Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-30

and local authorities. in many parts OF
the country. A particularly lnterestins
series of studies are being made An the
Potomac river basin in Virginia, Wesl
Virginia and Maryland.
Under the act of August IA, 1912. the
broad power was conferred on the public
health service to study and investigate
the diseases Of man and conditions in
fiuencing the propagation and spread
thereof including sanitation and sewage
and the pollution. either directly or in
directly, Of the navigable streams and
lakes Of the United States.
"The appropriation for this work be-
came available only during the past sum-
mer. but we have already made consider
able progress. DIR. A. ]. Mclaughlin OF
the service. who had been loaned to the
international joint commission on Amer
ican-Canadian waterways, had already
made a preliminary survey of the great
lakes. and his reports have been published.
His work was done in connection with a
Canadian officer.
Two important Investigations of the
pollution of the Potomac and Ohio rivers
are now in progress. On the Potomac We
are daily taking samples of water at
many points from below Mount Vernon to
Great Falls, these samples being analysed
in the ny gienic laboratory in Washington.
For the lower river a laboratory has been
established at Colonial Beach. We are
about to take up similar work on the
upper river. In the meantime, careful
sanitary survey of the whole watershed
is being conducted.
THE work on the Ohio river is of
similar character. We have established
laboratories at Pittsburgh Pa: Louis
vile. KY, and Portsmouth, Ohio; and
other laboratories are soon to be estab-
lished.
Another activity in the field is in in
vestigating the prevalence of trachoHa,
an investigation which has made great
progress In the past few months. Ira
choma was known to the ancients, and is
supposed to have caused the blindness of
Homer, Socrates and Dante. Since 1897
the government has excluded from the
country immigrants affected with this
disease. Excellent results 70 lowed, and
it was thought that trachoma had been
reduced to minimum except IN the large
cities. and that it was declining there.
It has developed however that certain
focii of the disease existed in the noun
tainS of Kentucky and in southern Iili-
nois and year or SO ago the fact of its
prevalence among the Indians became
known.
health of Minnesota We sent Surgeon
Clark to thai state. He made many
studies on the Indian reservations. finding
that trachoma was unduly prevalent.
!. !.
by an act Of August "a 1912 Con-
gress required the Service to make an
investigation OF contagious and infec-
tious diseases among the Indians, and to
report by February 1. 1913. We at once
sent fourteen men into the field. They
visited Ind an reservations in twenty
five states. and examined 9.231 Indians.
of whom 227 per cent were found to be
suffering from trachoma From this re-
port. remedial measures are being work
ed out.
During the past summer we sent a
force into the mountains of eastern Ken
lucky to do the same sort of work
among the people of that region. the
'purest American stock we have and an
excellent people, though living under
primitive conditions. The examination
of more than 1000 persons there develop
ed that more than 12l2 per cent were
suffering from trachoma in its various
stages with little hope of relief.
DIR. John McMullen, in charge of this
work, has established small hospitals at
Hyden and Hindman villages, twenty
miles from a railroad. and is bringing
relief to the people. Each hospital has
fifteen beds, and We have three doctors
and six nurses at work. Another officer
of the service is now making studies or
the disease In West Virginia and in the
southwestern part OF Virginia to aseer-