The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-26
DISEASE |S SPREAD THROUGH IGNORANCE Physicians Determined to Have
 Greater Efficiency CUT OUT ALL POLITICS pr. George S. Brown Says Diaries Can Be Found Here Which Would
 Cure Man From Ever
 Drinking Milk.

An explanation of the desire of the Jeff ferson County Medical association to have the city bacteriologist street commits sioner and others report to Health Officer pr. Hardness has been given by Dr. George S. Brown in a letter to the edi- tor of The Age-Herald.
 It is simply their intention, he states, to establish a useful department of health, which would increase each year in useful ness. Under their plan he states that the work could be handled in a systematic way and with much better results.
 He lays stress on the fact that infec- tious diseases are preventab1e, and tells how they are spread through ignorance. "On any Sunday afternoon drive one can find a few dairies that will just about cure him of ever drinking milk again." is the way he describes conditions. With the use of a bacteriological laboratory, he says, they guarantee to show such re- suits in the saving of life; that year by year other things will be added unto them, and then it will not be long until the majority of the people will know everything which should command the
 
 His card reads as follows
 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Referring to my previous cosnmunca- ton in reference to the relation of the health department to our municipal gov ernment, I wish to say that the over whelming and unanswerable experiences of the health departments of other cities are that all infectious diseases are pre- ventable, and the experience of all men in every line of human endeavor should and does teach that organized effort to do anything Is better than unorganized eff fort. Every intelligent citizen believes us implicitly when we say that our sole motive in this cause is to create a use- ful department of health that will grow in usefulness year by year just in propor- ton as 1t gains the confidence and help of the city officials and other intelligent citizens. There is none, of course, who would object to the results we contepd would come of such organization, so that which is necessary is a widespread under standing of what we are asking of the city government, and of what we expect to accomplish, and until then the doctors should at least be given credit for sin cerity of purpose.
 If the matter of public health has got into politics 1t should be taken out for reasons that should be clear to all.
 Will Quadruple His Work.
 The city health officer in asking that his office be organized into an efficient 'health department is not asking that his salary be increased, but that his work be quadrupled. Such department should have the authority to formulate rules to govern the handling of infectious diseases in relation to the public schools solely to protect the uninfected from the infected; they should have the duty of tracking out all things that are liable to be sources of infection to all kinds of food supplies, things that might through ignorance or .carelessness of the vendors of such sup ples infect the families of innocent pur- chasers. Is 1t possible that anybody can object to being so protected? On any Sunday afternoon drive one can find a few dairies that will just about cure him of ever drinking milk again.
 Nearly all vendors of food supplies who do not protect their wares from infectious agencies are remiss through ignorance alone. The principle work of such a health department is not meddling with dairymen and making trouble for them and others but it's work would be largely of an educational nature. It would get up rules for instance, that would be of the greatest benefit to such merchants, and so far objecting to the depart ment for ''butting in'' they would well come nlne-tenlns or tue literature lt seiit out and they would see more and more that their interests and the interests of their customers are identical. The depart ment would disseminate information on @ hundred subjects that l cannot even think of here, but subjects 1t would be their business to keep up with flor the benefit of all, the producer the middle man, and the consumer. Their part would be to hunt out dangers that others do not sus- pect, and; to first explain about and then tell us what measures to adopt against them. For instance, we at present have a good water supply for those who have the company water, but there are still a few who use well and spring and ques- tionable cistern water Some of these various supplies are good and some are