The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-07-14
By r.. w. BENTON.

BY r.. w. BENTON.
There is a vast difference between the
efficient Health Department of the pres
.nt day and that of which the National
Capital boosted in 1873, the date Of the
n.cipal government.
AT the time of its inception, the per-
sonnet of the department consisted of
enc man-the District Health Officer.
To-day this important branch of the
city government has a total force of
eiehty-one employees. In that ancient
day a sum not to exceed SIS was appro-
priated annually to defray the expenses
incurred by the department To-day
thousands of dollars are expended each
year to further the sanitation work. In
the year 1919 the Health Officer dis
charged his duties gratis. To-day the
District pays the head Of its Health De-
rartment 5000 annually.
careful search Of the old records of
the department reveals many interest
Ing and occasionally ludicrous facts. The
activities of the ancient Health Depart
ment are recorded in two musty and
ponderous old books, which are pre-
served with great care by DR.. William
c. Woodward, present Health Officer. The
books are bound in brown leather, but
the bindings are worn and torn. and
the leaves are soiled and faded. These
two volumes do not stand in bookshelves
beside the more recent bound records of
the Office. They are too highly priced
for such treatment. DR.. Woodward keeps
them locked up in a fireproof steel lock-
er in the secrecy Of his own private
room at the District Building. And IL
you ask for a glimpse of those old
documents it is only with great reluc-
lance that the Health Officer will take
them out and lay them before you.
Duties Were Simple.
DIR. Arthur L. Murray, of the Health
Department, is probably the only per-
son who has ever made a careful study
Of the two ancient volumes. He has
scrutinized them carefully and made
note of the strange theories advanced
by our forefathers and the ludicrous
orders issued from time to time by the
old Health Department
The department was established Au-
gust a. 1873. on which date. according
to the initial record in the first of the
antique volumes, the Board of Alder
men and the Board OF Common Council
OF Washington enacted a law providing
for the appointment of a health officer.
No salary was mentioned in the legisla-
ton. The Aldermen and Councilmen.
however, were thoughtful and beneficent
enough to provide for the annual ap-
preparation of a sum not in excess Of
SIS to defray the contingent expenses in
CURED by the health officer in the dis
charge of his duties.
His duties were so simple that 1t would
have indeed been foolish to pay him a
salary. He was compelled to carry
the burden of responsibility which now
is thrown upon the shoulders of the
health officer. His sole duties were to
keep a register of the deaths in the
city. to furnish newspapers monthly re-
ports of these demises, 10 bring to the
attention of the Mayor insanitary condi-
tons. and to make recommendations
with respect to the suppression of cpl
denies.
In connection with the stipulation of
the duties of the health officer, the fol-
lowing order was issued by the Common
Council and Board of Aldermen and ap-
proved by Samuel n. Smallwood, the
Mayor:
Reports by Grave Diggers.
TO enable the health officer to make
out and report for publication informa-
ton concerning deaths in the city, 1t
shall be the duty of the undertakers or
other persons bringing a corpse for
burial a certificate stating the name,
age, SEX and color of the decedent, the
late of his or her death. the disease or
cause of such death. and whether a resi-
dent or stranger.
The next record appears March 30, 1872,
when an ordinance was enacted, pro-
viding for the organization of a Board
of Health, to be appointed by the Mayor
with the consent of the Aldermen. The
BOARD was to consist of the physician
q Intending the Washington Asylum, and
enc physician and one citizen not a ply
stefan from each ward in the city. The
first meeting of the new body was held
April h. 1872 when two committees were
eppointed-one to prepare code of reg
ulations regarding the preservation of
health in the city, and the other to de-
eide what constituted nuisances and
sources of disease.
The joint report of the two committees
is an interesting one, and will, doubt 4
le ssly provoke many smile from the
physicians of the present day.
The most serious and important null
sances or sources of disease 1t reads,
ARE situated particularly on the Dor
iers of the canal and in other marshy
grounds about the city, over which the
Board of Health can exercise at present
no control The prevailing winds in sum-
mer and autumn from the south and
west watt the exhalations from these
low grounds over the most populous
parts of the city, thereby infesting the
atmosphere with a poison dangerous to
the lives of all who breathe it.
Foul Cellars Common.
In taking into consideration other
nuisances or sources of disease, the at
tention of the committee is particularly |
arrested by foul cellars, so common in |
this city. 1t Is well known that in many
parts of the city the utmost vigilance |
and attention are required to keep the
cellars free from water, and there are |
numerous instances where foul water re- |
mains pent up in cellars during the |
whole summer and autumn, annoying
with its pestiferous smell all who ap-
preach its neighborhood, and injecting |
the Inhabitants Of such houses with most |
serious and dangerous Diseases
The Districts SANITARY code differs con- |
siderabiy in volume and scope from that |
II the present day. It consisted of one I
and 1t dealt with a single |
phase of sanitation-the care of cellars |
Despite its brevity and narrowness of |
scope, the code was sound in theory and |
sensible In every detail. It provided |
that whenever any cellar or other do
nestle enclosure was in a state of |
nuisance" the owner should be notified, |
and II he refused to amend conditions,
should be fined not more than s. nor less |
than 81, and in addition should be fined |
4 like amount for each day after the |
serving of notice that he continued to
keep the premises in an insanitary con-
iition.
Pennsylvania Avenue in the days of
ha l,-l