Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-31
ALL LIVES WATCHED
Health Department Guards
Residents Closely.
FULL RECORDS ARE KEPT
Cost to Each Man. Woman and Child
Is About Three Cents
a Month.

Contributed by the Medical Society Of TIE n,s-
uict OF Columbia)
1t costs every man, woman and child in
the District at the rate of 3 cents per
month for the maintenance of the health
department What does he or she get in
return?
From the cradle to the grave the health
department is ever with him. The health
department even anticipates his coming
and registers in advance physicians who
the board of medical supervisors has duly
certified as competent to pilot him into
this world. A formal entry of his arrival
is made in the registration books OF the
department and the entry goes to swell
the vital statistics of the District. OF the
entry his parents are notified with due
official formality, and the department
takes advantage OF the occasion to offer
advice, telling how the newcomer can
best be made to grow into robust man
hood The very milk that he drinks when
nature refuses longer to supply him bet
ter nourishment comes from cows that the
health department has inspected with
that end in view, and is brought To the
door by a milkman duly licensed for
that purpose.
When the child enters the public school,
a representative OF the health depart
ment follows him to see that his school
work does not hinder his physical deNei-
opment and that communicable disease
does not attack him. If he desires at an
early age to leave school to earn liveli-
hood. il is d representative of the health
department VINO examines him to see
whether his health Will be injured by the
employment he desires to enter.
Record of Diseases.
Should he develop measles or whooping
cough. chickenpoX or diphtheria, small
pox or scarlet fever. that fact is duly
entered in the official archives OF the
health department and the patient ana
his family are advised by the health de-
partment a S to what must be done to pre-
vent the spread of the disease among
members of the household or among 9TH
ers If the communicable nature of the
malady is only suspected, the health de-
partment, cooperating with the attending
physician, Will, through the bacterioloS-
ical laboratory, assist in the speedy de-
termination of that fact.
When the disease has about run its
course and it becomes important TO learn
whether the period of danger has passed
again the laboratory of the health &c
partment is called into requisltion ana
the physician duly advised OF the md
ings Should it be necessary TO remove
the patient 10 a safe place for obserVa-
ton, he will be taken in an ambulance
operated by the health department 10 the
quarantine station, operated in the same
way, or to the isolation room for minor
contagious diseases at Garfield Memorial
or Providence Hospital. and Kept untl
the nature of the malady can be de-
termined. Should suspicion pass INTO
certainty. he may be treated In one or
the hospitals for communicative diseases
operated by or under the supervision o.
the department. The premises from
IA haa n IL
which he has been removed VIII De "a ~
fected by employees in the service OF the
health department, to prevent furtheF
spread of the disease.
Food Is Inspected.
All through life the food that he eats
comes from stores that are. registered ana
inspected by the health department, and
the food itself is under the department
supervision. The air that he breathes Is
kept fresh and sweet by the enforcement
by the health department of the various
laws and regulations against the man
tenance of nuisances, includ ng the smoke
nuisance Weeds may not offend his
sight because ii is the duty or the heaith
department to cause their removal Inc
clothing that he wears Is washed IN
laundry that is under the special ooserNa-
ton of the health department. The BAR
Der who cuts his hair must do so IN ac-
cordance with certain rules prescrlped oy
the health department ana ehlotceu ny
its inspectors. -,
BOOSTERS may not crow nor hens cackle
TO his annoyance without permit from
the health officer. Neither may un-
rnuzzled dogs bite him or his canine
property because the health ofhcer has
recommended that they be not allowed TO
do So And horses may not be Kept an
such a manner as to breed flies 10 his an
noyance and danger.
Permission to Bury.
And then when the final act in the
drama comes his body cannot find its
last resting place until the health Of
ficer has given permission. If earth
burial is his choice, his last resting place
must be in land duly registered at the
health office for the reception of the re-
mains If cremation is his choice, then
a crematory duly licensed must be found,
and the municipal crematory, under the
direction of the health office, is available
And in the end a solemn entry is made IN
the archives of the health department of
the last melancholy event, the mortality
statistics are moved up one notch and
time rolls as before.
And all this costs each resident of the
District just IS cents per annum. ; cents
per month, .eHg of a cent per week and
0e09S of cent per day. Is IT worth itg
Can we expect proper service at such a
price? Can We not afford to spend more?
Or rather can We afford TO spend 30 lit