El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-25

by the care with v hich the pnplic
health service guards the ports Of the
United States
The progress that medical science
has made in the past half century n
hTeleasing Jhe race from the thralidOllt
Of epidemic disease constitutes What
is perhaps the brightest page IN hu
man history. 1t has been such d
gradual progress that few people real
ize its results or have noted its on
ward steps. In fact. only those VINO
have studied the statistics that pear
:.Ich remarkable testimony to It's et
fectiveness appreciate the full mean
ing of it all
Before the beginning OF the past
! half century smallpox was apout M
only important epidemic disease th@' /
could be checked effectively and qulck-
". 1t is true that before thai tlnte
the gradual acceptance OF the aoStIlIS
that cleanliness is next to goodness
had resulted in rendering the Sred-
plaques of history less frequent II; oc-
currence and less serious in extern,
driving them back into the nauons
which espoused not the laws OF clean
illness. But there are still unconquer
able epidemics of cholera. of bubonlc
and it was not until the germs OF the
principal diseases were discovered ma ING.
, quarantine laws were made effective
and the fight against internatloliHl
epidemics successful
What Quarantine Law Means
If one is to appreciate the meaning
Of all this let him consider what oIt
quarantine laws alone have II cant 20
Us With tide of a million lmml-
grants coming into our ports annual
" what chance could We have mad 10
forestaI an epidemic of cholera When
thousands of victims OF the disease
were seeking embarkation to America.
and where many, despite the utmost
vigilance. would have escaped oe$ec-
ton but for a microscopic examination
OF their intestinal contents? Ana with
aubonic plague in a dozen OF more
ports from which ships san 10 tns
United States, how should we escape
an epidemic of that disease if we did
not know how to prevent It? Day IN
and day out, year in and year out, inc
States never relax. their efforts to pro-
tect %, 000. 600 people from the lnTa-
sion of hostile armies of germs. Ihey
do their work so we'll and yet so
quietly that nine-tenths of US do not
know that they exist unless we hap-
pen to be sailing home from an alien
port.
Suppresxing EpIdemicS.
1t is interesting to compare what
has been done in the way OF suppress
ing epidemic diseases with what re-
half century the civilized nations have
discovered the germs of the majority
of the epidemic diseases. Tubercu-
Iosis yellow fever, typhoid fever. pneti-
typhus fever. spinal meningitis. hook
worm disease, measles, and a long uSt
Of other contagious and infectious all
ments have been robbed OF their mys-
terry and methods of their prevention
have been discovered.
Throughout the civilized world the
effect of the application Of these meth
eds has been limited only b. their lack
CT thoroughneSs-
The progress during the decade be
tween 1900 and 1910 in the registration
area of the United States reveals what
america has accomplished by the
spread OF the principles of preventive
Il L. > = ills
as many deaths from typhoid fever
7 III 1910 as there were in 1900. 35.S
/ deaths occurring from ii out Of each
! 100. 900 of population in 1900 as COM
pared with 23.5 in 1910 The number
Of deaths from diphthsria was cut
down nearly a third. tuberculosis
! caused 1918 deaths in 1900, where it
caused 1866 deaths IN 1910. Diseases
I of the respiratory system were cut
down from 1862 in 1900 to 1913 IN
! 1910 And so one might carry the
ratio on through the list OF infectious
and contagious diseases
Save Thousands Every Year.
/ Applying some OF these figures TO
! the United States as whole it is
found that this means that we are saw
| ing more than 10000 people a year
/ from tuberculosis as a result of the
progress made since 1900 in the fight
/ gainst il. We have reduced the num-
Ter of deaths from typhoid by 10.O0U
a year the number of deaths from
| Giphtheria and Group have fallen 90
:
/ From diseases Of the respiratory
1 system there are prOportionately 60
I 600 fewer deaths a year than there
] were only ten years ago.
! Taking all causes together, there
were proportionately nearly 100000
| more deaths in the country in 1910 than
{ there were in 1900. The credit belongs
: TO the application of preventive mcdi-
I cine rather than to the discovery of its
! theories, since the doctors knew almost
as much about these theories in 1900
as they did ten years later.
Aside from quarantine regulations.
I the most important method which the
/ sanitarians have invoked in behalf of
/ better health has been the protection
Of the milk and water supplies Of the
] country 1t has been estimated that
| the American citizen consumes % gal
| Ions OF milk annually. Since milk is
/ the principal diet OF the sick. aged.
and the infant members OF society
7 the three classes most susceptible to
/ infection from intestinal diseases. las
1 first aims of the sanitarian. And no
other sanitary measure that the
] science of preventive medicine has yet
! devised has when fully enforced,
yielded the great returns in public
health that have come through milk
! purity regulations.
Pure Water Decrease EpldcmicS.
J Water publication has been attend
/ cd by a decline of epidemic disease
| wherever it has been attempted in
/ cities. 1t has been estimated that the
l construction CT the chicago urdlnt2c
canal has saved Chicago $4,000 be
1 reaved homes and over 100000 doc
I tors bills in a Sinsfc decade Cities
which derive their water supply from
mountain springs which are guarded
( from pollution, usually have 4 death
+; rate from intestinal diseases Of ali
] kinds less than half as great as that
( in cities which have no fresh protected
| supply.
European cities are far and away
l ahead of the American cities II this
| respect. and it has almost reached
! that point where a man who takes
( typhoid fever has a case against the
I municipality for not protecting him.
/ There is not even one exception to the
rule that has obtained all over the
! world that pure milk and pure water
! have added much 10 the health Of the
1 community which has secured them.
Fight Against BubOnic Plague.
| An interesting picture of how threat
! ened epidemics OF diseases are throt-
tied is to be had from the present fight
which the United States is making
against the threatened outbreak of
hubonic plague through the ports OF
! the United States. IN the first place.
TO ship is allowed to come to any mort
which has not used every precaution
| to prevent infected rats from getting
| aboard at ports under the ban of
! quarantine. these precautions consist