The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-12-03
County Board of Education.

There are 306 members of this body, anG
30 of them found time to be present or
Saturday. They were well repaid for the
slight trouble it caused them to be on
hand.
The meeting was called to order at II
o'clock, and DR.. John Taylor, Medical In
spector of the schools at Asbury Park,
was introduced to deliver an address on
Medical Inspection of Schools" This
subject is of recent origin in this state,
being provided for in the school law passed
last winter Little has been done in this
country to govern the health of pupils in
our schools, but Norway, Germany and
Sweden are away ahead of US. The sub
ject was first brought to the attention of
this country by DIR. Durgin, of Boston, on
! account of the prevalence of diphtheria
in the schools of that city. At first the
authorities declined to listen to him, but
they finally allowed the system to be es-
tablished and the disease was soon under
control
While diphtheria is acknowledged to be
dreaded disease, yet there are other all
ments in the same line which need atten-
ton. Children with croupy coughs go to
school with pencils in their mouths,
coughing and ejecting saliva on stair rails
and other places. Perhaps one of the
most prevalent methods of spreading such
disease as diphtheria is the drinking cup.
The subject of child study should not be
COMPOUNDED with medical inspection. The
latter protects the child and while the
pupil is carefully looked after the teacher
should also be the subject of inspection.
Not over ten days ago the speakers at
tention was called to teacher who was
attacked with pulmonary hemorrhages
while attending to her duties. She was
compelled to go home and has given up
her position. A janitor should also be
looked after. He knew of an officer of
this kind who was rejected by life in
surance company because he was of a
tuberculosis tendency. In neither of these
cases was the person fit to associate with
room full of children. The duties of
school inspector must not be allowed to
conflict with those of family physician,
a building committee or a board of health.
DR.. Taylor then gave a detailed state
ment of the work done by the Asbury
Park school, which was the first in this
state to act under the new law. He ex-
hibited some of the forms used in inspec-
ton and gave figures showing the exam
nations in the schools and their results
At the conclusion of DR.. Taylor's re
marks he was asked many questions by
the members present, and then DR.. Rich
ard H. Parsons, Medical Inspector of the.
Mount Holly schools, spoke for few mo-
ments. His remarks were drawn forth on
question about vaccination. DR.. Par
sons said he thought there had been
great amount of unnecessary alarm over
the matter of tetanus as result of vac
cination He said there had been nearly
800 pupils vaccinated in the Mount Holly
schools and there had not been a sin gle
bad result yet heard from. Everybody
knows that tetanus comes from an open
wound, and it was fact beyond dispute
that there are more open wounds in the
country from vaccination than ever before
at one time. The germs of tetanus thrive
on the dirt in the street and in barn yards
The past fall has been an unusually dry
season and the street dirt and dust has
been distributed more freely by the wind
than it has been for long time. He
thought if the number of vaccinations
throughout the country were considered
in connection with the number of cases of
tetanus, the result must be satisfactory
In the matter of school inspection DIR.
Parsons thought very important point
was the instruction of teachers that they
might be able to discover communicable
disease. The danger of tuberculosis is
great People have always ignored it be-
cause the disease was considered as in
curable but the experiments of today are
leading to different belief, DR.. Parsons
related two cases which had been brought
to his attention as occurring in the
Mount Holly schools before an Inspector
was appointed. By instructing teachers
how to discover disease such cases could
be promptly treated.
The next speaker was John Enright
County Superintendent of Monmouth
County He said he had listened with
great pleasure to the talks of the medical
l,oS, VIZ hoA 70
on that same line. While medi
cal inspection seems to be practicable only
in towns, he knew from practical exper-
fence that the country districts needed it.
He had heard the secretary of the State
Board of Health say that the percentage
of typhoid fever was greater in the coun
try than in the city. The attendance at
this meeting reminded him of that at
similar meetings in Monmouth county,
so far as numbers are concerned. There
should be some means devised to create
greater interest in school matters, and he
thought especial attention ought to be
paid to the matter of promoting good at
tendance at schools. This is very essential
now in view of the way in which the
school money is apportioned.
In the rural schools 80 per cent is the
average attendance daily, against 80 per
cent in towns, showing that the towns
are favored. Bad roads, bad weather,
distance and other like matters operate
against the country schools, but there are
other things that work to the detriment
of the school, Better attendance means
better school and better schools mean bet
ter attendance How to secure the at
tendance invites discussion and the first
thing that comes to mind is the truant
boy; to make him go to school is the vital
point to many. In the estimation OF the
speaker this was the least element of con
A good board of education is
of vastly more Importance and good
teacher is the most essential of all. Add
to this neat school house with attractive
grounds and pleasing interior and the
children will willingly furnish the at
tendance Much had been said about in