Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1904-09-14
CITY Council.

a aunorrced the standing committees.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN.
coron members of the Board of Alder
men were present.
President Sweeney administered the
oath of Office to Mr.. j. r. N. Curtin,
who was elected Vice President at the
meeting held on the 1st instant. He
also administered the oath of office to
Mr.. J. NJ. Hill, who was absent at said
meeting.
The President then announced the
standing committees as follows:
Finance-Messrs. w. H. Sweeney and
Burke.
Light-Messrs. w. H. Sweeney and
Hill.
Streets-Messrs. Marbury and Curtin.
Poor-Messrs. Curtin and Hill.
Public Property--Messrs. Ballenger
and Fisher.
General Laws-Messrs. Fisher and
Ballenger.
Claims-Messrs. Burke and Marbury.
Police-Messrs. Burke and Ballenger
Schools-Messrs. Sweeney and Fisher
Mr.. Marbury introduced the following
resolution
Resolved. That the Mayor, the City
Engineer, the Health Officer and the
chairman of the committee on Public
Property be, and they are hereby, con-
stituted committee to report to Council
the ACCESSIBILITY OF an appropriation for
the purpose of erecting on city property
a suitable building to be known as "The
Hospital for Contagious Diseases" And
further be it resolved that this commit
tee be requested to report its findings at
the next regular meeting Of Council.
In introducing the resolution Mr..
Marbury said:
The necessity for house of detention
for contagious diseases is forced upon
Council by the experience gained in re-
cent years when there have been two
epidemics Of smallpox. 1t has been
pointed out to me, and the contentious
of my iniormants seem well founded,
that if the first case of contagion that
makes its appearance il isolated, the
danger of spread of the disease is ma
terially lessened. Up to this time it
has been utterly impossible to isolate
such cases because this city has been
without building suitable for the pur-
pose. Last winter number ofsmallpox
patients were crowded into frame
shanty which was unfit to shelter al
animal, much less human being. If
the Health Officer had had at his dis
posal a building suitable to the purpose,
and had been vested with the powers
that should be vested in his Office, there
is every reason to believe that instead of
about two hundred cases of smallpox,
the epidemic could have been confined
to less than a score of cases and the city
would have saved money accordingly.
An expenditure of from one thousand to
fifteen hundred dollars for the construc-
ton of substantial brick building, one
story in height, and containing four
wards, will, it is believed, mean a saw
ing of several thousand dollars per annum
for the next several years, as there is
every reason to believe, in view of con-
ditions existing in and around Alexan-
dria at this time, that contagious diseases
will break out from time to time. I'm
less the Health Department has at its
disposal suitable building in which to
isolate the first cases that appear, it will
be impossible to check the spread of such
diseases except at enormous expense,
and it will be sheer folly TO attempt to
erect such building after the appearance
of such diseases, as before the building
could be completed the contagion will
have gained such Roadway that it will
be almost impossible to control it ex-
cept, as stated, at big expense. The
contentious of my informants are based
upon the experience of other cities and
states, and in this connection | beg to
call the attention of Council to an arti-
Gle published in the last monthly bull
etin of the State Board of Health of
Virginia, headed management of
Smallpox in Florida" and which reads
as follows:
DR.. Porter, Of Florida, stated at the annual
conference Of State Boards of Health with the
United States Public Health and Marine
hospital Service, held in Washington, in
June. that 664 cases of smallpox had been
cared for in Florida at an average cost of 81
per case. Smallpox outbreaks in Florida
are cared for by the State Board of Health,
and not by the local boards. The laws are
rigidly enforced, without fear or favor, and
the disease is promptly taken in hand when
il first appears, which illustrates statement
that has often been made in this bulletin,
that there is no disease so easily controlled
and eradicated when it is properly managed.
have known few cases item to fifteen), in
several counties Of Virginia, to cost more
than the sum named above, due often to
bad management, and again to prOcrasti-
nation on behalf of the authorities, by al
lowing the contagion to spread and hundreds
TO be infected before the disease was called by
its proper name or rightly diagnosed, or the
people advised as to the seriousness of the
outbreak. Would that the health authorities
in all cities and towns, and Board Of Super
yisors of the counties, could realize the i'm
portance Of meeting the issue when it first APP
pears. There never should be but one case
i'm a community. Smallpox can be and
should be limited to the first case, which 1t
can if it is rigidly and promptly taken hold
of and few dollars apparently uselessly
spent, which means in every case hundreds
saved.
The methods adopted by the Florida
State Board of Health are endorsed by
the United States Public Health and
Marine Hospital Service. In Alexan-
dria it would not be necessary to re-
move TO the House OF Dentention any
responsible person, but it would be alb
solutely essential to remove irresponSi-