The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-08
BABIES SAVED BY CLEAN MILK.
INFANT MORTALITY LOWERED
ONE-THIRD IN ROCHE ESTER.


Result u Abselotetleanlines on Dairy
Farms Triumph Of Scientific System.
RochEsTRR, duly, IA decrease OF more
than 80 per cent, In deatha among infants
in tho months OF July and August has been
brought about 10 the city OF Rochester az
a result Of Health 0floar George W. 0oler's
plan fog providing pure milk for babies.
This has been don at q cost Of little more
than 81 600 q year, and DR.. Goler says that
h Rochester has done can be done by
any city at o proportionate cost.
Until the city established summer milk
stations the infa ntlle morta lily In Rochester
constituted more than one-third Of the
total number Of deaths. but 1t has now
been greatly reduced. In tho nine years
from 1888 to 1895 there wore 8,e2o deaths
Of children under s yesrs Of 6 For the
nine year period from 1897 to 1905. during
which the milk stations have been In opera
ton. there were only 1903 deaths, notwith-
standing that the city's population has in
creased by $4,000.
" Rochester was not exceptional in its high
i~nfantile mortality. The statlstios show
that in the cities Of large population, and in
those OF small population, the number OF
deaths among young children were Just az
numerous and in some places even larger
than here.
IL 10 not pretended that the results accom-
plished are due solely to the improved quail
fty OF the milk that is fed to the babies.
Improvement In the practice Of medicine
has perhaps had much to do with II, but
it IL believed that the milk has been the
principal factor.
Pure milk, according to DIR. Goler and
the Rochester health bureau, does not
mean pasteurized or sterllized milk. 1t
means, first Of all, clean milk, and to secure
this 10 is necessary to sse that the cows.
the stables, the mixers, the utensils and
everything that the milk encounters from
the time II leaves the cow to the time It
reaches the consumer are absolutely clean
and sanitary. II this Ia done, DIR. Goler
contends, pasteurization Is unnecessary.
When the work was frat undertaken in
Rochester pasteurization was resorted to,
and this was followed for the first three
years, but since that time such precautions
have been taken to insure absolute ~oleanli-
ness of the milk in the first place that it is
not necessary to submit IL to any process
to free it from dirt or germs.
DR.. Goler's objection to pasteurization is
that heat applied to milk alters it, makes
it curd tougher and more difficult to digest
often giving. rise to indigestion, diarrhea
or constipation in the infant. According
to him, the application OF heat to milk in
the operation OF pasteurtaing it or steril-
izing it leads people to think they cure a
condition that is more easily prevented by
care in the handling Of milk used for food
DR.. 0oler believes that pasteurization Of
milk is beginning at the wrong end to
remedy the condition.
The Rochester milk work was begun in
1907. An examination of the mortality
tables had shown what appeared to be an
unnecessarily large number Of deaths Of
children under s years of age. 1t was
also noted that the larger number OF these
deaths occurred in July and August.
Looking about for a cause, 1t was soon
concluded that the milk supply was the
great cause for the mortality. Accordingly
a systematic examination Of stables and
diaries was undertaken.
They we're found to be probably no worse
than stables in other places, but the health
authorities were convinced that here ley
the chief source Of trouble. The stables
were dirty, festooned with cobwebs and
badly drained; the surroundings were
sinks Of mud and manure. the utensils
dirty, often containing layers Of sour milk
with admixtue Of countless millions of
bacteria: and the milk itself was 80 i'm
perfectly cared for and cooled that it often
soured before reaching the consumer.
When the milkmen we're approached
about the matter they replied that they
we're taking the same care Of the COWS
and the milk that they had always taken
Of them and that they could not take better
pare OF the milk for the price current at
the time-hve cents a quart.
AS hope OF improvement in this direc-
| ton seemed futile the health bureau deter
mined, at least during the summer sea son,
to 70 into the milk busines itself. In the
summer Of 1897 the first pure milk station
was opened.
It was esta blished In va mt store in one
Of the most densely populated districts
OF the city. trained nurse with a woman
assistant W put In charge. Behind q
rough counter q large sink was installed,
and the necessary table, racks, DO, were
erected. An oil stove furnished heat for the
apparatus in Use.
The milk was procured from what the
milk ms peotors thought to be ono Of the
best farms in the vicinity. At the store
the milk YVES Qllutou, bWoetoneu ana put |
up in four different mixtures Of four, five. |
seven and eight ounce nursing bottles.
It was pasteurized at $50 degrees Fahren-
holt for twenty minutes, cooled and sold
ct cost, varying from two four ounce bottles
for one cent to one cent for eight ounce
bottles. A deposit Of three cents was re-
Quired on each bottle and rubber cork.
In the first instance the mother or nurse
was required to 60 to the station and take
the baby where, In the absence Of advice
from a family physician, the baby wa
weighed and q milk mixture prescribed
according to the weight Of the child and
not according to its age. The nurse talked
With the mother about the air, water, food.
sleep, reoreetion nc clothing Of her child.
A pamphlet was also printed in English,
German, Italian and Yiddish, containing
in the simplest form the chief points relating
to the care aud feeding Of infants. It
was entitled How to Take Care of Babies
During the Hot Weather" Across It's face
In large red letters was printed: aGive
the Baby Water In type large md distinct
were these two sentences.
mo other milk. no other food, not even
4 ~wet-nurss can take the place Of milk nom
Don't feed bananas, candy, popcorn.