Morning journal and courier., 1889-07-31
STATE BOARD vANQUIsHEn.

NIT. DoelittIe Crisicises tho Rules of
 the State Board and Makes Sonne
 Telling Peints-The Local Rules
 Will be Distributed.
 The meeting of the board of health was en- livened last evening by continuation of the discussion commenced by the representatives ot the State board week ago in reference to the code of rules for disinfecting in eonta- gious diseases which the local board has adopted Dr. Wiuchell, president of the board, held a copy of the code adopted by the State board, while Dr. Doolittle, holding copy of the local code, compared the two closely. In carefully prepared article Dr.. Doollttie proceeded at some length to detnol- ish the arguments of the State board and to show the emptiness of it's criticisms. He said that tho State board had misquoted and falsely stated some sections of the local code, had earelessly read them, deliberately omit ted parts of them and taken the pains to quibble over a period or a semi-colon. A few of Dr. Doolittle's criticisms of the State
 boards criticisms follow. The State board had criticised the advice of the local board to use carbolic acid (. disinfectant. AL though the State admitted 1t was a great disinfectant, it did not think it the best. Because of the inconvenience and ex- pense of providing public furnaces in which to burn up the infected articles, the Berlin board of health, the best in Europe. had given it's opinion that carbo1ic acid is the
 best disinfeotant. The local board has put forward the same opinion. The inference is that the State board thinks the Berlin board incompetent and yet quotes as one of its au- thorities, in this same communication, a member of the Berlin hoard
 The State criticised the local code for not recommending sufficient airing of rooms. The State code recommends airing for twen-
 ty-four hours, the local code for forty eight. The doctor intimated that some of the au- thorities on infection would laugh at the State board. The State code does not direct, e3 does the local code, that doors and win free ventilation, leaving it to the people tc judge for themselves what such ventilation might be.
 The State board objected to carbolic acid as being too expensive. It costs from twenty cents upward. The doctor says he does not object to the twenty-cent kind for the State
 board but for the local board the best is none too good. The State wants us, the doctor said, to de stroy our bulletins. As we would have nont then, they want us to use theirs. After what has been shown how absurd and ridicu lous this would be. The doctor read tho letter from Dr. Prudden that was read las week commenting the local bulletins anc olinched the matter by reading another iron J. M. Hays, editor of the Medical News, O. Phila., in which he says that the preventive means you direct in your bulletins are very thorough and fully in accord wish the mos recent advances in our knowledge concerning the mode of propagation of these diseases. In conclusion the doctor said: Gentlemen want to ask you if our Gre ports fail in their objeot," ''give but thu shadow of safety," "may win confidence il them to which their merits do not entitl' thsm," as the State says If that is SO why do these disinterested eminent men writ these endorsements of our bulletins?
 The board voted to distribute the loca code and to send word to physicians of tht distribution with the request that they es the rules enforced.