposed on the train between Boston and
Grand Rapids. About the time he was ex-
posed it is known that a man having small
pox passed through Michigan on the Mich
igan Central Railroad, from Ontario to Chi
cago, en- route for Manitoba. At Battle
Creek there have been four cases, with one
death from smallpox, the contagium of
which ic IN houa
brakeman on the Chicago and Grand Trunk
Railroad, who stopped with family in Bat
tie Creek while he was slightly sick, and
who thinks he contracted the disease on the
train near Chicago. Two members of this
family in Battle Creek visited friends in
Bellevue. In Eaton County, and small -pox
broke out in the family in which they
stopped. Five cases and one death have
occurred there; but thus far the disease ut
Bellevue has been confined to the one fam
lily. All the members of the family were
yaccinated with virus on points from
Fond du Lac, Wis, as soon as il was known
they had been exposed; but in three cases
the vaccination did not work. In one case
in which the vaccination worked. the per-
son has shown no symptoms of the disease
AT the last meeting of the board the sub
ject of proposed Legislation relative to dis
eased ANIMALS. and relative to a standard
for milk. had been referred to the Commit
tees on Legislation and Diseases of Animals
jointly. The Secretary reported consdera-
bic time and care had been devoted to the
peifecting of three bills relative TO those
subjects, which had been introduced into
the House of Representatives this session.
DANGEROUS ILLUMINATING OIL.
The Secretary reported that during this
session of the Legislature there had been
considerable lobbying TO get the Legislature
to lower the standard test for dangerous
oils. and to do away with the use of the
| tester adopted and recommended by this
Board. The CHIN of the LOBBYIST, who
came TO this Office, was that the change was
wanted in the interests of manufacturers of
| small quantities of oil. who, he claimed.
could not now compete with the Standard
| Oil Company. Just how lowering the test
would favor those particular oil manufact-
urers more than il would the Standard Oil
| Company he did not make clear. IL has
been rumored here that the reason for
changing from the tester now used was to
enable dealer in patent apparatus 10 sell
his tester; but as this change is advocated
by the same person who Is laboring for
lowering of the test, IL seems more reason
able to believe that the main reason is that
the proposed apparatus does not detect thsI
explosive vapor at SO low degree of tenn
| perature as does the present tester. From
| experiments IL seems that simply by the
proposed change in the tester the standard
would be lowered about ten degrees. a
committee was appointed by the Sanitafv
Convention held AZ lansing March 10 ~