Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-15
MILK, WATER AND FEVER
The Chairman Of the Medical Society Com
mittee Talks of Typhoid.
Tracing Cases to Pumps and to Milk
m.n-Reports Sent from WASH
ington Much Exaggerated.

sHave you been reading the newspapers
from other cities recently?" queried DR..
e. l.. Magruder of a Star reporter last
night. DR.. Magruder was chairman of the
committee of the Medical Society of the
District whose investigation and report on
typhoid fever few months ago attracted
80 much attention 1T is simply out
rageous," continued DR.. Magruder, ''the
way In which Washington Is being repre-
scented as suffering from an epidemic Of
typhoid fever. A friend of mine from
Charleston, who is visiting here, received a
letter from home this morning, full Of an
xiety and begging her to be careful, be-
pause the News and Courier had contained
such dreadful accounts OF the ravages of
typhoid fever in the city, stating that 1t
was no Iespecter of persons, but had en-
tered the houses Of the rich and poor alike.
The physicians of Washington owe 1t to
themselves and to the community's good
to'report at once to the health department
every case Of typhoid fever they have had
under their charge since August ], and
those who have had no such cases should
report that fact also. Such a course would
show that no such conditions exist as are
represented. The health department has
issued cards for this purpose. indicating
the character of the Information needed.
These cards request the name of the
patient, when stricken with the disease,
whether user of Potomac or pump water,
and, IL of the latter, the location of the
pump, and the name of the nlilkman or
dairy supplying the patient with milk, and,
II the patient has been absent from the
city, where such absence was spent"
The Contamination of Milk.
st suppose milk Is contaminated by YEA
son of the cows drinking water containing
serms?" ventured The Star man.
You are entirely mistaken in that idea"
said DR.. Magruder. TT is impossible for
the milk of cow to become contaminated
In that manner. The animals, in wading
through the clogged streams that abound
In the vicinity of Washington, get the bac-
terra on their udders, and in milking them
without first carefully cleansing the udder
the germs get transferred to the milk.
Then, again, the use of contaminated
water for washing the milk cans and dairy
utensils endangers the healthful qualities
of the milk There were several cases of
typhoid fever on Vermont avenue last fall
right by my office, and they were all traced
to the milk supplied by the same milkman.
80. from this you will see the force Of the
health departments request for full in
formation from physicians. If patients -.se
pump water and take milk let them ascer-
tain the location of the pump and the name
OF the milkman. DR.. Boxer, who is pur-
suing the investigations into the causes of
typhoid fever and tracing the cases re-
ported and the causes for the health de-
partment Is eminent in his line. His
papers on the subject or bacteria and cpl
technology are known everywhere Several
years ago, when was attending the inter-
national medical congress in Berlin, I was
walking down Inter der Linden in front
of the University of Berlin with DR.. Boxer,
when we met DIR. Billings and the emil
nent Prof. Rauscher, who was president of
the section devoted to epidemiology in the
congress. Upon being introduced and hear
sng DIR. Boxers name, Prof. Rauscher at
once expressed his qualification, and in
vited him to be a vice president Of the sec
ton. So. you see. his reputation had pre-
ceded him to Europe"