Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-01

truck garden products which nave Deeh
grown in polluted
TVDhoid Carried soil may carry the
by Vegetables. typhoid fever OF
dangerous intestinal parasites and be-
| come great a menace to the public
health as the despised stable and house
flies as carriers of disease.
This information has been developed
after an extensive study of the contami-
nation of vegetables which has been car
| ried on for the government by DR.. J. d.
Long and Dr. r. H. Creel of the United
States public health service. The con-
clusion of these experts is that the pol
luton of soil through fertilization with
sewage or night sofia practice which
is as great health menace as the pol
| luton of communty's water supply.
DIR. CHI Wardell Stiles. the govern
ment's noted hOOkworm expert, has also
developed the theory that through soil
| pollution the dissemination of intestinal
parasites and infections is possible.
| The experts Of the public health serv-
ice were greatly pleased when the Penn
| sylvania legislature passed a law q few
days ago which prohibits the use OF sew
age or night soil in the growing of all
| vegetables. such as radtshes or celery.
| which are placed on the table without
y
| test against truck gal dens of South Phil
| adelphia which We're using night soil as
| fertilizer on farms near the government
navy yard was supported by secretary
| of the Navy Daniels. who considered the
| practice such a menace to the health Of
| enlisted men and employees that the city
and state authorities were given to I'M
| derstand that no more government I'M
menace was removed few days later
the legislature passed the law which pro-
hibits soil pollution. and which will prove
a model for similar legislation in other
| states.
In the orient and in certain of the
northern nations of Europe the custom
of using sewage and night soil as fertil-
izer has always obtained. and immigrants
have brought the custom to this country
The danger of the practice can be i'm
agined when it is known that DR.. Lons
| has found the bacilli Of typhoid alive or
| vegetables for as long as thirty-f1ve days
! after the fertilizer was used on the grow
ing plants The virulent germs have beer
found both on the leaves of the vegetables
and in the ground in which they were
planted The old-time theory of the puri-
flying effect of sunshine and rain to bring
| about the destruction Of bacteria has beer
found untrue in the case OF fresh veg
etables which are eaten uncOOked.
| The widespread interest of people in
| regulations to insure clean and pure food
has been stimulated by the discoveries OF
| Drs. Long and Creel and the subsequent
| action of the state of Pennsylvania in
gerous methods of fertilization OF the soil
| Many cities now have health regulations
which require that vegetables shall not be
| exposed openly on the streets to be con-
| taminated by dirt and flies. but up to the
present time little thought has been given
| to contamination of food products before
| they reach the market. The Pennsylvania
law will perhaps lead to the adoption OF
| similar laws in other states to protect
! the sources of food supply against pOllu-
ton the same as the sources of water
| supply are today protected in every en-
| lightened community.
One of the most difficult problems in
connection with the reclamation work
now being vigorously
Reclamation conducted in the Great
American Desert is the
AaOoAe1s. securing and retaining OF
laborers. This is especially the case
| where the construction camps are located
at points remote from cities.
| Life in a government camp isolated in
the midst Of q trackless desert or in the
precipitous canyons is naturally monoto-
| nous With only eight hours in each
working day employed, time drags. and
| the laborer Is hard put to find recreation
and amusement during the remaining
hours when he is not asleep. A continu-
Gus procession OF men coming on ana
leaving the work is not economical, the
construction work drags, expenses pile
| UP and efficiency is lessened
To Obviate the tendency on the part OF
the laborer to leave the work as soon as
a moderate stake has been acquired. the
government engineers in three of the i'm
portant camps-the Elephant Butte, In
| New Mexico; Arrowrock. in Idaho. and
keechelus, in Washington-have made
somewhat elaborate arrangements to pro-
vide amusements for the men. Among
these are the club building containing
shower baths. reading room, pool hall
and a moving picture theater. The Y. NJ
C. A. is cooperating in some of the
camps, furnishing a superintendent, who
takes charge of the entertainments
The motion picture shows are on a
regular circuit, receiving weekly film
service This amusement has proved i'm
mensely popular, and as a moderate
charge is made for admission the snow
ia practically self-supporting. AS direct
result of this plan the general character
| Of the laborers has been greatly i'm
proved, there is less shifting OF the men.
and many have brought their wives and
families to live with them during the
neighboring towns send their representa-
| tives to the camp on pay day to encour-
age the men to deposit their savings and
thousands of dollars weekly are being
| sent to these repositories.
The atmosphere Of the camps has been
| changed greatly. There Is noticeable an
| absence of discomfort and greater PRIDE
i'm their work is evident on every hand
Lantern slide pictures showing progress
on other and similar works of the gov
eminent are exhibited weekly, and this
has developed a strong desire to make a
better showing their own project. On
| Sundays the hall is generally given over
| TO church purposes or lectures.
| On one of the projects an ice cream
| parlor has been established and the nrst
| fifteen days the receipts amounted to
1904. In the month of April 2.3SS tickets
| were sold for the moving picture show
| at Elephant Butte. the receipts amount
ing to S262 Three shows a week are
| given there.
| While seeking health in an open-air life,
! DR.. c. c. Young, a wealthy Russian, has
| begun a series OF
Breeding of experiments on ms
| Texas ranch which
Persian Lambs. NAV result in the
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