The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-10-06
Closing Night Of Hygiene Congress
Exhibit Devoted to Subjects
Vital to the District.
WAYS TO STOP SPREAD OF
TUBERCULOSIS SUGGESTED

TUBERCULOSIS SUGGESTED
on Hygiene and Demography, a sym.
postum was held last night in Hygiene
Hall. Seventeenth and B Streets. at which
the leading public workers of Washing.
ton met to discuss what is needed In
this city to make the greatest number
healthy and happy.
Accomplishments of other cities were
discussed. Lessons were drawn from
what is being done the world over In
the interests of health and Sanitation
and many specific remedies we're sug-
gested for Washington.
The problem of stemming the spread OF
| the white plague was especially con-
| sidered. DR.. Jesse Ramsburgh empha-
sized the necessity of increasing the IA
cilities for handling incipient cases OF
tuberculosis. His advice was: Keep after
| the officials until they give a separate
| institution for the treatment Of those In
the first stages of the disease.
DIR. Gwynn Speaks.
| Segregation of the Dangerous and Care
less Consumptive." The law against
splitting on the streets and sidewalks. he
said, should be strictly enforced.
Abolish all The alleys in the city was
the suggestion Of the Rev. John Van
Schaick. jr. DR.. Van Schaick said that
there is no excuse for a city the size
OF Washington to suffer its people to
live in congested alleys with their at
tendant elements Of vice. ignorance, and
poor sanitation. He said that to abolish
the narrow. dirty alley from the District
was to guard the health and morals OF
the general community.
According to figures given by DR.. Van
Schaick. there are g75 alleys in Washing
ton, Isl ofSwhich are In the Northwest.
There are 1887 houses built in alleys,
and a population Of alley jewellers ap-
proximating 1900. These conditions
should be abolished, he Said, while land
in this city is still relatively cheap.
Mental Diseases CurabIe.
DR.. selden NJ. Ely, supervising princi-
pal of the fifth division. told Of the need
OF an open-air school for children in
fected with tuberculosis.
"A large percentage of the mental dis
eases are durable, IL taken in time"
said DR.. Percy Hickling. There is no
provision in the District, however. he
said, for handling incipient stages OF
mental disorders except for INDECENT pa
tients. The District, he continued, should
establish a psychopathic hospital Men
tai disorders, should be examined there
with a view of determining their causes,
and these causes should be eliminated as
far as possible by the District govern
ment. Preventing disease, he explained,
was the great problem of modern medi-
cal scientists.
DIR. Louise Taylor-Jones spoke on THE
way to reduce the high rate Of infant
mortality in Washington. She said that
the problem was to be met by seeing to
1t that the mothers had proper food, and
that the babies were fed at the breast
Committee Busy.
W. H. Richardson, chairman OF the
clean city committee, told what the
committee was doing in the interest
of public health. He said that il was
their intention to make Washington
the cleanest and most healthy city in
the world. The committee will Impress
the Importance of good santa ton
through the schools upon the children:
through the churches upon all who
go to church, and upon the. rest of the
people by their active cleaning-up
campaigns.
In the course Of a lecture in the aft
ernoon ]. E. Curtis, of the Washington
filtration plant. declared that the tun-
mel which conducts the city water from
Great Falls to Washington is falling
to pieces. Mr. Curtis laid the disinte-
grafton to the crumbling of the rock
through which the tunnel is cut.
N-Oniy a couple of weeks ago." ne said
"a 100-foot section caved in on to the
aqueduct. severely curtailing this city's
water supply, and it is within only the
last day or two that We have been able
to repair the damage. The Washing
ton reservoir is already worked nearly
to its full capacity, so that We were I'M
able to shut of the supply for any length
for II we had done 50, the reserve water
would have been Immediately used up.
Hence the repair Of the tunnel was
greatly delayed and was also attended
with unusual difficulties.
Our filtration plant" said Mr.. Curtis,
SIS the model of the world. There is
none better anywhere. Twenty-Five fl
tiers, each occupying an acre of ground.
purify a total of 65,0Oo,0 900 gallons a day.
The number of bacteria is reduced by
80 9-10 per cent. Water which at Great
Falls contains 5000 bacteria a cubic
centimeter, contains only or 6 when
you turn on your faucet here in the
District"
Needs of Warrington.
Not less than 100000 persons have
visited the exhibition on Hygiene and
Demography since it was opened three
weeks ago." said Director J. W. Scher-
eschewsky yesterday.
ITO my mind, the exhibition has es-
tablished these facts as necessities for
every Washingtonian:
''First-That, every home in the Dis
trict, as well as every other building,
ought to be examined periodically as to
its sanitary condition.
''Second-That every typhoid fever
case ought to bA examined to make sure
that no baccili are carried to others.
''Third-That all milk should be treated
in municipality owned pasteurizatson sta
ton: and in connection with this, there
should be a thorough inspection not
only Of milk, but of all foods, as well as
of the places where food is prepared,
such as bakeries and ice cream parIors
"Fourth-Washington school children
should undergo medical inspection every
day. instead Of three times a week, as
at present
"Fifth-we should have an adequate
number Of school dental clinics"
.