The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-07-22
The STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Heavy Responsibilities imposed
BY Law Upon This Body.
Meeting Held Friday to Consider Small
Pox situation-situaticn Serious
and No Funds to Combat it-An
Appeal to Mill Men.

Columbia, S. c., July II, 1903.-
The State board of health met yes
terday and decided to make an appeal
to the presidents of the cotton mills
to exclude from the mills all persons
who have not been vaccinated. There
are only very few Of the mill opera
tives who have been vaccinated and
the State board of health claims that
nothing can be done without the CO.
operation of the mill managers.
The difficulty seems to be that more
is expected of the State board than
they can do. Their appropriation last
year was but SIS, ,000, and there were
fewer cases last year than this, yet they
have but $1,000 this year and have
already exhausted the appropriation
with the year but half gone. The
board may borrow $1,000 with the ap-
proval Of the Governor. On account
OF, what is regarded as "meagre ap-
propriation'' the board has had to
confne its efforts to the rural dis
tricts. No assistance has been given
to incorporated towns, for they have,
or should have, local boards of health,
and should be able to enforce vacci-
nation and to pay for it.
The State board has not been Gre
ated to take care Of cases of pestilence,
but to prevent their spreading and to
take precautionary measures to keep
them from getting a foothold. In
cases Of scarlet fever the board is ex-
pected to do nothing but to isolate
the cases, and yet the epidemic Of
smallpox finds the board confronted
with all kinds of bills which it abso-
lutely declines to pay, bills for provis-
ions, and for fuel, and for other COM
modities. In one county, where the
board had forty-nine cases on its
hands, the bills aggregate over 500,
while in another county, where there
was larger number of cases, the
expense was not one-fourth that
amount, for the reason that in the
county last referred to the board was
not asked to do anything but to de-
clare the quarantine, furnish the vac
cine points and see that the vaccina-
tion was effective. This is all the
board thinks it should do.
In the opinion Of the board it is
necessary to seggregate and to isolate
these cases of smallpox and incorporat-
ed communities and cotton mill COM
munities should have some way Of do
ing this, for should there be twenty
cases in as many different parts Of
the town there would be twenty CEN
tres from which the germs would be
distributed instead of having the dis
ease isolated and confined to one spot.
The cotton mill communities are not
incorporated in a number Of instances,
but the State board thinks that these
towns should be incorporated and have
regular boards of health. The mills
could help in great measure if they
would require every applicant for work
to show that he has been yaccinated
successfully. The State board has en-
deavored to enforce compulsory vacci-
nation and has succeeded practically
in number of counties in the Pee
Dee section and the board. now wants
the mills to help in the up-country.
The law is entirely impracticable,
they declare. It requires the State
board to do too much without giving
them power sufficient to do what is
expected of them. Up to April l this
year there had been 929 cases under
the attention of the State board and
over $4,000 of the appropriation was
spent on these cases.