The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-15
BACILLI FEAR THEM
SANITARY CONFERENCE HOLDS
FIRST MEETING AT STATE
CAPITOL
THE PROBLEM OF SANITATION
Typhoid Fever and How 1t Is COM
municated ExhaustiveIy Dis
cEssed-WeIcomed by
Gov. Van SAINT.

cUssed-WeIcOmed by
Gov. Van SAINT.
The Minnesota sanitary conference held
its first meeting yesterday in the senate
chamber of the Capitol There were
sixty present. 1t is proposed to make
this permanent organization, and it is
to include beside medical men and health
officers, all others interested in sanitary
matters who desire to belong to it. DR..
Henry Hutchinson presided and DR..
Bracken, of the state board Of health,
acted as secretary.
1t was decided to select a committee on
permanent organization, and the follow
ing were appointed by the chair: DR..
Westbrook, Prof. Father, DR.. Taylor,
d. 2. Hall, DR.. Ohage, DR.. Robinson, DR..
Charles Mayo, Mr.. G. w. Wilson, DIR.
Cool, DR.. Tomlinson, Rev. S. G. Smith,
Harris Richardson, DR.. Reynolds, DR..
Hutchinson, DR.. Bracken.
The principal paper was read by DR.. J.
M. Robinson, of Duluth, and was on
Typhoid Fever" The speaker began
by stating that Duluth, once a hot bed
of typhoid fever, was now comparatively
free from that disease. He asserted
that the present theory IS that
the disease is communicable
one, and that each case is con-
nected with a pre-eXisting one. Unless
man swallowed the so-called bacillus
of typhoid he would not have the disease,
even though he drank the foulest and
dirtiest water. 1t must necessarily con-
tain the bacillus itself to cause infection.
He called attention to the fact that its
presence in milk did not mean coagula-
ton; that freezing does not destroy it,
10 to117 a+r1Y, cf IL
Though it resembles the common colon
bacillus, the theory that it was a modified
form Of that bacillus had not found favor
with PSYCHOLOGISTS
Typhoid fever infection always occurred
by way Of the alimentary canal, he con-
tinued, and comes from some of the ma
terialS swallowed by some other indfvid-
ual. It was communicated in several
ways, in the water supply, milk, green
vegetables, flies, or ice, and resulted in
directly, sometimes, through a second
person, through a nurse or a physician
who themselves might not be i'll with the
disease at all, but passed it on to a third
person This poison remains active, he
said, for as long as six or eight weeks
IN water, and a year or longer in ground,
so that it is often possible to have the
connection between apparently separated
cases.
Duluth well Equipped.
In speaking of the water supply of Du-
luth the doctor mentioned the large
number of cases occurring in 1899, and the
comparatively few cases since then This
improvement he ascribed entirely to the
Inauguration Of q new water system, only
three deaths having occurred in that CITY
in 1901, whereas in 1896 there were over
100. The present water supply, the
speaker thought, was less likely to suf-
Ter contamination than that Of any place
in Minnesota.
Dr. Tomlinson, superintendent of the St.
Peter hospital for the insane. said that
every year when the cold weather came.
they had cases Of typhoid at the ASYLUM
ana that the patients who We're Clearly
In their personal habits were much less
likely to be affected than lnose careless
and filthy and the infection might be
due to germs on the hands getting into
the mouth, or on the food and thus To
the mouth.
DR.. J. c. Boehm. Of ST. Cloud. said that
last year. st. Cloud had spent thousands
OF dollars to prevent the spread of small
pox and that in his opinion cities would
DO well to spend little to find out the
causes and means of prevention OF
typhoid fever. Considerable discussion
followed in which Prof. Russell. of the
University of Wisconsin Joined. He re-
marked that it must be remembered that
the bacillus lives and thrives in milk.
as unlike some other baciIli il can endure
the Tactic acid. Dr. Gordon Bell. of Win
nlpeg, also spoke on milk infection by
typhoid germs.
Dr. Ohage not being present his naper
on Meat Inspection was omitted. Mr..
George Wilson spoke next on Sewage
Disposal He classified it into that
from single houses, and isolated 1nstItu-
lions and towns provided with sewage
systems, and lastly cities PROVIDED with
the same. The primitive method was 70
deposit it where it gave least offense. and
only about thirty-five years ago in such
highly organized communities as London
and Paris the most offensive wastes were
disposed of by collecting them by house
to house methods and burying them in
the earth.
National bacterial treatment of rivers
is one of the most interesting questions
of sanitation. In Europe he said. the
conditions in the cities was letter than
In our American cities. ! ne sewage is
disposed of in more harmless and inof-
fensive manner. and greater attention is
paid to furnishing pure water There
were a number of WAYS by which sewage
could be disposed if. BY broad irrigation
over land used for agricultural purposes.
by treating it in filter presses and the
solid residuum used as fertilizer, and the
septic treatment. the breaking up of the
animal or vegetable compounds into
stable compounds. This last method the
speaker thought, was extending the most
rapidly in the United States and the
nearest city to adopt it was Madison.
Wis, where it was said to be working
well.
Water supply in Minnesota
The water Supply of Minnesota" by
Prof. Flather, was u-.e next on the pro-
gramme He thought too much atten-
ton was paid to quantity instead of to
quality, and when this last is considered
at all, it is too often judged simply by
color and taste. The purity Of water he
continued, depends upon its courses and
the polluting influences to which it may
or may not have been subjected
r. Many diseases were water borne, such
as typhoid, cholera, etc. And often,
while the public supply was pure, the in
divldual wells might be polluted The
main point, he asserted, was to prevent
the appearance of disease germs in drink
ing water or if they are there then to
remove them by filtration.
The session in the evening met at
o'clock, after dinner at the Merchants
hotel at which many of the visitors were
present.
Gov. Van SAINT made the address Of
welcome. He said he extended to them
cordial welcome; that they were en-
gagged in a noble work. It had once been
said truly that God made the country