El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-30
. HE federal government deals with
problems relating to the public
y hahn thrnr-c-h i've aana "a IL

Foremost among these bureaus, BY
reason OF the wide range Of its work,
1 is the public health and marine Rospi-
tai service which is under the treas
ury department. Through the bureau
of chemistry, which protects the ma
uonal food supply. the bureau OF AMI
nal industry. which inspects the ma
ton meat products. ana the Dureau
Of entomology, which is leading the
country wide fight for the abolition Of
/ the Fly and the mosquito, the depart
ment Of agriculture has a large share
in health conservation in the United
I States. The war department is repre-
scented by the medical corps Of the
United States army, having TO its cred
II the final proof that The mosquito is
p<sponsTS-s for yellow fever and the
additional credit - demonstrating the
possibilities Of modern sanitation and
preventive medicine The navy de-
partment is represented by the medical
corps Of the navy. After these have all
done their work along comes the de-
psrtment OF commerce and labor, and
through the census office gathers the
statistics which show the effect Of the
work of all the other departments IN
their efforts at conquering disease, re-
ducing mortality and promoting lon
gevity.
Problem Of Great Moment.
That the health Of the people is
problem of prime importance, and that
il can be promoted. cutting down the
Of life, is abundantly attested by vital
statistics in every civilized country
II is estimated that more than a mil
lion preventable deaths occur each year
in the United States. and that these
inflict an economic loss upon the ma
ton OF more than 8 billion dollars Be
tween the census years of 1880 ana
1900 the average American saw the
journey from the cradle to the grave
heightened from 81 years, / month ana
s days to 80 years months and y
days. The census of 1910 probably viii
show an additional four years added
to the span of the average life
According TO insurance statistics, the
mortality rate among the Industrial
classes is nearly double that among
the well to DO. In Austria and Spain.
where ignorance Of the laws OF heaitn
is Widespread. the death rate is nearly
double that obtaining in the United
States. where ideal conditions are stih
Tar from being realized, and in India
the average life Is but little more than
half as long as the average life In
America The death rate from tuoer-
-culO sis has fallen off One-half since
Koch discovered its germ The death
rate from diphtheria IS only a third as,
great in Chicago today as II was 2 gen
Grafton ago. Every time the WORLDS
death rate is cut down one per thou
and a half lives a year
A Very Important Work
From these statements It viii appear
that the activity Of the federal govern
ment in the promotion of the-na tona1
health is one Of its most important
concerns. In the promotion Of these
ends the bureaus concerned with the
public health find a vast deal Of in
health and marine hospital service, pre-
sided over by that eminent sanitarian,
Dr. Walter Wyman has a wide field
OF activities. It's work in stamping out
yellow fever in the south a few years
ago its labOTs in protecting san Fran
cisco from a threatened outbreak OF
pestilence after the great earthquake,
its services in stamping out bubonic
plague in California, its epoch making |
Investigations OF the hOOEWOrm dis
ease, its work Of artificialy growing |
the bacillus Of leprosys its labor toward /
uniting the western world in interna- /
-ional sanitary work and its successful /
resistance Of the threatened cholera i
America in 1892 and 1893. and again 1
IN 1910 and 1911. are q few instances /
where IL has come prominently into the /
public eye. But It does a thousand /
things in the course OF q year which i
enable the average American to feel
greater security against the dangers OF i
disease than he otherwise could
Guards Against Disease.
All through every day and night Of
every year II stands guard at the ports
OF the country to see that no lOath-
some or dangerous diseases are permit
ted to come into the country through
those ports. The first person who
boards an incoming steamer after II
takes up its pilot is the quarantine Of
ficer. who is q representative OF the
public health and marine hospital sery-
ice. He examines the officers Of the 4
ship and only when they are able to
show a clean bill OF health will he al
low the ship to go TO its dock. Every
one OF the aliens who come into the
United States must undergo an exam
nation by its officials
The service also has charge OF inter
state sanitation and the suppression OF
spidemics. cooperating with the states
by lending its experts to them for the
ascertainmeHt Of the cause of cpl
denies and for planning campaigns to
check them Tt has its finger upon the
pulse of the country, collecting data
regarding contagious and infectious
diseases with the view to advancing /
1ur knowledge regarding their proven
lion and suppression which is q fun 1
ianental duty Of the federal govern
nent IN its relation to the public health
superviSes sale of Firuses.
In the supervision Of the sale Of Vi
uses serums. toxins and similar prod
lets the public health service renders
great assistance to the sick of the }
country. Without some central agency
% adopt certain standards for these
materials and to see that they are main
~ sorts OF infection All vaccine VI
US diphtheria antitoxins and the like
must measure up 10 the standards Of
trength and purity set by the service
" they cannot be sold in interstate
The hygienic laboratory
as prepared standard units for anti
etanic and antidiphtheric serums, and J
ends out to the laboratories making
hese serums a standard unit for com
arison- The Belgian government and
he great Welcome laboratories Of
England are using the standards set
y this hygienic laboratory as is also
he Brazilian government
Another interesting activity of the
ervice is the Standardization of all
eroic remedies Digitalis and other {
emedies have varied as much in
trength and no doubt thousands Of
eople have lost their lives by over
oses Of these remedies administered 1
Znorantly on account OF the lack or
OF strength. One Of the
lost notable contributions that has yet
cen made TO the literature Of santa
ion was made by the public health
nd marine hospital service in the
curse Of its studies on milk and its
elation to epidemic diseases. There
re more than 10000. goo mich cows in
be United States. and they give per
ans billion uaf1ome of milk a YEAR ]