The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-06-13
HRALrHNorRsFo THE PEoPLE
rom the N. c. Board of Health Quar-
antine and Distinction

threatened during the coming sum
mer with an invasion Of the most
dreaded of all the contagious and in
fictitious diseases-cholera.
In fighting that class of diseases,
while cleanliness of the premises is of
the highest Importance and should
never be overlooked-a duty, by the
wav. that you should attend to at
once if you have not already done so,
now that warm weather has set in, and
repeatedly and regularly hereafter
nothing is at all comparable in results
to the prompt and complete separation
of the sick from the we'll, and the
thorough d~isinfection Of everything
used by the patient. A complete ap-
~plication Of these principles would nip
in the bud every epidemic; indeed
there could be no epidemics. The ma
chinery for carrying them out has been
provided in the "Act Relating to the
Board of HEALTH" passed by the last
legislature, but it is a we'll known fact
that no law can be successfully admin
istered unless it is supported by public
opinion. Therefore desire, very brief
ly, to call attention to certain parts of
it which particularly require the CO.
operation Of the people for whose bene-
fit it was passed, and to show why it is
to their interest to give it their cordial
support.
Most ,NoOy1o Io0y tho yyo1IIa 70 health
of cleanliness of person, premises, food
and drink, but not so many are famil-
lar with the great Importance of strict
quarantine or isolation of those sick of
infectious diseases, and more especial
ly the necessity for the disinfection Of
the patient and his effects after his re-
coYery. AS nothing is so convincing
as facts, I will give some of the results
obtained in the State of Michigan,
where sanitary regulations are carried
out certainly as well as, if not better,
than anywhere else in this country:
The number of deaths from scarlet
fever in that State before the Board of
Health undertook its restriction was
SIS for every 10, 600 inhabitants-Gfter
2 As; of small pox before, IS per 10, 900
after, 10. One Of the diagrams to be
exhibited by that Board at the Column
bian Exposition indicates the lives
saved: from scarlet fever, 1906; from
small -pox, 1921, and from typhoid
fever, 1871" The administration of
health laws even in Michigan is still
very, very far from perfect, and yet
see the great saving of life brought
about by their partial application.
What has been done there a be done
here-and ought to be done, every one
must admit.
The following are the extracts from
the law referred to:
SEC. 9. Inland quarantine shall be
under the control of the county super
intendent of health, who shall see that
diseases especially dangerous to the
public health, viz, small pox, diph-
liberia, scarlet fever, yellow fever,
typhus fever and cholera, are properly
quarantined and isolated within
twenty-four hours after the case is
brought to his knowledge; and that
after the death or recovery or removal
of a person sick of either of the dis
eases mentioned, the rooms occupied
and the articles used by the patient are
thoroughly disinfected in the manner
set forth in the printed Instructions,
both as to quarantine and disinfection,
Isl -L.JI - E,--soLoI liz - H.
secretary of the State board of health.
The expense of the quarantine and of
the disinfection shall be borne by the
householder in whose family the case
occurs, if able, otherwise by the city,
town or county of which he is a resi-
dent. x x \ Any person neglecting or
refusing to comply with or in any way
violating the rules promulgated in the
manner above set forth on the subjects
of quarantine and disinfection, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
and upon conviction shall be fined or
imprisoned, at the discretion of the
court, not less than five nor more than
fifty dollars, or less than ten nor more
than thirty days. i = Provided, hon.
eUer, that in any city or Incorporated
town having a regularly appointed
medical health officer who is a mem
Der of the county board of health, the
duties assigned in this section to the
county superintendent Of health shall
be performed by the said medical
health officer for the people of his city
or town, and he shall be subject to the
CANA nnnalties for darnIictinn Of d11tr