Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-11
Circumstances Do Not Warrant q
Scare or Sensation.
SENSIBLE VIEWSOF DR.. w. JOHNSTON
A Review of the District Medical
Society's Recommendations.
w Fl A T TIL EY W Z r E

greSs on the subject of typhoid fever in the
District. DR.. w. w. Johnston was one of
the most active members of the committee
which drew up the report. He has always
been regarded as particularly well qualified
to speak upon the subject. In conversa-
ton with a Star reporter this morning DR..
Johnston said that while there is certainly
typhoid in the city, he did not think, iudg-
ing by his own experience and VIVA. he had
learned from other physicians. that it is
prevalent to a much greater extent this fall
than other years.
"Of course" said he, this is the season
for typhoid fever. and Washington will
continue to be afflicted JUS as long as We
are satisfied to get along with the present
water and sewerage systems. Last year
the committee of the Medical Association
made very exhaustive study Of :he situa-
ton, the causes of the disease and the To-
calities in which it was most noticeable 1
do not know that our knowledge of the
disease is materially increased or that the
situation has changed sufficient to warrant
me in saying very much beyond what was
contained in that report AS l understand
1t, study of the present situation, the
number of cases, their distribution over the
District and all that, Is being made under
the direction of the health officer, and the
results of the investigation, when complet-
ed, ought to throw some valuable light on
the matter
Impure Water and Milk.
Personally, 1 have had very few cases
in my practice. One of these was the case
of a nurse in hospital, who contracted the
disease from the patients she was attend
ing. The others were for the most part
people who had spent the summer in Vir-
ginia, where, in places. the disease seems to
be very prevalent. Other cases that have
heard of are people who undoubtedly con-
tracted typhoid from their stay across the
Potomac
las for the causes of the disease and its
preventives. they have been spoken of so
often in this city that it seems hardly
worth while to go over them again. OF
course the chief agency in the spread Of
typhoid is infected water and milk, the
former being the more general
Roth Should BE Boiled.
MY opinion is that the majority of cases
are caused by drinking impure water, but
this does not by any means shut out the
Potomac as factor. If anyone desires to
take proper precautions he should boil his
drinking water as well as filter it. Milk
ought also to be boiled or Pasteurized to
make 1t absolutely safe, and the sources Of
its supply should also be investigated, but
that of course, should be one of the duties
of the health office. But, after all, 1 am
opposed to making any sensation or scare
out of the matter, for Go not believe the
IL.
The report which the committee ma lie
to the Medical Society last year and which
was submitted to Congress contains the fol-
lowing resume and recommendations which
may well be reprinted at this time, as DR.
Johnston says they apply equally we'll this
year as last:
Pollution of the Soil From Privies.
very good in most respects but with fatal
defects w jSh tS
with that equally great danger from soil
pollution from its 5000 privies, has an aver
age annual mortality of 60 in the last thir-
teen years. This is four times the death rate
of Brooklyn, twice that of New York and the
same that of Philadelphia.
THE daily pollution of the soil by the
fecal discharges of our pa tents suffering
from typhoid fever, with the resulting con-
tamination of well water, must be recog-
niZed as the chief source Of the diffusion
of the disease. 1t is case of auto-infection.
We are daily breeding the poison which poi
sons US, and the inevitable round from in
testine to soil, from soil to well, and from
well back to intestine goes on and on with
the most tragic uniformity. We sustain all
the conditions favorable to rapid and per-
feet propagation of the bacilli. Branches
and Deschamps have experimentally shown
that typhoid germs placed on the surface
of frequently moistened ground will pene-
trate nearly two feet into the soil, and will
there retain life for five and half months.
They multiply rapidly in lily drained soil,
live for an indefinite time in privy vaults
and have a much longer existence in cis-
terms and wells than in running water.
''In Washington We supply all these neces-
sary conditions leaking privies for the re-
ception Of the excreta and their contained
germs, damp and lily drained soil for their
reception and rapid growth. neighboring
wells for the resulting, the inevitably re-
sulting. contamination of drinking water
consumed by thirsty population. What
more conveniences can We supply? What
more successful means can we adopt to
raise our mortality to a point higher than
that of Brooklyn, New York, Baltimore ard
Boston? We are among the most successful
cultivators of the deadly hacillary plant in
this country.
All Wells Should BE Abandoned.
1.-THE committee would urge upon the
Medical Society the Importance of taking
the initiative in the effort to control the
spread Of this destructive but preventable
disease by urging upon our municipal gov
ernment and upon Congress the prompt
adoption of measures to remove the causes
to which this report has drawn attention.
1.-The measures to be recommended are:
81. The immediate abandonment G all
wells within the city limits, exception only
to be made in case of the absence of the
repeated chemical and meteorological ex-
aminations, have been found to be free
from all possible sources of danger. But
eI en- these to be abandoned as rapidly as
possible.
'2 Publication of the sewerage system
already existing by replacing as rapidly as
possible all damaged or defective drains.
SO. The introduction of new sewers in
advance Of other improvements in parts
of the city not now supplied with drainage,
and the extension of the system as far
outside of the city limits as the rapidly
growing population demands, SO as to pre-
vent soil contamination,
81 The adoption of some system by
which the lowe. sections of the city can
be more completely drained and the risks
arising from the backing up of tide water
and sewage prevented.
"5 The final and safe disposal of the
sewage.
Concluding Recommendations.
&C. To make all existing privies, vaults
or other receptacles of human excreta
water tight, and by rigid inspection and
per aities to prevent the danger from leak
age and overflow.
"T The early completion of the plans
recommended by Colonel Elliot, in charge
of the Washington aqueduct, and now in
course of execution, which have in view
the sedimentation of the Potomac water,
and ultimately the completion of works