Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1913-11-22
SANITARY SURVEY

fcHt@uic LtsedseS ard IN TaNoF OF
Better Health Conditions Mar.
tlnsburs a Healthy city--Martins.
burg the Healthiest City on the
Globe.
It was an audience that was re-
sponsiye, and representative OF the
best elements Of the city, which
greeted Hon e. Boyd Faulkner yes.
Iterday evening when he introduced
Surgeon L. L. Lumsden, OF the Mar
inc Hospital and Public Health Ser.
vice II was an audience that is
alive TO the best interests OF the city
and county. 1t was an audience that
lis willing. everyone present, to work
for the public veal without hope OF
reward than the assurance that they
ARE performing The highest duties of
good citizenship.
The audience represented all class
es who are always at the forefront
lof all progressive movements.
Among those present, noted at ran.
dom. were Hon. E. Boyd Faulkner.
Mayor p. r. Harrison, Mr.. Alexan-
der Clohan, Mr. Max Robinson, Prof.
VIM. C. Morton, Prof d. TT. Dodd,
Hon. A. c. Nadenbousch, Judge c.
NJ. Thatcher. Rev. Or. G. S. Trump,
Mr.. A. C. Miller, Mr.. c. c. Cutler,
Mr. Edward Rutledge. Capt. ]. G..
Hutzler and host of others And
the ladies were there in force, as
they always are when movements
for the betterment of the people are
to the front.
DR. G, E. Clay, City Health Officer,
called the meeting TO order and in.
Produced Judge Faulkner as the pre-
siding officer. The distinguished
jurist was in fine form and aroused
great enthusiasm when he in clear,
/ terse sentences expressed himself
upon the vital issues involved in the
campaign upon which the people are
entering. He expressed himself as
being heartily in favor of the effort
Ito eliminate disease and its accom-.
paniments, filth and unsanitary con.
lditions.
4 DR.. Lumsden stated that the Uni
tea States Government is engaged in
the task OF showing the people how
to improve living conditions how to
avoid disease and death from pre-
yentable ailments. He is here in the
interest of good health and the pre-
Iservation OF life. 1t will cost you
nothing. The work we are doing Is
preliminary to the work that it IS
hoped may be accomplished.
There are certain diseases which
science has demonstrated can be pre-
vented. Typhoid, diptheria, malaria,
tuberculosis, cholera, yellow fever
and others are diseases that have
icaused great havoc but may easily
be destroyed The typhoid rate In
this country is higher than in any
other civilized nation. He referred
to Panama, how the building OF the
railroad across the Isthmus cost one
life for every tie that was laid; how
the French failed because they ne
elected sanitation, and how this gov
eminent had succeeded and made
that pest hole one Of the healthiest
on the globe.
| It is a business proposition. II Is
fhfe against death We must consid-
er it seriously. 1t is human life
against a miserable little microbe. It
is popular sentiment upon which we
must rely We must have proper
sanitation. Suppose New York
should dispense with its sewerage.
neglect its water supply, cease to col
lect and destroy garbage, what would
be the result? Think of the matter
n that light
During the Spanish war one-fifth
of the soldiers had typhoid and one
n each hundred died. Soldiers now
upon the Rio Grande are immune
Sanitation is just as feasible In rural
districts as in cities.
He then referred to the causes of
typhoid. 1t thrives in milk and this
accounts for the death OF many ba-
bies. 1t comes from people and is
disseminated by flies, the fingers Of
nurses and Others who come in con.
tact with a victim. The time will
come when a good housewife will be
as much ashamed to have a fly in
her house as turkey buzzard.
A sewerage system is the hest div
idend payer in which a city can IN
vest. How much does typhoid cost
Berkeley county? There have been
s24 deaths since last January. Sup
pose it was Asatic cholera? You
would have an impenetrable wall
built around you.