The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-01

Health Commissioner Daily spent
considerable time with Deputy Wllkin-
son yesterday discussing the situation
of certain vital affairs that jeopardize
the lives of hundreds and thousands
of adults and children. The hardest
battle the health department has to
fight is against pure and simple 1gnor-
ance, met with at times so dense That
it's recounting would actually oe
spurned as a, fabrication by the public
again, there is a certain element
among the old-time practitioners OF
the medical fraternity which refuses
to report cases of contagious disease
that they are called upon to treat. 1t
there are tWo three, or five cases OF
scarlet fever or diphtheria in a family
frequently they will report but one,
and then only when threatened with
arrest.
LAS an example of this dangerous
practice said DR.. Daily, I'VE have
now twenty-five quarantine flags out
standing and we know of thirty cases
of scarlet fever. These physicians be-
long ito the old, homemade school of
medicine, with antiquated methods and
a profound belief in Denomination, so
that death and the spread of contagion
is a discounted surety wherever they
are called into service.
Another fatal error. and the one that
is going to tax this department to lis
utmost vigilance to keep disease out
of the schools, is that of the ignorance
and criminal carelessness of parents
in allowing their children to run at
large and so to school when one Of
the family is sick at home with scarlet
fever or diphtheria. We know of cases,
reported to us too late, where one child
of six was taken sick and put to bed
under the care of one of these back
number practitioners, and the balanc re
of the children were allowed to con-
tinue to go to school and run at will
The result is that they become thor
oughly incubated with the microbic
germs of the disease and carry them
along wherever they go, thus freely
spreading the contagjon which throws
whole school of children liabIc~to
virulent attack. At other times when
one child is taken sick the others in
the family are removed to the home
of another family and the children
thus moved carry with them the dis
ease terminated in their own home.
This practice IS fatal mistake and a
menace to the health of COM
munity, and should not be allowed
or tolerated, for the whole family
should be quarantined until all danger
is passed, and then the spread of these
contagious would be obviated.''
Much of the detail of the work of
the past and that contemplated for the
future was gone over in detail, with the
result that conclusions were reached
that more stringent ordinances were
needed for the proper conduct of af-
fairs of the health department: that Il
great deal of the sentimentality now
existing out of respect for some of the
old fogy methods practiced by some of
the old time and old school physicians.
must be despelled. But all this must
change sometime, and we opine that
now is as good a time to commence as
any.
LAS examples of these fossillated
ideas, two communications contributed
TO an evening publication by "A Tired
Taxpayer and "A More Than Tired
Taxpayer in which are enumerated
useless burdens fastened upon the
people by which an array of officials;
sucking their life Blood etc, ETC.. best
shows the state of density that is
deep-rooted among some people. These
are the people who call in a midwife
to treat cancer of the stomach and
their faith cure healers to obliterate
Is III . dioCooc VI Tic hIuIleyS, Il0Se
are they who would buy tainted meat
if they could because it was cheaper
than good meat. In fact, they are the
people that really and truly believe
that coroner and undertaken know
more about a disease than a doctor be-
cause they bury more dead people, as
one citizen declared. And yet this is
the close of the nineteenth century,
Vital Statistics.
The health department. report on
vital statistics for the week ending
yesterday shows two female and two
male births, three male and six female
deaths; one body was received for
burial from other places; twenty-five
scarlet fever flags outstanding; five
new cases of typhoid fever