Norwich bulletin., 1913-05-20
SEWAGE DISPOSAL AND
 THE PUBLIC HEALTH State Board of Health Secretary Writes of Community Health.

Tn his monthly report for April for the state board of health, Secretary Joseph H. Townsend devotes special mention to the topic of Sewage Dis posal and the Public Health. He says:
 In his recent lectures at Yale Dr. Osler very rightly stated that the ty- phOid death rate of a community is an index of the efficiency of it's san itary administration. It is also true that there are three requisites for efficient health organization; san itary legislation in harmony with the latest progress in hygiene, efficient organization, and adequate appropri- ations to bear the expense involved. While we are proud of the fact that the last report of the U. s. Census bureau states that Bridgeport, Conn, had the lowest death rate from typhoid fever for that year C910) of any large city in the country, 1t is true thar the 1037 cases with 131 deaths report ed in the state last year are all pre- Ventable and to a much greater extent than in the case of most of the infec- tiOus diseases. Every case of typhoid fever comes directly from some pre- vfous case, because the discharges from that patient have been improp- erly cared for the infection being con tained in the urine and faeces It is estimated that five per cent of all persons who have had the disease be- come chronic carriers of the typhoid bacilli which they excrete in the urine and faeces indefinitely, and persons have been found to be bacillus car riers who never to their knowledge have had typhoid fever. Hence it is evident that there must be very few communities that. in addition to their active eases, do not always have chronic bacillus carriers to infect the sewage, which thus becomes a source of danger to the public No attempt a tha nf tvYob0i1 be effective which does not provide for a proper disposal of sewage. Tn considering sewage disposal it must be borne in mind that it is 8 public necessity as much as nolice and fire patrol: that 1t costs money and cannot be made a 3ource of income. No com munity expects a pecuniary return on an investment for fire engines or police stations, as much as they are deeded for the protection of life and disposal Is necessary for the protec- tien of health and is not to be treated as if intended as a source of revenue.
 In the solution of the sewage dis posal problems the present custom of one municipality dischargfng its wastes into the nearest waterway to be carried to the doorway of it's neigh bor farther down the stream cannot be continued indefinitely, and the ex- penses Involved in the construction of sewerage systems with no thought for necessary changes in the future, is a waste of money which can be largely eliminated by the supervision of a central board whose primary duty Is the general welfare of the state as whole. Sanitary authorities are agreed that a certain amount of pol lution is inevitable when cities are built on the shores of streams and that the degree of purifcation neces- sary or advisable is dependent upon the economic and sanitary benefits to be derived. Such problems, however involve the welfare of the state as 8 whole and cannot be satisfactorily worked out by local authorities. Our present laws are inadequate to cope with the situation. and the bills now before the legislature have been pre- sented for the purpose of bringing the state of Connecticut in line with those states which are giving these prob lems the consideration they demand