The Washington herald., 1907-05-19
REPLIES TO MILKMEN
Committee on Dairy Santa
tiOn Gives Figures,
INFANT MORTALITY REDUCED
Claims Every Attempt TO Improve
Purity of MIX Opposed by the In
dustry-COst of Improved SANTA
tion should BE Borne by Consum-
ers-SOme Suggestions.

tion should BE Borne by Consum-
ers-SOme Suggestions.
The committee on the sanitary relations
of the milk supply. 10 which was referred
a letter from T r. Horner, a member Of
the milk conference. announces that in
its opinion the consumer Of milk. and
especially the Innocent and helpless babies.
have some rights. and public health de
mands that the facts concerning milk in
relation 10 disease should be presented
and remedial steps taken at the earliest
possible opportunity"
In discussing the opposition Of the milk
industry TO reasonable requirements. the
committee says
1T is remarkable fact that every at
tempt 10 improve the purity Of this inyalu-
able article of food should be promptly
opposed by the milk industry, which con-
stitutes a strong spoke in the commercial
wheel, and evidently considers il meddle-
some interference with their trade These
men evidently do not know, and cannot
know, that such hydra-headed diseases as
cholera infantum. scarlet fever. and diph-
iberia have been disseminated in tile milk
supply; that typhoid fever epidemics have
been thus caused, and that milk may De
the vehicle Of the germs Of tuberculosis
and other infectious diseases and morbifIc
agents"
Like Robbing Poor of Pennies.
After referring 10 Or. Wiiey's report on
analyses showing Il pes cent Of the milk
SKINNED or wstered, the committee says:
THE records Of the Health Department
show that during the past five years 2S.S-9
samples OK milk were examined. OF these
6S0l, or 23.5 per cent, were below the fixed
standard. and in 1906 instances prosecu-
uous for the sale Of adulteTatcd milk were
presented in the courts
These robberies, largely made up Of
the pennies Of the poor and sickly wo-
men and half-starved children amount in
money value 20 considerable more each
year than the entire cost Of tie health
department
Honorable men Will not object TO reg
ulations calculated % promote the purity
Of their product and the health of their
customers, and as many Of the most seri-
Gus faults I'm the milk business are the
result Of ignorance. rather than Of inten-
tional neglect, the difficulties VIII De ma
terialIy lessened by proper education and
trade competition"
The committee contends that certain
diseases I'm the animal are communicable
20 men through the medium Of the milk
This especially is true Of tuberculosis.
foot ana mouth disease. a1threa. and
cowpox, and that diseases like garget.
gastro-enterius. and septic fevers I'm the
COW viii render the milk morb.fc %
man.
Terrible Slaughter of Infants.
1T has been shown that animals which
have fed on poisonous forage plants. or
have been treated with strong medica-
ments for any or all causes, are disquaIi-
fed from producing a pure OF sound
milk.
1T has been shown that during the
past twenty-five years there have been
published in the difereut medical jour
nails the histories Of 1876 epldcmics Of ty-
'phoid fever, % Of scarlet fever. and Sc Of
diphtheria. all traccabie TO milk supply
1T has been shown I'm a former report
that about one-fourth of an the children
born perish before The completion OF the
first year. that nearly oue-half of the
deaths In children under one year of age
are caused by gastro-euteric diseases,
chiefly iufanule diarrhsa and that Of
the 54oF infantle deaths which have
been Investigated at home and abroad
with reference to feeding. $50 per cent
had been artidCialIy fed. AN of which
points with more than mere suspicion to
the fact that the m0rbifc agent is intro
duced into the body with the food (cow ;
milk"
Pure-miiIS Law Saves Lives.
The committee finds that the Washing
ton market milk compares favorably with
the supply i'm other cities. there is no evil
dence to show that it is worse, but there
is abundant evidence to indicate that
stale and infected market milk is every
where responsible for a needless sacrifice
of human life Il points out that since
the enactment of a pure milk law I'm 1885,
the percentage Of deaths IN children un-
der one year Of age TO the total deaths Of
all ages has been reduced from 1884 to
1886 in 1905.
Referring to some specific criticism con-
tained in DR.. Horner's letter the commit
tee insists upon the Importance of cool
ing the milk. and keeping it at tempera-
ture below 50 degrees T.. except as may
De necessary I'm the process of pastcuriza-
tion or sterilization. until the milk is de-
livered 10 the consumer. The reason for
this is. that milk when it leaves the udder
contains very few germs, the majority
gain access during handling especially
when the milking is done in a dusty sta
Bile or from pXcrementitiOus natter ad-
herring to the teats and udder Of the ami
nal. These germs multiply with aston
ishing rapidity whenever the temperature
of the milk is above 30 degrees Fahren-
het. and Il disease germs are present.
their proiferation augments the chances
Of Infection A temperature of IS u 10
degrees Fahrenheit. as suggested by Mr
Homer. viii not subserve the interests of
public health
Can Reduce Funerals 10 Per Cent.
On an interesting point the committee
says:
The use Of ice viii result in a slight in
crease in the cost, and your committee is
not Unmindful Of the fact that while ev-
erything else may advance in price with
out serious remonstrance, loud outcries
are made whenever a progressive dairy
man declares that the production Of clean.
wholesome milk involves an advance Of
one OF two cents a quart. In the Ian
guage Of Prof Harrington. the public
needs proper education that clean milk is
a necessity and that infant sickness and
funerals can be reduced at least 90 per
cent. a model farm properly man
ned certainly cannot compete on equal
terms with a filthy farm where no at