Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-21
A REPORT ON MILK
Quality of the Article Furnished in
the District.
INSPECTOR HIRD'S INVESTIGATION
Health Officers Bill to Cover Ex-
isting Defects.
MORE INSPECTORS KED

A report on the quality of milk sold in the
District of Columbia was presented to the
Senate today in response to a resolution By
Senator Galiinger recently adopted by that
body. The resolution called for full re-
port on the nature of the milk. the reply of
Prof. ]. D. Hird, the District chemist and
inspector of dairy products, being very
complete one.
DIR. Woodward the health officer, also sub
mitted report and recommended certain
legislation. He also recommends an appro-
priation for more inspectors, as follows: One
inspector, veterinary surgeon, to supervise
the inspection of live stock and dairy farms,
at 81 5OO per annum: three inspectors, vet
Urinary surgeons, to inspect dairy farms IN
adjoining states, at 500 per annum; three
inspectors to collect samples Of milk ana
cream and to assist in their analysis, at
$500 per annum. One thousand dollars per
annum is also asked Tor contingent eA
penseS.
The legislation proposed by the heaitn
officer consists of two separate bllls Inc
first is entitled "A bill to regulate the pro-
duction and sale of milk and cream IN ana
for the District of Columbia. The title OF
the second is "A bill to require cases OF W
phoid fever occurring in the District OIL ~
lumba to be reported to the health depar..
greatest Importance embodied in the first
bill are The requirement that milk be kept
at proper temperature, below % degrees
F. prior TIC sale; the provision LOT the regis
ira ton at the request of the owners, Oh
tuberculin-tested herds, and the provision
of means whereby the shipment OF MIX
and cream into the District from unauthor-
lied places can be effectually prevented.
Respecting Typhoid Fever.
Speaking of the measure drafted by MIN
requiring all cases Of typhoid occurring
here to be reported to the health depart
ment Dr. " oodward says:
Typhoid fever IS one of the diseases
which are spread at times through con-
taminated milk supply, and the only EN-
from any particular dealer has been CON
taminated is by having recorc OF an cases S,z
of typhoid fever which occur IN the Us
trict and charging each such case teHtd-
lively against the dairy from Wnlch tneh
milk used by the patient, prior to ms III
ness, was derived. II TINS De zone .he "
currence of an unusual numDer On SaSes
among the customers of a particular dealer
is readily detected and steps can be taken
to discover whether such milk supply Is IN
fact contaminated. similar method IS al
ready in vogue with reference 10 other ~
tftiahle diseases and has enabled the nealth
department to check two outbreaks Oh seal
let fever. ,,.. -.
The present unsatisfactory condition OF
the District milk supply, says the hea ~
listing law for in his opinion an lnsuncleLl
force of inspectors is to a considerable ex.
tent responsible for the trouble 1t 49, ne
declares, manifestly Impossible lot one We .o
Urinary surgeon to supervise all OF the
dairy farms from which our milk supply Is
derived and to inspect too all the hve
stock intended for slaughter. NOR, ne
thinks can one chemist maintain an ell
Gent control over the condition of milk
and cream as it reaches our market, WINE
at the same time he is required 10 see tnat
all sorts of foods and drugs are up 10 std.-
utory requirements; that water from pupllc
and priyate wells is not dangerous to
health: whether samples of liquors SUBMIT
ted by the police department are or are not
intoxicating, and whether viscera sunni, 4air
noison. To remedy existing condltlons
more inspectors are needed as mucn as
more law says the health officer, Tor Wltn-
out the former the latter can erect t ou. Of
tie Improvement. while sufficient 1orce OF
insnectors could do much even under the
law now in force. =,
with the inspection force" continues
DR.. Woodward, as 1t wouio eAise a ~ sii
additions suggested above were PROVIDED
for and 81 900 per annum for contingent
expenses and with the law as proposed III
the accompanying drafts. thoroughly EN-
cient control of the milk supply OF TINS
District can be maintained, but. as has been
said. much can be effected with SUCH an IN
snection force even without additional legls-
lation while such legislation alone Call ae-
complish but little. ,.
With his report, DIR. Woodward transmit
ted one prepared by DR.. ]. D. Hird, the
District chemist and inspector or DAIRY pro
ducts, in which, among other thlngs' Dr'
Hird says:
Quality of Product Sold.
an the first place" Mr.. Hird says l
would state that during the past seven years
I have analysed about four thousand sam
niles of milk alone, Independent of cream,
%,,n
come familiar with this important food pro-
duct in its various forms of contamination
Nv contamination is meant not only the ad-
d;tion of water, coloring matter, preserva-
tives and the abstraction of cream, but also
those forms of contamination due to care
lessness on the part of the person handling
the milk on the one hand and to those nat
ural sources Of contamination, of which l
shall speak hereafter on the other. This
latter subject is illustrated, in the first In
stance, by the words dirt filth or manure,
which finds its way into the milking pail
from the TANKS and udder Of the cow dur
ing the process Of milking, or into the milk
cans through carelessness in some other
Way while the latter instance Is illustrated
by the amount of epithelium cells due to
the destruction of tissue, which always ac-
company the milk. as a semi-normal pro-
duct of the process of milking. Taken as
a whole, we find this debris. when removed
by means of a separator. to consist of cpl
thelium cells. parts of insects hairs, dust
and other excrementitious matter from the
COW.
1.-The subject therefore, presents itself
naturally under two aSpectS-the one re-
lating to the intentional adulteration, while
the other relates to the unintentional. In
regard to the former it may be stated that
the addition of water, coloring matter and
preservatives, together with the removal of
cream, constitute the entire field Of inten-
tional adulteration as practiced in the Dis
trict of Columbia.
Preserving and COlOrin& the Milk.
For the purpose of coloring milk a solu-
ton of annatto is used, which Is the name
given to a dye prepared from the seeds of
a tropical plant known to botanists as the
bixa-orellana. This substance passes
through Preventative process, whereby
the Preventative principle is retained by
the annatto and afterward impaired to the
milk with which it is mixed. A microscopic
examination of the paste annatto or the
alkaline solution used for the coloring of
milk shows the presence of innumerable
bacteria necessary result of the putre-
factive changes through which the coloring
matter has passed. 1t is not surprising,
therefore, that milk to which evens the
smallest quantity of annatto coloring has
been added should sour much more rapidly
than pure milk.