The Forrest City times., 1897-10-01
URBAN MILK SUPPLY.
National Conferences of Mayors
and Councilmen.
PAPER BY NlTHAN STRAUs, OF NEW YORK.
Practically No Milk Delivered for Gen.
eral Consumption in the Cities
That is Fit 10 Be Fed to
Young Children"

CoLUMBUs, o.. Sept. 30.-A feature oil
the session of the national conference
of mayors and councilmen that aroused
great interest among the delegates
was the reading of paper contributed
by Nathan Straus, of New York, on
"The Influence of Pure Milk Supply
on the Death Rate of Children"
Most of the municipal officers here
were conversant only to 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 contradic-
ton. The paper closed with the fol-
lowing appeal:
II think l have fairly demonstrated
the proposition that many thousands
Of infant lives are annually sacrificed
by the neglect to supply for the nutri-
ment of children milk which has been
subjected to the process of Pasteuriza-
ton. l hold that neglect to be Grim
tnal, and l leave it to you TO fix the
responsibility for it. We pun.
ish murder with the penalty OF
death, and yet we allow murder
In every populous community of this
land with no thought of its punish
ment, and little thought of its proven.
ton. The most exasperating of all
forms OF opposition to public well-do-
ing is that which comes from those
who pervert the trust of public office
to the satisfaction of a personal
grudge, or pursuit of temporary
partisan advantage. 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 sohooled int
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 is done and carefully note
the results which attend the doing
of it.
II appeal to you as il you were
standing beside q great river in whose
current were constantly swept past
hundreds of drowning infants. This
stream is very real thing If people
would but recognize it's 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 children'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
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 if
have succeeded in impressing you with
the fact that the dictates of humanity
and of public duty combine in demand.
ing that this backwardness should ex-
list no longer"