The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-05-18
Weekly Letter on
Municipal affairs
XL1X.-Modern Sanitation Reduces
Death Rate in Cities.

TIfTY YEARS ago the health department fig.
urcd slightly in the conduct of municipal
| affairs, but today It Is recognized as one
Of the most important Of the municipal
| functions. It's sole object is the saving OF hu.
man life through the vigilance of its staif and
| the use of up.todatc methods in promoting the
cleanliness Of city, the prevention OF the
| spread OF contagious diseases and the thorough
inspection Of all foods. milk, etc. The useful
ness OF such department depends upon the
thoroughncss with which IFS affairs are con.
ductcd. wide observation. based on the cNani.
nation OF methods in vogue is not only the prin-
cipal cities of the United States but many OF the
smaller ones, has demonstrated that the larger
the city the better affairs of this depart.
mcnt looked after. while the Slnancr the city
the reverse is true.
Ii IL interesting to notice the methods of some
well organized health departments. For example,
in Rochester, n. Y, DR.. George 5. Goler. who is
a. the head OF that department, has had in OPP
Grafton for the past three years a number OF
milk stations where nothing but the purcst
milk could be obtained for infants. He COM
mcnced this work in limited way three years
ago, gradually increasing it until last summer
he had five such stations in operation in df.
ferent parts of the city. being careful to locate
them in the most thicky populated districts.
where they would be most accessible to the
poorer classes. Each station placed in charge
OF a competent trained nurse whose duty il was
to instruct the mothers who obtained their sup.
ply OF milk from the municipal milk station,
to the care Of the infant. including its feeding
dressing. bathing. etc. Last year Dr.. Golcr cs-
tablishcd municipal dairy within few miles
of the city which was conducted in the most
sanitary manner All vessels and rcccptaclcs
into which the milk was placed at any stage of
the process OF getting it to the station in the
city was carefully stcrilized and the most pains
taking precautions were taken to maintain
sanitary condition about the premises and about
the mixers the latter being required to stcril-
iac their hands after each milkcd be.
fore proceeding to the next step in the work.
The result nj this was most satisfactory. The
doctor announced, basing his statements on a
careful record covering the three years, that
nearly one ...ousand lives saved by this
unique method Of looking out for the little ones
in the city of Rochester. Ills plans for the
coming year embrace larger supply of milk,
which means an increase in the dairy and n
larger number Of stations. Thus far this is the
only instance on record in this country where a
city has conducted dairy but the good results
obtained in the city of Rochester are likely to
lead to the establishment Of similar dairics and
stations in other cities.
Health Commissioner Wendc OF Buffalo, also
put in practice unique methods whereby he has
reduced the death rate among children of five
years of age and under. One of the most novel
was that which he secured through the passage Of
an ordinance by the city councils prohibiting the
Use of the long gtubcd nursing bottle. This was
done on the strength of discoveries made by the
bacerioogist, who found that the long tube
could not be thoroughly cleanscd and that it
afforded fine opportunity for the propagation
of disease germs which multiplied the cases OF in.
iIntic diseases. The result of this prohibition
was a marked decrease in the deaths of infants
in the summer months.
Another excellent method employed by Dr.
Wcndc is found in what he calls his ''tcll.talc
mill. register" This is Il method whereby he
keeps perfect tab on the milk dealers in the
city. lie is constantly informed to the route
of every milk peddlcr well as his source OF sup.
ply. BY vigilance and frequent inspection he
maintains a good standard Of purity in the milk
which is sold to Buffalo people. Moreover, by
means of this register he is able to locate the
source of diseases which often spread by the
milk pcddlcr. The other day one OF the city
physicians reported about half a dozen cases of
scarlet fever in his section of the city. Within
thirty minutes from the receipt of the report, IA
special inspector set upon the track of the
disease. trying to locate its source. The sani.
t:ry conditions of the residences where the
were found were first carefully examined
and when there nothing found in local con.
ditlonS which would account for the sudden an.
pcarance Of this disease. the milk register was
occurred on one mans milk route. Within less
tfan twcnty.four hours of the receipt of the
first report the inspectors OF the health depart.
ment were at The source OF supply twenty four
miles distant from Buffalo, of this particular
dealer, where they found one of scarlet
fever in the house OF the man who ran the
dairy farm. and two convalesccnt mixers with
red flannel around their throats, besides most
unsanary conditions about the house and barn.
This source of supply cut off until condi-
ti"n> were made perfectly sanitary. the propcr
quarantine was maintained within the city and
the spread OF the disease stopped without
an increase Of but three cases
One Of the most fatal and most persistent
enemies Of human life is tuberculosis. Those
who have been studying the tenement house
conditions in the large cities of America and
across the Atlantic have found it most preva-
lent in the thickly populated portions OF the
city The density of population always hears
a more or less constant ratio to the prevalence
of this disease, the mortality increasing with an |
increasing density, and, as has frequently been |
pointed out, in no city in the world is the |
density of population as great as in some OF the
New York tenement districts, and in no great
city is the density OF population great as in |
the borough OF Manhattan.
Not until quite recently has this disease been
recognized by medical and public health authori.
ties as contagious. In most large cities the
sentiment is gaining ground which favors certain |
seinl'quaraniine measures in the caring for all
cases OF tuberculosis, particularly of a pulmon.
AIRY character. That such methods should he
put in operation at an early date will he real |
lied by a glance at the following table, which |
shows the mortality from pulmonary tuberculosis !
only; other forms OF tuberculosis are not in. |
cluded. These figures are taken from the latest |