The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1914-09-17
I Uphold Fever at Oakes
SOME FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO IT'S SPREAD
By ROBERT HUBERT
By ROBERT HUBERT

to be done by way Of burning up that
filthy privy. and instituting = general
cleanup? A town the size Of Oakes
that prides itself upon . sewer. can
hardly look with like feeling Of pride
upon its citizen who steadfastly re-
fuses to make use Of the sewer, but
insists upon maintaining = public nui-
sance and a menace to the public
health in his back yard. What use is
there Of your neighbor going to the
trouble and expense Of connecting up
to the sewer, If you. next door, insist
on menacing his good health and his
children's by allowing that privy to
stand side Of his fence, and continue
to use it as a catch-all for garbage
and diseased fifth.
1t is significant, the fact that the
writer found just such conditions as
these going on unmolested in the very
,neighborhood where typhoid fever has
been most prevalent in your village,
and worse in this neighborhood than
in any other l saw. And perhaps it is
again significant that the most filthy
cess pool observed should continue to
be used at the very house where there
have been two bad cases Of fever re-
Gently, and one at the present time.
The family we'll is not more than rs
feet distant, and shallow we'll at
that. This family has the consolation
that they will soon all be immune, but
that affords small consolation for their
neighbors. At still another house
where typhoid was, the writer found
an exceptionally filthy and unclean
privy in the back shed. Here, was
told that the typhoid patient used this
vault constantly, and thct it was like
wise made use Of by the members Of
several families adjoining. After look
ing this affair over decided that it
would have been quite impossible for
> anyone to have used this privy and
gone away without having carried ty-
phoid germs on his person. 1t is up to
some public spirited citizen who feels
q little civic pride to take it upon him
self to stir up some action against
such conditions as these in the town.
3. Milk Supply.
In country town the size Of Cakes
where there is no established milk
Z route, and for the most part the fam
lily COW furnishes the milk for the
> home, it is quite out Of the question to
, trace the source Of the typhoid to the
milk supply. 1t was found that the
{ milk used in the different homes where
{ typhoid had been, came from many
t different sources. This almost pre-
cludes milk as factor in the spread
, Of the sickness. Milk borne epidemics
can almost invariably be traced back
to the use of sewage polluted water
) supply at the dairy.
A personal knowledge on the part
+ Of the milk consumer rs to the clean.
5 illness and care used at the dairy
: from which he buys his milk is q
3 mighty good thing. Many times If We
: could see the filthy and careless con.
E ditions under which our milk is pro.
a. duced, we would certainly refrain
from usng it, on general principles.
I. Water Supply.
, The prevailing and popular opinion
in Oakes is that the water supply is
responsible for the many cases of ty.
, phoid that have occurred there. This
. is perhaps only natural when we know
that practically all the water used fol
drinking purposes in the town come.
: from individual shallow wells in each
house. These are driven down to &
depth varying anywhere from twelve
to forty feet. In the writer's opinion
it is very bad policy, from q stand
point Of health, to drink water tha,
comes from . depth Of under Is feet
in a neighborhood infested with ces,
. pools and privies. Common sens,
> bears out the truth Of this assertion
. The townspeople must realize that un
y til these shallow wells in their house.
are driven down to q depth below n
feet there is imminent danger Of ty
phoid and dysentery being contracte,
from drinking the water. Wells evel
at . depth Of 20 feet or more do no