The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-01-05
REGULATIONS ADEQUATE.

"The regulations of the board nf
health are entirely adequate for any
such emergency as the present If we
only had the means at our disposal or
enforcing them. We have one sanitary
officer for the whole city Of Scranton
who, during the last few weeks. ha;
had an assistant BY means of this
assistant We have been able to do 4
good deal toward curbirG the spread
Of disease. but my idea is that we
ought to have a sanitary officer FOR
each of the five health districts of the
city. With force of that size we
woult, be able to keep things well in
hand.
"The rules of the board prescribe
that when a case of contagious disease
is reported to the board. the Superin-
tcndent of schools is ut once appriscd
and he in turn notifies the principal of
the school the children of the family
attend. These children are thereupOn
excluded from school until they bring
Il certificate from the attending ply
siciun showing that the disease VAS
| run it's course and that the house has
been properly fumiCated. This regu-
lation if observed b. physicians and
parents. would be sufficient to prevent
thr spread of any contagious disease
through the medium of the schools.
"With the management of the fam
| lily at the home it is manifestly diff
| cult for the board of health to inter-
| ferc, and there after all is where the
| great danger comes in. We deny the
pupils admission to the schools and
their parents promptly turn them out
of doors and allow them to spread the
| disease broadcast. The only remedy
| for this is more enliGhtered public
| opinion and greater display Of COM
mon sense on the part of parents.
More frequent urgings by physicians
of the danger Of allowing people from
| infected houses to go abroad would un-
doubtedly do some good.
CANNOT BE AVOIDED.
| while people insist on passing free
| ly in and out of infected houses. visit
| ing houses that death has visited and
attending the funerals of those who
die from contagious diseases, we will
meet just such a condition of affairs
as we are confronted with at present.
| "Snce Thomas V. Lewis was hired
| to assist Sanitary Policeman Burke
| We have almost stamped out that out
| rage against public health. the public
funeral i'm connection with deaths from,
contagious diseases. AS soon as such
q death is reported Mr.. Lewis notifies
the relatives that a public funeral will
not be permitted and he sees to it that
people are not allowed to visit the
house. and that it is properly fumi-
gated. If we had q sufficient force o!
men to allow this system TO include, t.
an extent. the cases where people are
III from contagious diseases, we would
| take long step in the direction oi
putting stop To the spread of the
| diseases that are now causing such
trouble. We have not the money Ol
power necessary to do this. Our hands
in fact are practically tied in the way
of doing more than we are at pres
ent.
| PENNSYLVANIA needs to display mora
liberality in leGis'atlng for its boards
Of health and councils need to display
more libcrality in providing funds fol
the boards to carry on the important
work that is entrusted to them. The
power vested in the boards of health
ought to be sufficient to cuahle them {,
meet the grave questions that are con
stantly arising in one form or another
when the health OF communities Is
menaced. They should be able to ac
quickly and have the power necessary
To enforce the policy the authorities
believe to he necessary to preserve tn,
public health.
In the present emergency ! woult
suggest most urgently that the ply
sicians of the city and the people %
the city cooperate with the healtf
authorities in preventing the furthe
spread of diphtheria and scarlet fever
II this is done there will be yer,
noticeable decrease in the number o
new cases and in the city's deatl
rate"