Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-08
WAR ON TUBERCULOSIS.
Scientific Sanitation and Feeding Will
Rid Earth Of White Plague.

Rid Earth Of White Plague.
From the New York Tribune.
A British medical periodical, The Hos
pital, summarizes report recently made
by the health officer Of Greenock, Scotland.
From this it appears that the death rate
from consumption in the borough was 1910
for every 10000 Inhabitants In 1904 and 1873
in 1905, but that in 1850 it was 44.6. The
reduction was brought about, not by any
special treatment of the sick, but by the
adoption of measures affecting the general
health Of the community. In a district
where formerly 8.217 persons had resided
only 100 persons were housed at the time
Of the report, and the dwellings in which
they were quartered were new and much
superior to those previously existing there.
The revelation here made Is not new, but
every instance Of the kind deserves to be
emphasized. That there is close rela-
ton between density of population and the
havoc wrought by tuberculosis fs one of
the most patent facts Of sanitary science.
A few days ago an instructive demonstra-
ton of it came to Washington in the form
of a consular report. DR.. Robin, promi-
nent specialist presented to the Paris
Academy of Medicine a table showing the
death rate from the disease In question In
different parts Of France. In cities having
a
every 10000 inhabitants, in larger places 1t
is greater and in Paris 1t Is 49, The rate
is not uniform for all the districts Of the
French capital. however. Some quarters
show a mortality much below the average,
while in others 1t rises to 100 for every
10000, but the maximum is reached where
the residents are most closely packed to-
gether.
at work in the crowded tenement is pow
erty, and the consequent inability to pro-
cure an unfailing supply Of nutritious food.
A lack Of suitable nourishment conduces
to disease by lowering the individuals
power Of resistance. More potent, perhaps,
is the lack of light and fresh air. These
are the chief agencies on which the expert
and fresh air will heal the sick, 1t is still
more important that they should be en-
ployed protectively for the well. The num-
Der Of people who need to be thus safe
guarded far exceeds that of the persons
who need to be cured
New York city has already shown that
to a considerable degree it realizes this
truth. By municipal ordinance and the &C.
tivity of charitable organizations much ex-
cellent work has been done here. The good
resulting from the ordinance which pro-
hibits splitting in public places, the cam
paign Of education which has been waged
on the east side and the systematic inspeo-
ton Of possible centers of contagion by the
authorities can hardly be overestimated.
Much, too. has been accomplished in the
direction Of tenement house reform. While
more might be done in the future toward
carrying into effect the lesson taught by
Greenock, the metropolis has little to learn
on that score. In the maritime" district
Of New York state the number of deaths
from tuberculosis last year was a trihe
over 1900, or not far from % for every
10000. This Is almost as low rate as
prevails in rural France, but persistence in
the methods now In vogue ought In the
next ten years to put this city on a par
with Greenock.