Daily Kennebec journal., 1900-12-21
STATE HOUSE.
Special tuberculosis Number
of Sanitary Inspector.
The Economic Aspect--New Portrait
Hung in the Rotunda.
That oI the Late Judge Emery Corporal
ions.

the state Board OF Health. Secretary
Young is the editor and as would be
expected. the subjects are treated in =
clear and modern style. The report
says:
Two questions relating to the wei
fare of the human race are, just now
receiving much attention from public
health officers and sanitarians-mala-
ria and tuberculosis on account of tn,
presence of the malarial parasite many
of the most fertile parts of the globe
have been almost uninhabitable, while
the habitants of other vast regions
live in Il condition of chronic invalid
ism. due to the same cause. Malaria
is absent in all our State, but the in
terest in the Investigations which are
being carried on 50 eagerly and so sue
cessfully in so many parts of the
world into the cause of it, is not
bounded by lines of malarial prevail :
cnce.
The second of these maladies, tuber-
culosis, co-extensive with civilization,
is the most destructive of all those
which haunt the homes of man.
Counting the value Of the lives which
! are swept away by tuberculosis in this
! State at anywhere nearly that Of the
same number of human chattels in the
South before the Civil War, or at the
4. half Of what it is customary for the
| courts to assess the value of human
lives. and we find that the exorbitant
! tax levied upon our State by this dis
ease. tuberculosis. need extend over
only few years to equal the whole
! Indebtedness of our commonwealth.
! And further than this, the burden of
widowhood, of orphanage, of poverty,
! and of absolute pauperism which the
ravages of tuberculosis pile up as loss
on that ledger page of our political
economy which has no profit side soon
mounts into the millions again.
This is the aspect of the question
, from the point of view of the broad
minded financier or social economist.
From that of him who has any hu-
, manitarian instincts, train of hu-
man sorrow and misery accompanies
j and follows the track of this peren-
nial ScOurGe.
Thus little thought should lead us
all to an appreciation of the enormity
! Of the handicap which tuberculosis has
thus far imposed upon everything
which makes for the prosperity and
happiness OF the people. and should
further lead to a serious consideration
Of the prdcticahility Of lessening the
prevalence Of the disease BY prophy-
! Tactic and by curative measures.
1t is nearly q score Of years now
since the discovery Of the specific
cause Of tuberculosis and great deal
of investigation has since resulted. out
of all this investigation may be sum-
married. this: That tuberculosis is an
infectious disease; that the bacillus of
I tuberculosis is not present everywhere
/ even in communities interSpersed with
Consumptives; that there is practical
/ " no danger of infection elsewhere
i than in the rooms inhabited by them
or from the things used by them. and
that there is no danger in the open air:
that the disease is spread from person
to person principally by the inhalation
Of the dust of dried and pulverized
/ tuberculous Sputum: that natural
agenCies and social conditions fortu-
natey impose limitations against the
/ infectivity of the disease. and that the
barriers against infection are very
greatly strengthened by the intelligent
and faithful observance of a few sim
pie rules: that, nevertheless. almost
the whole terrible death-rate from tu-
berculosis is due to infection.
| In recent years there has been
marked change in the opinion of medi-
cal men in regard to heredity as a fac
! tor in the causation of tuberculosis
Speaking from the present point of
, view, we say that prenatal infection is
| h.,N
| never occurs. The truth of this is in
dicated by the present position of most
of the leading medical authors and
teachers; by the results of recent sta
| tistical studies of tuberculosis in which
the errors in the earlier studies have
, been eliminated; by the records in the
! hospitals for children and In founding
and orphan asylums; by the studies i'll
pathological institutes; by observa
tiOns among animals artiflcially in
: fected; and by the observations of the
veterinarians.
A portrait of the late Hon. Nicholas
| Emery, formerly an associate justice
OF our supreme judicial court from 1884
! to 1s41 inclusive, was placed in the ro-
! tunda of the State Capitol, yesterday.
The portrait was presented by Miss
Charlotte Emery, a daughter, the only
living descendent of Judge Emery, and
who now resides at Cambridge, Mass.
1t was painted by the eminent artist Mr..
H. G. Pratt of Boston, and is valuable
addition to the ever growing collection
of portraits in the rotunda.
The following corporations have been
filed at the office of the secretary of
State:
Boston & Orville Mining Co.. organ
lied at Portland for the purpose of
mining and quarrying gold, copper and
other minerals and stones with $780,
900 capital stock of which $50 is paid
in. The officers are: President, II. p.
Sweetster of Portland; treasurer, Le-
roy l.. Hight of Portland. Certificate
approved, Dec. 49, 1900
Chas. NJ. Cox Co, organized at Port
land for the purpose of dealing in
grain, flour and feed stuffs with $780,
900 capital stock of which $75 is paid in.
The officers are: President, Chas. NJ.
Cox of Melrose, Mass; treasurer, Chas.
c. Blaney Of Newton, Mass. Certificate
approved, Dec. IS, 1900.
The SYDNEY lighthouca hoe the most