The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-10-02
URBAN MILK SUPPLY.
National Conference Of Mayors
and Counoilmen.
PAPER BY NATHAN STRAUS, OF NEW YORK,
" Practically No Milk Delivered for Cen
eral Consumption in the Cities
That is Fit to Be Fed to
Young Children"

COLUMBUS, o., Sept. 49, "A feature OF
the session Of the national conference
of mayors and councilmen that aroused
great interest among the delegates
was the reading OF paper contributed
10y Nathan SJraus, Of New York, on
"The Influence Of Pure Milk Supply
on the Death Rate of Children
Most of the municipal officers here
were convorsant only to a limited eX-
tent with the work being done by Mr..
Straus in New York city. Naturally
they were eager to learn all its details
and listened to the recital of them with
close attention. The paper was read
by Mr.. Ford Of New York, and its
opening statement that there is prac-
tically no milk delivered for general
consumption in cities that is fit TO be
fed in its natural state to young chill
dren," was sufficiently startling to
challenge attention, if not coutradic-
ton. The paper closed with the fol-
lowing appeal'
II think have fairly demonstrated
the proposition that many thousands
of infnnt lives are annually sacrificed
by the neglect to supply tor the nutri-
ment of children milk which has been
subjected to the process of Pasteuriza-
tion, | hold that neglect to be Grim
inal, and | leave it to you to fix the
responsibility for it. We pun
ish murder with the penalty Of
death, and yet we allow murder
to be committed by the wholesale
in every populous community Of this
land with no thought Of its punish
ment, and little thought Of its preyen-
tion. The most eXasperating OF all
forms of opposition to public well-dO-
ing is that which comes from those
who peryert the trust of public office
to the satisfaction of personal
grudge, or pursuit of temporary
partisan advantage. l have had
enough experience of this in New York
to force me to the conclusion that
the man who sets himself to the task
of doing good must be schooled into
Indifference against the shafts Of OBJ
loquy and Misrepresentation. | appeal
to you gentlemen who are charged
with the responsibilities attending the
government of cities great or small,
to study the conditions under which
this work IL done and carefully note
the results which attend the doing
of it.
Il appeal to you as if you were
standing beside great river in whose
current were constantly swept past
hundreds of drowning infants. This
stream is very real thing if people
would but recognize its existence, and
all its yearly tribute of death is paid
because of the public neglect of some Of
the simplest precautions for the saving
Of chiIdren's lives. You gentlemen
have the means under your control by
which these drowning babies can be
saved l ask you, will you not apply
them? Men are found capable of acts
of heroism in presence OF danger less
threatening and less surely fatal. All
that plead for is the extension of the
activity Of local boards Of health into
Il sphere which is legitimately theirs
but which they have, so far, lacked the
conviction and the courage to occupy.
shall not have spoken in vain il l
have succeeded in impressing you with
the fact that the dictates of humanity
and of public duty combine in demand
ing that this baclwardness should ex-
ist no longer