The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-12-21
CITY WATER
IS HARMLESS
State Health Officials Give North
Yahima's Supply a Clean
Bill of Health.
TYPHOID FEVER NEVER
HAS BEEN EPIDEMIC HERE
This City Receiving Center for
Large Class of INDECENT Peo-
pie and the Meeting Place of
Large Numbers of Wanderers.


North Yakima city water supply
has been officially declared sound and
safe in wind and limb. 1t is without
germ or microbe of harmful char
acter and the worst that can be said
against it by its most deadly enemy
Is that 1t contains some debris AT
least this Is the report brought back
from Seattle from the assembly of the
state board of health and city and
county health officers by Drip. Frank,
who was present as delegate from
this county and who was the only
Yakima person present Ditch and
well water have the typhoid stigma
attached to them but the city supply
is untainted. 1t has John ID. Rookie
feller's money backed off the boards
for purity and the immaculate char
acter OF its constituent parts, It's
source and all it's little activities.
Family Cow Blamed.
But where the North Yakima wa
ter supply got off the family COW and
the bedbug got on. Like the irriga-
ton ditch and the contaminated well
they are to be avoided. The family
cow Is pet, she has a reputation in
her imemdiate neighborhood and her
milk is nine or ten per cent butter
fat. Hence the people who own her
have no difficulty in selling milk when
the state and county inspected dair-
les are unjustly under suspicion. But
the family cow is fed on table scraps
which have, perhaps, been served to
a typhoid infected household. She
gets the contents Of the swill pail and
is a source of trouble. tuberculosis
and typhoid are transmitted by her
and the tact has been proven in
North Yakima this year. according to
the state officials.
So far as the bedbug, Cimex Leo
tularius, is concerned, he is in the
same class as the mosquito which
spreads yellow fever and the flea
which transmits bubonic plague. He
bites a typhoid fever patient, then.
as the dictionary says "its salivary
glands secrete an irritant alkaline
substance" and it preambulates along
until it meets someone who hasn't
her. Hush.
State Inspector Here.
1t appears that state official was
busy in North Yakima throughout the
past summer in accommodating the
above facts and others regarding ty-
phoid fever In this locality. 1t was
on his facts that the report was made
at the state meeting. Doctors of this
locality reported 1853 cases of typhoid
fever between June LIST and Decem Der
list. of this year. These cases were
examined and tests made. In 90 the
result was positive, in eight 1t was
negative and in SO it was not posi-
tive. 1t will be noticed that there Is
a discrepancy in these figures. They
are taken, however, to prove that
there were but SO cases of actual ty-
phoid in the six months mentioned
The mortality was very low. 1t was
further shown that North Yakima is
tributary to FIVE other counties and
that most of the cases were transient
or originating from transient cases
There was no epidemic On that the
report was positive. The fever was
epid emic, the disease being spread by
contact or otherwise There were ne
considerable number arising from
any contaminated food source. Mos
Of the cases were brought in from
the surrounding country. Laborers
imported to work at construction
camps were the patients in many in.
stances. In many cases these mer
were gathered where there were nc
adequate sanitary provisions and wers
themselves ignorant.
Flies and the Orchards.
| Other causes OF the cases which
originated were discussed. The file.
| according to state officials are Gauss
Of infection more particularly neal
those orchards where a large quaint
| ity of soft fruit Is permitted to de-
cay in the early summer.
DIR. Chichton, health officer of thu
city of Seattle. proved to be a stauncf
(Continled on page four)