Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-07-16
THE STATE WAFER SUPPLY
State Board of Health Will Look After
 k-The Deaths in June.

| Pure water is the important sub.
 ject which is made the special fea-
 ture of the report of the state board
 of health for June. Dr J. H. Town
 send, secretary of the board, having
 this to say regarding water investi- gation:
 "On account of the small appropri- ation made at the last session of the
 state legislature for investigation of the pollution of streams and natural
 waters of the state, the board of health was unable, on the first of
 January, 1906, to renew the contract
 with Prof Smith of the Yale Medical
 school for water anaylsis Therefore,
 during the first six months of the
 year, the board could make no regu- | lar examination of reservoirs. The
 investigation was practically confined
 to special anaylses of water, mostly
 well water, sent in by the health off cers of different towns.
 The board has, however, made ar
 engagements, beginning July 1, to
 have these analyses carries on under
 the direction of Prof Conn of Wes-
 leyan at the state bacteriological
 laboratory in Middletown. As the
 laboratory is in continuous operation, the additional work does not involve any great expenditure, and the board will be enabled to resume the routine examination of reservoir water and to accomplish much more with the appropriation available. It has been the custom to examine monthly a certain number of reservoirs and the following year to make analyses of those in other parts of the state, and thus all the reservoirs have been, in turn, investigated.
 Special examinations of well and other waters are made on the appli- cation of the town health officer only, subject to the approval of the county health officers. In future these appli- cations should be forwarded directly to Prof Conn, who will send to the applicant proper receptacles for the water to be analysed and full direc- tions for collecting 1t.
 Prof Conn will have as his as- sistant James A. Newlands. MT New lands has studied at the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology and be- fore coming to the state laboratory was engaged in water analysis under Prof Andrew Smith at Beloit, Wis.
 "Ihe deaths reported for June numbered 1,238, these figures being 166 less than in May, fifty-one less than in June of last year. and 157 | more than the average number of | deaths during June for the five years | preceding. The deaths last month l represented an annual death rate to | 1000 population of 16.1 in the cities | and large towns, 11S in the towns of | less than 5000 inhabitants, and 15.1 in the state. The deaths for the sec against 4,064 for the first quarter, and 3,S17 for the second quarter of 1905. Diseases of the nervous sys- tenn were responsible for 135 deaths in June, consumption for 113, and | heart disease 107. There were nine ty-four deaths of accidents and vio- lence, and ninety-three due to pneu- monia. There were 1887 births in May and .69S. marriages in the same month.
 Cases of infectious diseases re- ported were as follows: Smallpox 5, measles 4S6 plus, scarlet fever 99, dipththeria and croup S9, whooping cough 105 plus, typhoid fever 2S, 46.. The health officers of seventy-two towns reported that they had not been notified of any in- fectious diseases, among them being Berlin, Bloomfield. Sims bury, Wethersfield, East Windsor and Windsor. All the health officers of Holland county made report, but there were one or more from each of the others who failed to report. the missing ones from this county being Hartland and New Britain (city and town)."