The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-19
SAN|TAT|ONB BAD
 SAYS DR. ROSSER Crying Need for Better
 Conditions in County SCHOOLS AFFECTED Health Officers Says Cremation Sys- tenn Should Be Used in Country Places Not Provided With Sewers

exist in the country schools of Jeffer son county as prevailed In the Gardel of Eden. and that the Board of Reve nue was evidently powerless to correc most lamentable condition regardin, sanitation. is the gist of statemen given out yesterday by pr. R. N. Ros ser, pleading for better sanitation throughout the county.
 | The campaign started before thu Board of Revenue when pr. Rosser ant Professor Hewitt. president of thu | to impress upon the board the urgen need for sanitation in the rural districts lUpon the statement of the board tha' they had no authority to spend none, to improve the prevailing condition, Dr Rosser consented to discuss the ques ton openly. He said that the pollution of the soil resulted in a great man, more deaths than an epidemic, bu that the general public was slow tt grasp the situation.
 In commeting upon the conditions, ht said;
 l Ine SdIHc bdnttaiy Scho'''o'S S%,-0 in the big country schools of Jeffer' son county as prevailed in the Garder of Eden. Our modern system of teach ing our children, clothing them. feed ing them and providing for their phy' sical comfort and welfare, has had th' attention of our wisest and mos thoughtful men-except as to then sanitary habits, which are as they were in the beginning.
 "I have found that in Jefferson coun Ity there are 50 county schools with b' from the trunk sewer as to make | 200 or more pupils. All of these art either in the country or so far removed fro mthe trunk sewer as to make I impractical to connect with It. It wal found that at all of these schools there was no sanitary method to proven nollution of the soil in most cases no even a house.
 "Professor Hewitt and l decided t' call the attention of the Board of Rev enue to these conditions. that the chii |dren attending these schools might no only live in better surroundings, bu learn to better conditions In thei homes.
 "rhe Board of Revenue gave close attention to the report and recon mendations, assuring us that they real ized the lamentable conditions or thes' schools, but that notwithstanding tha tho board was In thorough accoi witi | fn these con ditions, they found they could not o so for lack of authority.
 .It seems that under the law th Roard of Revenue may not spend an money for purposes of the genera
 oo,tb of the county, save in the nor .c,,te diseases, such as smallpox or otn CT diseases requiring immediate s''en tion to prevent their further develop ment.
 "Al1 typhoid fever, hookworm an dvsenterv come directly or lnolrecti from pollution of the soil. Tnese ois eas ses do not cause the widespread Tea and horror that comes from the area of infection of smallpox, for example There Is nothing alarming to city ioil l tn hear that very oobS'NS,e~0 portion of the country children nav hook worm, that these children are eV cry day making certain the infection of the school children of the future Tn somebody else's child the disease not so horrible, there Is no pain, th infected one is simply an anaem1c, veal child. One of 15 years of age, TO example. looked to be about 9 or 1C has a wizened, drawn face, yellowis in color and an expression of hope less lethargy.
 "Typhoid fever is just beginning t get the attention it should have. Il 1910 there were only two deaths fror smallpox in Jefferson county. In Bir mingham along in this same year ther were 6s deaths from typhoid fever.
 Medical men are in thorough ac cord in their knowledge that every on of these cases come as result of ai infection from some preceding case Whether the bacillus of the disease wa caused by water, milk or air makes m difference, the soil was polluted first | then flies, wind or water carried tn bacillus to the next person. Any meth l cd which will render such dlsposi tion of those bacilli impossible will g' far toward rendering the communit! immune to these diseases.
 "The development of cremation sys | tenn in the last 10 years Is the begin ming of one of the big sanitary move ments of modern times. Its general us in the country districts Is as inevitabl as was the present use of the sewer age systems in the cities It is mat ter of common knowledge that life II i modern cities would be so uncertain as to make it impossible were 1t no for the sewers and disposal plants.
 "The success of this crematory sys | tenn has been brought to the attention of the state and county authoritie from the fact that every year we ar' sending several thousand men of th' | national guard to the regular arm. camps. and after all the unusual har' work long and tiresome marches nigh and day rendering the men more sus ceptible to infections, find them return | ing with the report of q comparatfvel, negligible amount of sickness and more l fit then when they left home. Comparint