The evening times., 1895-12-06

Conta ginn spread from the waste dumps
about the city is To be the next object
| OF attack by the health office. DR.. Wood
| ward is thorough believer In the adage
| that prevention is better than cure, and
| is taking every Opportunity to close the
avenues by which the germs OF disease
are ca rried on their mission of destruction.
He has already, asked for hospitals and
dislnfecting plant to aid him in this
work. He will, as suon as there is a pros
pect OF success, ask for means to burn and
otherwise dispuseSof the waste material
now hauled Ia the various dumping grounds
about the city.
In some cities attention has already been
turned to this source of disease and more
money Is spent on prevention In that di-
rection than Congress spends on quarantine
work tn all ways In Washington. Nearly
all large cities are beginning to do some
thing OF the kind.
DANGER FROM PAPER WASTE.
The danger arises mainly, 1t is believed,
from paper waste. 1t is next to impossible
to secure perfect disinfectioD of all houses
where contagious diseases occur. Many of
them are Tot known to persons sufficiently
well informed to appreciate the great wrong
done by failure to kill out disease in its
resting places. Few Of the infected houses
that are known can be completely cleansed
and freed from danger.
Eycn wnen d room where smallpox
scarlet fever or diphtheria have appeared
and run Intercourse. ha s been fumigated with
sulphur and treated with all appliances
known to quarantine, there is yet proba-
bility that living germs lurk in the wall
paper or bits of newspaper, clothing or
other waste that In some way have escaped
the premises.
So generally recognized is the danger from
wall paper that 1t is rare thing when
tenant can be induced to go into house
where contagious disease has been till it
has been repapered throughout. The pa
per removed is Usually carried to the
dumps. Children and poor people go there
poking among The refuse TO find something
of value. They contract disease from the
infected paper, and carry it anywhere and
everywhere through the city.
To determine the extent Of this danger
Investigations have been made and q re-
port is expected, showing results. In one
case 10 Georgetownit was found that where
the death rate in given section around
an extensive dumping ground should be
76 year 1t is actually 2S1.
LARGER THAN THE ORDINARY.
The number Of cases OF diphtheria, measles
and the like about the dumps is also found
to be much larger than, the ordinary.
DR.. Woodward has had several consulta-
tions with the Commissioners recently
upon this subject. Along with means to
dispose of ashes it fs expected they will
ask Congress to provide for q method
to destory all waste. This will be IN line
with the recent police order to enforce
rjgidly the law against scattering waste
and sweepings upon the street.
The Inauguration of such system for
the collection of such refuse would clear
the city Of unsight1y dumping grounds
and rid the people of danger from made
ground, such as that in the northeast re-
ferred to by DR.. Kober in his recent report
as an active agent in the spread of typhoid
fever Lot owners would be obliged to
fill low grounds in a sanitary manner.