The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-05-17
Half Million Persons Sick From
That Disease Alone in the
United States
MORE THAN BILLION
DOLLARS PER YEAR
Suggests Cooperation of City,
County and State Authorities in
Inspection of Meat and Milk
Products

that which was delivered at the First
Congregational church sunday even-
ing, May I, by W. Worthingtou. a
resident of North Yakima, and for
merly professor of economies in
Whitman college. The subject of
his address was the Cost of Tubor-
culosis' His address in part Is as
follows:
The waste of human energy and
the consequent loss of wealth due
to human sickness is so great as TO
be almost beyond the grasp Of the in
tellect. It is estimated that there
are at least 100000 persons sick All
the time in this country. At least
one third of this sickness is prevent
able.
Half Million Sick.
Five hundred thousand are sick
from tuberculosis alone. and. accord
ing to the estimate of the census de-
partmcnt, 100000 Of these die every
year at an average age of So. The
average length of life after the 35th
year is 80 years. This means that
100000 years of life are lost to tn,
race on account of this one disease
in this country alone each year.
Slightly more than one-half of
these deaths is among the male pop
ulation. This means that amongst
the working population alone thCrc
is Il loss of 100000 working years
for those who are sick. and for those
who die a loss of 100000 working
years. This is an annual loss,
suppose the average earning of
these mon was sos year and that
the cost of maintaining the worker
is $500. This would leave the net
value of a man to society. $500 per
year and for 2,650,u00 working years
totals the tremendous sum of ST.
060. 100000 This is a crude csti-
mate of the economic loss to the ma
ton each year caused by sickness
and death from tuberculosis. The
loss can be no less than this. for |
have not taken into account the eco
nomic value of a Woman'S life nor
have | considered the enormous ex-
pensc of medicines and doctors bills
and the loss of time to others be-
sides the sick. The loss to our own
state, estimated in the same way. is
about $7,000,000 and in our own
county amounts to more than $780,
600.
This is only one side of the story,
for women die as we'll as men, aud
like men, they die in the prime of
life. many Of them leaving families
of little children behind them. An
unusually distressing case was
Il, IT.,
ly of a tubnrculous mother who died
leaving a family Of seven children,
the oldest Of whom was twelve, This
loss, of course, cannot be measured
in dollars and cents. The loss to the
state of mother is beyond all pos
sibility of estimate
Cost of Preventing Diseases
an Germany where the appica-
ton of medical science to the pre-
Yention of disease has gone further
than anywhere else in the world
the average span of life is being
heightened at the rate of 81 years
to the century In the L. :. we are
progressing at the rate Of II years
in the century. Now the economic
gain from this saving lof life is
just equal to the economic loss which
arises out of an equal loss of life
Perhaps this is one Of the eXplana-
tons for the phenomenallN rapid
growth of Germany during the last
half century in spite of the old
world handicap.
century to profit by the extension of