New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-07
SANITARY EDUCATION.

II, our volunteer soldiers from NIL parts or
the country take 10 their scattered homes and
teach to their neighbors n knowledge Of the
value of pure water and the common sources
OF contamination. all the suferings and deaths
from typhoid in our home camps will not have
been utterly in vain. The interest Of the peo
ME Mt lnrge in the welfare Of the troops. and
the wide discussion OF the causes OF the DIS
eases which have wrought such cad havoc
among those who never met the enemy or even
left our Northern camps Of instruction. ought
to bring great light 10 the country Mt large
concerning sanitary science. n subject long
preached to deaf ears and little regarded even
by intelligent citizens The best physicians in
the world cannot make healthy community
when people persist In maintaining breeding
places for the germs Of disease. The stolid re-
sstance Of the average man 10 what he per-
s,sts in regarding as finica notions about drain
age would I've astonishing II 1t were not merely
an illustration of the provcrbal imperviousncss
Of even intelligent minds to an idea which IN
terferes with established habits and conven-
fence The surgical operation said 10 be neces-
sary to put a joke into Scotchman's head Is
triflng In comparison with that needed 10 open
the eyes Of most men to elementary facts re-
Of these hundreds of brave men In our military
camps is the price which the Nation has to pay
10 bring It into reasonable subsection to the
laws OF health.
Typhoid fever is ono Of the most unneces-
sary Of diseases. Not that every individual
can protect himself against It, but that every
community can protect itself against II II all
its members take few simple precautions.
Ooo M
death to hundreds; but given case Of typhoid
and it is perfectly certain that somebody has
maintained a source Of infection which is as
much crime against his neighbors as 1t would
be for him 10 send them poisoned food Ty-
phoid does not float in the air nor Is II picked
up In the strcctcars. 1t comes In only one way
that Is through taking into the digestive
tract OF germs which developed solely IN
the digestive tract Of previous sufferer from
the disease Such transmission means that
water or food supply Of one set Of people is
made the receptacle of the waste from some
body else suffering from typhoid. This can
only occur through the dense Ignorance Grim
nal Indifference Of the sufferer and those who
care for him. 1t Is perfectly possible 10 pre-
vent the typhoid germs from ever gaining free
dom from the sck-room by simple dislnfection
and merely decent disposition of drainage
| And yet It is the most common thing to read
of an epidemic Of typhoid IN some village or
city where the disease Is traced TO the drainage
OF typhoid patient being allowed to flow into
the water supply OF the infected place or into
the we'll furnishing water in which milk cans
are washed Almost never is typhoid out
break reported but that health officers trace II
TO some such cause.
Colonel Byrne's Investigations at Camp
Black reported yesterday. furnish an nstruc-
tive illustration OF the point. Nearly all the
typhoid cases there come from the 201st Reg-
ment Inspection showed that its water sup
ply was good and the drainage system OF It's
camp excellent. and the cause OF the trouble
was obscure until Colonel Byrne discovered
that the men had been in the habit Of bringing
water in pals from farm we'll ut some dis
lance from the camp because II was cooler and
| more paatable than that from the camp hy-
drants. This well was found to be within
twelve feet Of n loosely built vault which re-
ceived the waste Of a supposed typhoid patient.
Anybody In the least familiar with country
wells knows that this Is no isolated instance
OF the way In which disease Is turned loose.
If the persons who thus pollute their own water
supplies were themselves the sole sufferers II
would not he so bad. But when they main
tain polluted well they are scattering death
among unknown numbers The guest and the
traveller drink from It.. They send its poison