The Savannah morning news., 1902-03-06

who have a racial prediSposition over
the whites in contracting the disease
rarely ever hide the disease, reporting
their cases almost as quickly as the
whites, where prompt isolation of the
sick and vaccination and observation
of those who have come in contact
with the disease, with disinfectlon of
infected material and houses prevents
the spread of the disease.
The total inefficiency of other county
municipal and in several instances of
the State Board of Health to control
the disease prevents the city from
eradicating the disease. With the ex-
ception of several cities in this sec
ton of the country the disease has not
been intelligently handled TO the detri-
ment of other disease. An instance of
the absolute inefficiency of a state
board of health is in evidence when
after repeated efforts TO control the
disease the United States Marine Hos
pital Service was called upon by the
state of North Carolina to send a rep
resentative to the town of Wilson,
large tobacco market and a cotton
mill town. On the visit of that rep
resentaave he found cases scattered
over the city. the disease being called
chicken-poX, Cuban itch, negro mango,
etc. Further, he found men and wo-
man with smallpox stripping tobacco
and working the looms of the cotton
mill. The products of this cotton-mill
would, at least, be considered highly
suspicious.
Further, your health officer during
the past two years was sent for to
visit eleven cities and towns to deter
mine the true nature OF a disease
which invariably proved to be small
pox.
Again. the health authorities of a
large city in this state gave out for
publication that they were no good.
reasons for alarm over the smallpox
situa ton as there was less smallpox
in that city than there had been in
three years; only 50 cases being under
treatment. Following this statement
campaign of vaccination ensued: this
compulsory vaccination after three
years of epidemic smallpox.
Still again, this city on several oc-
casions has been the dumping ground
for smallpox in persons living in the
small towns around Savannah. Once
sent here the only course to pursue
was to hold and isolate the patient
For months the disease prevailed in
the negro settlement five or ten miles
from Savannah, along the Savannah
river, and, at least on one island. The
existence of these cases were known
to the county authorities and meas
ures we're suggested to the authorities
without any results, uIblli, uIldliy, your
health officer visited a negro settle
ment on the Savannah river and
found that dozens of cases of the dis
ease had occurred in a population of
less than hundred, and on the occa-
sion of the visit, smallpox patients
were picking peas for the Savannah
market; following this up he visited
an island and found fourteen cases
unattended. After finding that nothing
could be done to prevent the spread
OF the disease your health officer re-
luctantly published a statement of
facts, the final results being that at
least some of the measures suggested
were adopted and the disease was sup
pressed.
Vital Statistics.
It is to regretted that the tables
which accompany this report cannot
be made in a more comprehensive form
and proper classif1cations made of dis
eases, but the fact is the death GER
tificates of many physicians prevent
this being done by neglect to properly
fill out certificates of death occurring
in their practice. although the Bertil-
lion system is printed on the back of
certificates furnished for this purpose
by the city.
In reporting births again many
physicians do not report them prompt
ly and some few never report them
Midwives report them promptly and as
a result we obtain a more complete
return of negro births than we do of
the whites. The following table shows
the number of births reported the
month.