The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-20
ny lcRnnEn1c \. IIAslxIN.

a remarkable volume has just been
issued from the United states Public
Heath and Marine Hospital Service.
1T deals with tho subject OF the milk
supply of the cities OF the United
States and makes showing which IL
at once valuable to public health and
Charming t. the svory es 5aa
train. meets with III accident and some
one Is killed. IL storm OF protest goes
up about lives needlessly sacrificed
Every time mine exp,osipn or f n,,r
industrial Juggernaut. and the per-
son or persons who are responsible
are sought. out and charge OF Grim.
there is a far more insidious and dan
gerous enemy to public life. and pub
lie health abroad ~ the , land than ina,
roads XIII their, hundreds, bad milk
mine horrors snuff out the little can
die OF life for It's few. bad milk
carrier Is on trial. science & the
prosecuting attorney. Never has
prosecutor followed his case more
together stronger army OF circum-
stantial evidence, every Iota of 1t
7ointing with unerring force to the
quit or Inc Qe1eUuHut, ana uOHe OI II
Compatible with a conclusion Of in
nocence. The evidence is conclusive,
the conclusion Is inevitable. Pure,
clean, uncontaminated mix never
t tious disease. Unclean, contaminated
milk usually does. Hundreds OF cpl
denies have been traced to one milk
source in each case. This applies &c
typhoid fever, scarlet fever and diph-
Listen to the evidence. Last Octo-
Der there was an epidemic Of typhoid
fever at cresson. a noted health re-
tunnel above the famous Horseshoe
Curve on the Pennsylvania. There
were nine cases In eight families. NO
two of the families had the same
there were two cases of typhoid in the
family OF the dairyman. The dairy
was closed and the outbreak ceased.
in savannah, Ca. in May. 1907. Only
nineteen cases OF typhoid had occurred
In Savannah from January to May.
During May ninety-five cases were
reported. Sixty-three came from one
dairy, while the other thirty-two were
scattered among eighteen other milk
supplies. The dairy Involved did u
wholesale and retail business. and one
a bakers shop, over which typhoid
patient lived. The cans sent to this
depot were returned and used again
without being sterilized.
| In October, 1906, there was an OUT
break of typhoid in Newark, N. j..
where the average number Of cases n
year is about thirty. Within a month
there were 100 cases reported. In
| those cases used milk from one farm.
and that preceding the outbreak n
| fever subject had MIXED cows at the
| farm. The sale of milk from this
l n al
! there were only forty mine cases left.
In August OF the same year an ex-
/ piosive outbreak OF twenty-nine cases
1 occurred at Salt Lake City. None OF
these had a common water supply and
/ all patronized one dairy. There had
been a case of typhoid on the farm
supplying this dairy. The premises ,s
outbreak came to an end.
| in April. 1908, there was an out
break OF typhoid at Palo Alto, Cal. or
the 800 people using milk from one
dairy. 232 had typhoid. The milk cans
had been washed in a creek infected
by sewage, and the milk was diluted
with the same water Such is the
A hundred similar instances might be
mentioned in the case of scarlet fever
and diphtheria. But the crimes of in
fected milk are so numerous as to
make 1t monotonous to recite then,
4 all. Every case Is as conclusive as the
ones mentioned.
When 1t Is remembered that there
are 100000 mich COWS in the
United States. and that each of these
must yield about forty-six gallons
of milk year over and above what
is used by. the farmer and that which
is made into butter and cheese 1T
Will readily appear how important the
Question of milk supply is. i,
amounts to Just about billion gal
Hons year, and that means that every
urban and suburban inhabitant OF the
United States consumes between TWEEN
tysive and thirty gallons of milk q
year. The amount used by the non.
! farming population OF the country II
a years time is as great as the guam
tity of water consumed in city like
Washington in twelve days. In 100;
1t was estimated that the annual con
. sumption of milk In Philadelphia
. amounted to twenty-threc gallons pc
capita. In London the annual con-
/ sumption was placed at lis gallons
: showing that nowhere else Is so muci
milk consumed as In America.
Milk holds a peculiar position among
, foodstuffs, in that it is an excellent
: medium for the growth OF many
icro-organisms. In the Hygieni
Laboratory of the Public Health an,
{ Marine HOSDttal Service ayamin tjpn