The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-04-29
Sacrifice l54 Deaths Per Year
 Says Dr. OsIer

1 New York, April 29-That our too 1 prevalent system of medieval sanita.- 1 ton is responsible for all the cases of l typhoid fever in Connecticut was the | Dsler in his talk yesterday at Yale.
 on ''The Evolution of Modern Medi-
 cine" "I contended some years ago.
 said the great physician, that the l control of typhoid fever was rot in 1 the hands of the doctors and I stIi hold to that assertion.'' And he went 1 on to show how the disease was due directly to unsanitary conditions in l many of our rural localities. In Con- necttcut, iterated the speaker, one years fatalities from the deadly fever amounted to 154, while those afflicted were a small army of 1,200 men and women.
 And every one of the 1,200 cases was needless" continued Sir William. Why in many of your less popu1stt- ed districts, medieval conditions still prevail, depIorab1e in these times of progress. The public health should be of public concern and not a political issue is very often the case. If l could only arouse the public in this State to a realization of their duty, to preventable, I should consider these lectures of the utmost use.''
 Sir William said that this unwar- ranted death list needed only pure water, pure milk, and official exami- nation of every case to be reduced almost to nil What would you say,'' he exclaimed, eff eight young people of your State were set off to be sacri- ficed to the gods as in ancient Athens. and yet you allow 154 of your citizens to be so treated -''
 But the Englfshman also had word of praise for the Connecticut authori- ties in recalling the States work in decreasing the annual number of deaths from tuberculosis. It is ap- pa11ing to think, he said, of the rav- ages of this disease in the past and we can well be proud of our achieve ments in quelling even in small way the advances of this white plague. Some years ago the annual toll, he cited, was 1700 souls out of a mill lion inhabitants, but those figures have since fallen considerably and all because we have on an enthusiastic campaign that will eventually lead to success. It may be years before it will be wiped out, but the day is com ing. You have your officials to thank for this
 There is a feeling. he continued. that sanatoria do not play an important role in the cure Of this disease. But in this State figures prove otherwise In the institution at Walling gford, he said, it is shown that the earnings of the patients after returning to work eXc06QSo Dy a great OS4I I1O SAPS11SO Of the treatment. He did not men ton Dr. F'riedmann at all in his talk on this subject.
 Dr. Osler predicted that when we are far enough away from the nineteenth century to see it in an unprejudiced light we shall then realize that san1- tation has taken it's place among the great discoveries of the age Eng land was the first to set the health of its people foremost It Is not hard for some of us to remember when ty- phus faver used to terrify everyone at the mere mention. and in the con- quest of this and other diseases noth- ing has been so potent as the d1scoV-- cry that insects carry disease. Now the fly population is taken as the sam itary index of the disease of a. city.
 Malaria ,'' he said, in mentioning the disease so prevalent in New FIa- ven ''fs the greatest single destroyer of humanity The hook worm and vel low fever may be prevalent. but ma laria surpasses them all. Part of the physical degeneration in Greece and Rome was due to malaria We need a campaign here in the United States against the disease There Is too much mortality here in some dis tricts especially around the Mason and Dixon line, because of general 1gnor- ance.
 ''It was the scientific research of the last two decades. that made possi- bIe the construction of the Panama canal If anyone here ever feels dis couraged about the life of the. race, let him read one of the reports of the canal zone and see how great the work in sanitation has been. There is no single community in the United States or England of which the nor tality IS less than at Panama, where the annual number. is only 7.31 per l. ooo This is an unequalled example of thoroughness and efficiency"