The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-02
BRIDGEPORT IS A
 HEALTHFUL CITY
Constant KltChfulneSS on the Part of the Board of fieallh is Accountable for Good Conditions - The Work of the Year Reviewed Briefly.

Health and morals go hand in hand. Disease, squalor and crime have been
 copartners all through the history of
 the world Good health means pros perity. The board of health of the city of Bridgeport has accomplished wonders in conserving the health of it's citizens. Considering the fact that Bridgeport's wealth is largely bound up in the brains and muscle of it's workers and that there is a smaller proportion of high salaried employees
 here than in other cities it is a re- markedly healthy place to live in. That large proportion of the population
 which is foreign born has brought with it all the contempt and dislike for san
 itary measures which obtain in their
 native lands. The health department
 of this city is obliged to be on deck
 all of the time The history of the
 department for the past year has been
 a demonstration of this fact. As fast as an epidemic of measles, scarlet fe- deprtment has got busy and has stamped out the disease before it had fairly got under way. The constant watchfulness of Dr. B. A. Mcclellan, the city health officer has done much to accomplish this result. He has been ably seconded by David w. Lynch the sanitary inspector and the clerk of the department Miss Anna $. Dargan. All of these have done their work well. Much progress has been made during the year in the matter of the sanitary inspection of food. A. c. Knapp, meat and milk inspector, has been busy during the year. He has secured the first conviction for viola ton of the laws concerning the stand ar of sold in tho oitu His tivity has resulted in an endeavor by the dealers to excel in the purity of their commodity. A laboratory has been installed on the upper floor of the police and charities building where Miss Dargan tests samples of milk test is usually enough to satisfy the inspector. whether the dealer is hon. estly trying to obey the law. Where prosecutions are contemplated this test is supplemented by the more com plicated analysis of the Agricultural experiment station in New Haven. The result has been marked. Producers are beginning to vie with each other in making the surroundings and interiors of their dairies and stables sanitary They are birding themselves on pro- ducing pure milk. The distributors have made many changes in their methods of handling their wares and wonderful change has taken place.
 The inauguration of the city slaugh- ter house and the ordinance which re- quires all animals to be slaughtered there has been a creditable sanitary move. F. M. Spitz who has been in stalled at the abbatoir as superinten- dent has inaugurated reforms which have improved conditions materially. The organization of the Isolation Hos pital under the manag ement of Mr. oyoI NTrp a hPpn a success.
 Inspector Knapp has secured con- viction for violation of the law con- corning the sale of meats unfit for food and the future will probably see less of this practice than the past.
 The death rate for the year has been lower than that of many years past. The records of the department have not yet been tabulated so that the mean for the year can be obtained. but it is a fact that the city has been remarkably healthy during the past year. The records of the department also show steady decrease in the number of cases of consumption or tu- berculosis. This is accounted for by the improved conditions which sur round all classes and also the improve ment in the quality of food consumed by the general run of the people. The increasing knowledge of the value Of fresh air as preventative ana cure for pulmonary troubles has had much to do with this improvement. The death rate among children under 5 years has been especially noticeable. It has been decreasing gradually for years.
 Not a case of rabies has been dis covered in the city during the year and there is little probability that any case of this dread disease has existed in any n. been stamped out as fast as they have appeared.
 One of the prime factors in improv- ing the sanitory condition of the city has been the water tests which have been carried on by the chemist of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company with out expense to the city. The hydrant water is as pure as any in the coun- try. As fast as contaminated wells have been discovered they have either been closed up or posted. Thus one of the prolific sources of disease has been shut off. Let us hope that the city will be as fortunate in 1909 as it has been in 1908.