Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-28
HYGIENE AND SANITATION.
State and Municipal Health Work.
By Frederic J. Haskin.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

The greatest problem to be solved in
the promotion of the public health is
how to secure the passage OF adequate
laws and ordinances for the carrying for
ward of proper health activities This
harks back to the individual citizen, since
it is upon an intelligent public sentiment
that ADEQUATE financial support depends,
that proper enforcement of legislation
rests, and that the cooperation of the
masses in work that cannot be accom-
plished by statute is based. Through the
International Congress of Hygiene and
Demography the attention of the world
has just been brought to the most sue
cessful efforts that have been made to
solve divers problems that arise before
the health officers, in whom is reposed
the trust of getting the whole people to
look after the health of the whole COM
munity. 1t is generally conceded that
England leads the world in these mat
tiers, and eminent health officers told the
congress just how England goes about it.
The details of her central health admin
istration. the county health departments
and the borough health departments We're
carefully pictured. Denmark, Germany
and Japan all were heard from.
III
leads in the matter of pure water for
municipalities, and while some of Amer
icas most progressive cities have come to
approximate the highest European stand
ards in that direction a large majority
of them have some distance yet to go be-
fore being ready to challenge comparison
with leading European municipalities.
The sanitary control of watersheds is one
of the favorite American methods of pro-
tecting city water supplies. Some cities
~
bought at reasonable figures, while others
acquire certain rights which permit the
protection of the supply from the inva-
sion of dangerous germs. Other cities
purify their water by storage and filtra-
ton. Washington has one of the finest
storage and filtration plants in the west
ern hemisphere.
In some European cities the problem
is attacked by sterilizing the water with
ozone. Steriliza-
Ozone Used for ton by the APP
Sterilizing Water. Invisible ultra
violet rays Of light is another method re-
sorted to, and it is shown that disease
germs coming in contact with these rays
of light which the eye cannot see and
which possess no visible attributes are
instantly killed. 1t is these rays in the
sunlight that are so fatal to tuberculosis
germs and their kindred and explains
why sunlight puts an end to them. Chic
rine compounds also are used in some
quarters with success.
Colonial hygiene always has been more
successful than home hygiene. since in
the colonies the government can tell the
people just what must be done, and then
there is no getting around it. This prin-
ciple finds counterpart in the case OF
the military man and the civilian. The
military man must obey orders, while the
civilian usually insists on being d law
unto himself. This explains why the
death rate in the army is less than
among men of similar ages in civil life
and why colonial possessions usually en-
joy better health than do their home
countries. We find that true, relatively,
not only in Panama. but in Porto Rico
and the Philippines as we'll. There, when
compulsory vaccination is ordered, no
back talk avails. Everybody is vacci-
mated and smallpox is promptly wiped off
the map. There, when all water con-
tanners are ordered covered or over
turned and all garbage recepSacles COW
cred, inspectors go around to see that 1t
is done. There, when the health authOri-
ties pull the strings the people move, and
one of the brightest pages in American
history has been orr success In saving
tens of thousands of lives annually
principles in our colonial possessions.
The Canal Zone, in particular. stands
out in this regard, just as did our work
in Cuba. With Col
Good Work Done W. c.. Gorgas as
o1 administrative Off
VII ooA"i AoAie' Ger, although three
fourths of the population of the zone are
negroes who know less about sanitation
than those Of New Orleans and Washing
ton, the death rate has been forced down
to perhaps a fourth, or even fifth, of
what it might have been but for scientific
sanitation.
Another line of sanitary activities OF
cities has to do with the disposal of sew
age and garbage. There again European
cities show better average than Amer |
lean cities, and many prominent sewerage
experts from Europe are in attendance at
the sessions of the International Congress
of Hygiene and Demography to tell how
many of the problems of waste disposal !
have been solved by them. In Birming- |
ham, England there are extensive oXida- |
ton beds for the publication of sewage, |
but they, like very great proportion of