The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1912-01-24
nealth Officers Report.


To The Fiscal Court of Adair County,
have closed another years work as
Health Officer and it is but right and
proper that should report to you my
work. 1t has been very busy year.
There have been no very serious cpl
denies in the county. In the Gradyville
and Keltner precincts we have had
quite number of cases of diphtheria,
with very few proving fatal, thanks to
the antitoXin treatment. The fatal
cas-s were all with perhaps one excep-
ton, among very young children. Con-
sumption leads the list last year with
~ deaths, Pneumonia comes next with
IL deaths, then comes Typhoid fever
with ii deaths, and then Diptheria
with only 8. This is a good showing.
The reports from the registrars, show
that in the last year we had 230 deaths,
446 births, nearly two to one. | think
that if our physicians and Midwlves
be at least two to one The Vital Sta
tistics law, although very much abused
by persons who do not understand 1t, is
a good thing for the whole community.
The reports of the Registrars show US
just where the danger lies, and gives us
chance to see after those points. For
instance, Roley precinct reports twice
as many deaths from consumption, as
any other precinct in the county. Of
course there is cause for this, audit is
the duty of the Board of Health to look
it up and try and find the cause. The
two precincts together with all the
negro population, only report the same
number that Roley reports | will mn
dertake to find this danger spot, and
try and obliterate it. There is an ap-
parent increase in the number of deaths
from consumption last year, over the
two previous years, but it is only ap-
parent For the registrars have been
watchful, and have reported cases that
without their aid, / would never have
heard of. 1t is the duty of the doctors
and the magistrates to report these
things to me, but many times they don't
do it. hope in the future they will be
more careful to attend to these impor
tant duties, than they have in the past
1t IS my duty to go and fumlgate the
houses where any of these prevenable
diseases occur, but unless somebody in
forms me, will know nothing about it
The death rate in our county, for the
past year has been l3 to the Thousand
inhabitants, and / challenge any county
in our state to make better showing
In the town of Columbia, where there
100 inhabitants, we had only II deaths
: which amounts to only IL to the thou
sand, a better showing than any othel
town can show. don't know how
much of this is due to the Board o.
= Health, but presume a good deal
= visited all the schools of the county thu
past year, and made talks to the chile
rem and the teachers. And while
found some Improvement over las
y year, l found a deplorable state oil
!, case. Where l ought to have fouuC
over 5000 pupils, l found only 2,4OO
e Leaving only 5000 absent. Now thi
}. ought not so to be. l found one dis
e trict in the county credited with 81 pu
e pills, with only IL in attendance.
8 found others nearly as bad. The teach
e els were drawing for these absent pu
" pills, over $4,000 of the peoples money
l. and the children were getting no goo
q from it whatever. | called ~the teach
ers Institutes attention to it, but tn
leaders did not pay any attention to m,
remarks, or if they did, nobody know
about it. We have had several whirl
wind educational campaigns and tn
N papers have had a great deal to sa
n about the improvements of the publ
,e schools, but up to this writing, Their
p seems to be nothing doing. Now.
IS have for several years been advocating
IF strict compulsory school law, that wi
10 compel the parents and guardians t
# send their childr, to the public school
"a but don't hear of any body talkin
N the thing up We must manufacture
Ie public sentiment, and have people tai
it up, and keep agitating ir until W
compel them to take notice along thes
lines What says the AdaIr Count
- News? The News has always bee
foremost in all good enterprises tina
, have come up but here we have 300
"a children for the education of which tn
) state is paying more than $4,000. an
>, the News is silent on the subject. s
- far as have been able to see,
8. l have, called attention to the littl
things that cause disease, such as nous
y flies End mosquitoes, and the childre
are pretty well up on these two pests
y In fact the children of the country, kno,
u a great deal more about sanitation an
u preventive medicine, than great man
% of the grown up people. And then the
~ 90 home from school, and tell IN