The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-05-31

Will be done largely on the guarantee
of the local authorities, an effort will
be made to interest the incorporated
towns at the lower end of the valley
and have them carry the cost of any
work done within their borders.
DR.. Hcg Sums up situation
After reviewing the local situation
from 1889, when he came here to
practice medicine, DR.. Heg said:
There are numerous causes for
the typhoid fever in the Yakima VAL
ley which makes the problem a diff
llcult one. In some places it is pos
sible, by short investigation, to fix
upon the one thing that is responsible
and to remedy that. In North Yak
ina it has never been proven that the
water supply caused case OF ty-
phoid. | do not say that it never has.
All / mean to state is that it has
never been shown frrevocapIy fnat
the water was the cause of single
case.
Not Shown in Water
meteorological tests never showed
the water to contain the typhoid
germs. That is no proof that the
germs have never been there, how
ever, for the archaeological tests
have never been taken in such a
manner AS to give thorough guard
Last year the state board of health
offered to make meteorological tests
of the water here if the Pacific Pow err
Light Co. would have one of its
men take the samples if water ac-
cording to instructions that we would
give, and send them to us. 1t was
done for about a month and then we
did not receive any more samples of
water. The state board of health
communicated with Mr. Arrowsmith,
but failed to get the company to re-
new its work of sending samples of
the water.
No MalariaI Fever
Since typhoid first appeared in the
Yakima valley. 90 years ago. there
have been two theories on which it
was explained, For many years it was
denied that it was typhoid fever. 1t
was maintained that it was malarial
fever. That contention is still made
by physicians in this county, but it
has been absolutely disproved Any
physician who knows anything about
the use of microscope can take a
blood specimen from a patient and
know in half an hour whether it is
malaral or typhoid fever. Our tests
have shown that there has never been
a case of actual malarial fever in the
state of Washington that did not orig
mate outside the state. Another proof
is that it is known that there is but
one kind of mosquito which will carry
the malarial fever and, with one eX-
ception, that mosquito has never been
found in the state.
The other theory has been that
the disease was brought in. But when
Seattle and North Yakima and Spo-
kane and Walla Wala and every
other town that has typhoid FEVER
sets up the assertion that the disease
does not originate there but is
brought in from other cities, it shows
the incorrectness of the hypothesis.
IF the county and city authorize
the expense of doing this special in
Vestigation work, | will telegraph i'm
mediately to Washington, asking for
one of the surgeons Of the Marine
Hospital and Public Health Service
and shall ask that DR.. l.. L. Lumsden
he sent here. He had charge of the
same work in the city of Washington
and in Omaha. He has had expert
ence in this line for II or Il years
and | consider him one of the best
men in the world today.
Work Cut Out by State
81 intended to have the state board
of health put men in the Yakima val
ley this summer and do the work that
legislature decided that I was SPEND
ing too much money and cut the APP
preparation for the state health work
down.
There are three common sources
of typhoid infection; the water
supply, the milk supply and the sew
age If you get a bacteriolagist here
to assist in the work that will be done
| under DR.. Lumsden. the testing of
the milk supply can be done also
The question of sewage is one that
must be taken up Immediately.
Another phase of sanitary work
| that must be called to your attention
is the situation is the lower valley. II
| the city of North Yakima is going to
insist on an absolutely pure water
supply and is going to threaten to
prosecute persons living on the Ma
ches river above the intake, who poll
Lutte the stream, the city must take
different measures regarding the dis
posal of its own garbage. Now all
your sewage empty into the Yakima
river and pollute the water supply of
every rancher and every town in the
lower end of the valley
DR.. Heg, this afternoon. left for
Olympia.
II. +. Kingman, local manager of
the Pacific Power & Light company,
was asked in regard to the statement
of Dr.. Heg that the company had
failed to do as requested last year in
sending in samples of water for test
said that was before his time and he
had no knowledge of it. Speaking OF
the new inlet. Mr.. kingman said that
water would be turned into this as
soon as the pipes had been soaked up
enough to carry the full pressure and
this would probably be about Friday
of this week.
The new intake, said Mr., Kingman,
is eight miles above the present one
at the mouth of the Teton. where il
flows into the Naches river and is To-
Gated so that the supply will he abso-
lutely pure. In fact, he said. North
Yakima will get the purest water sup