The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-12
THE FATAL FLY
 COMING OUT FOR
 SUMMERS WORK
Health Officer Warns Public in His Report to Beware of
 Germ Carrying Pest

''The fatal fly" is one of the sub- jects of a warning issued by Health Officer D. A. Mcclellan in his quarter ly report, which was rendered to the Board of Health last night. Dr. Me- Lellan warns that the fly is fertile carrier of disease and that 1t is par ticularly easy for the winged pest to trail it's gern-laden feet in milk in
 the summer time. Dr. Mcclellan ad- vises that milk be sold in bottles only properly protected. His report fol- | lows:
 Quarterly report of the health officer
 for the quarter endiag March 31, 1911. Gases reported: Diphtheria, 29, deaths, 2; scarlet fever, Is, deaths, o; | measles, 36, deaths, 1; typhoid fever, | I, deaths Q; tuberculosis, 55, deaths, 45; whooping cough, 8, deaths. 3; erysipelas, ,. deaths, 3: pneumonia, deaths. 12.
 In the first quarter of 1910 there were 50 eases of diLhtheria, with g deaths, 60 deaths from tuberculosis and 72 deaths from pneumonia Total mortality from all causes for the
 quarter ending March 31 1911, 401.
 For the corresponding period in 1910,
 APP deaths. While the total m ortality i was less this year, the number of deaths from pneumonia was greater. The schools have been unusually l free from scarlet fever and ditsltheria.
 In the early part af Merch, diph-
 theria was discovered in the children's s ward at LakcvieN' home. Three chill
 dren were isolated and removed to the
 Isolation hospital Taere was no nor | tality and no other cases occurred.
 There were 13 persons cared for at | the Isolation hospital during the quarter, with one death from cry
 sipelas MT. and Mrs. sheehan, the
 caretakers at the hospital are proving l themselves valuable Acquisitions for | the department.
 New Hospital Needed.
 The erection of d suitable contagl- ous disease hospital is one of the city s
 urgent needs and I think should be considered with the other bonding propositions. ff
 The season will soon be with us
 when the fly is to be reckoned with
 and when tf:e food products that are
 to be eaten without cooking should be | protected from contlr1ination. Only
 such as are t. be thus steriiized should be exposed outside of buildings.
 The doors and win9ows of markets
 and groceries, and all places where
 food products are sold, or handled, in | any manner, shoJId be carefully screened to exclude the flies. As was suggested recently by the Civic club,
 we may hasten the growth of senti- ment in this directiJ Jn by giving our preference in our trading to markets and stores where flies are excluded. A great opportunity of contamina- | tion by flies is furnished in the milk supply that is carried iii cans and ! dipped from the can into the house. 1 holders pitcher or pail with i'll fitting cover, these articles being in many | instances also imperfectly cleaned. The growing demand for the milk de- | livered in bottles is evidence of appre- 1 citation of cleanliness. In many cities | of the country the boards of health
 are insisting that milk shall be de- | livered only in bottles The bottling
 sterilizing of the bottles The time will arrive when this will be the rule | in Bridgeport.
 Handling of Bread.
 As preliminary to this I would recommend that the milkmen deliver | ing milk to be sold at retail, be re- | quired to deliver such milk in bottles | only. In looking over the list Of milk men, I learn that rather more than one-half of the milk supply of the city | is now delivered in bottles. If the bottling is properly done the milk will keep better and the possibilities of contamination are leEeene1.
 l Another article of food, the loaf of l bread is now receiving attention from
 students of sanitation. In reference | to this, Dr. Evans the wideaWake | health commissioner of Chicago in a
 recent number of his bulletin writes: | There is need for an ordinance regu-
 lating the handling of bread aner it | leaves the oven and Is bbeing delivered | for consumption. Present methods
 are anything but sanitary '
 | It is common sight to see driver of a bread wagon delivering bread
 with about as much care as though 1t | were kindling wood. The hands that 1 have probably han He'd and curried
 the horse are the same hands that are | used to pile the lOaves, firewood fash | ion, on grocery and restaurant count l CTS or shelves, or against coats from
 which a bacteriolOgist could obtain a | firSt-class aSSoTtC ent of ger els. Then, | grocery clerks and delivery boys, with hands anything but clean, paw them | over, adding. of course their contribu- 1 tion to the sum total of dirt and dan | ger. 1 There is no reason why bread, and I all food stuffs for that matter, should
 not be hand -el in a sanitary manner. 1 But in the matter of bread, to bring
 this about along with the sanitary | bakery, must go the methods that
 will deliver the product 10 the con.
 sumner in as clean and safe a condition
 as when it left the bakery.
 | Dust Proof Covers.
 This means that the baskets or
 boxes used for delivering bakery goods
 should be provided with dust proof
 covers, and that they should be ire l quently celansed and sterilized. The
 habit of the delivery men piling the | loaves against their dirty street cloth | ing should not be tolerated. It is
 both disgusting and unsanitary. They | should be required to wear clean suits, | and to wear driving sleeves, which | should be removed before handling | their goods. Better still would be a 1 regulation requiring that bread be so | wrapped as to prevent it coming into l contact with the dirty hands of driv- ' CTS, sta blemen, grocery clerks and de- \ livery boys, thus insuring it reaching II the consumer in as good condition as
 when it came from the oven."
 | would ssy in thu; conn ection that l some of the bakers n Bridgeport are | now wrapping part of thelr output of | bread in paper and that one firm is | doing this with their entire product. ' This needed reform could be quickly l accomplished if it was demanded by II those who use the bread.
 II I would also call the attention of II the board to a card referring to tuber- II culosis issued by the National Asso- | citation for the Study and Prevention II of Tuberculosis" This card is print { ed by this association in IT different | languages and their distribution by