Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-09-10
CITY'S HEALTH
CONDITIONS BAD,
SAYS DR.. CRASTER
Tells of Filthy Conditions in
Report on His Two Months
of Activity.
SLAUGHTER HOUSES ARE
SOURCE OF MUCH DANGER
Much to Be Done in improving
Milk SuppIy-FIy Plague
Dangerous.

Bad health conditions affecting
about everyone in the city were al
legged today by Acting Health officer
Charles V. Craster in his monthly
report to the Board of Health, which
included what DR.. Craster termed "a
sanitary survey of the city"
The report referred to slaughter
houses in an indescribable condition
of filth, dairy establishments, where
good milk cannot be expected because
of the methods employed; disease in
crease that has reached an alarming
extent and, lastly, to wholesale in
difference to the health ordinances
and repeated and unpunished viola
tions of them DR.. Craster stated his
report covered two months of field
work, undertaken when he took Of
flee July ], and altogether the results
of the field work convinced him that
rigorous action is imperative
This field work consisted of thor
ough investigation of health condi-
tions in the city, MADE in company
with inspectors of the department, by
whose experience the health officer
profited, and is not, DR. Craster stated
today, completed yet. although a
great deal of his time for two
months has been devoted to it.
The report declares that in only the
very new cattle slaughter-houses of
the city is an attempt made to live
up to the ordinances. I'm the older
e,1o laf fot--h trin lot nf
the ordinances were evident" the re-
port continues. Recommendations for
the improving of sanitary conditions
were made in every instance, and
will be strictly enforced, with fire.
quent inspection trips to see that
they are.
One of the worst features of this
slaughter-house situation is drawn
attention to in statement not in
the report, but made by DR.. Craster.
1t is that the health officer attributes
Newark's fly plague. in a large de-
gree, to these slaughter houses
''Theres where they breed he de-
! clared. You'll see filthy barrels lit
1-cralfys black with them. They breed
on the blood. on moist entrails and
offa and on much of the moist filth
about the place"
First Glass Diaries Few.
Really first-class dairy farms sup
plying the city with milk are few.
was Or. Craster's conviction after a
tour of Vailsburg, Union, Irvington
and Caldwell. There has, though. he
found. been big Improvement dur
ing recent years. A condition he re-
CARDS as "a pity" Is that the farm
ers so frequently look at the marks
required by the scorecards as a legal
standard for milk, when they are
really a minimum Milk going below
them cannot be sold. The proper light
in which to regard them is as legal
minimum. "above which every good
dairyman should aspire to rise
There is evident in most of the
dairy farms visited a crudeness about
the methods of milk production that
strikes an observer first OF all, states
the health officer.
"The steam sterilizers, where such
are provided were usually rooms used
for the purpose with ill-fitting doors
and windows, into which cans were
put and current steam allowed to flow
in. 1t is certainly impossible to
imagine the attainment of sufficient
sterilizing temperature in such con-
trivances," says the report.
mo thermometers were uSed-lt was
all guess work and rule of thumb.
Similarly the milk cooling was either
done in dark, undrained wooden clos
cts in which ice was stacked or the
milk cans were sunk into the water
of favored spots in neighboring brooks
or ponds There were no methods
observed to determine the tempera-
ture of the milk during or after these
procedures.
"As separate millihouses are re-
quired by the ordinance, these places
are frequently built of any old lum-
ber. Fly-screening the doors or win
dows is seldom attempted In some
of these II was evident from the col
lection of rubbish that they were new
er used for straining the milk at all,
this process probably being carried
out in the COW barn or open air of the
yard. In very few instances were the
milking cans and receptacles washed
in a proper manner, the usual proc
ess of cleansing carried Que being
a scrubbing with soap and water with
a final scalding which may or may
not be effective.
",rhe small-mouthed milk pail still
is a. stranger to most of the dairies,
although some are coming into line
and keep one of this variety on hand
for some purposes, but not for use.
'In some dairy farms, where floors
are well cemented and drained
slovenly and dirty methods of manure
removal counterbalance improved
structural conditions.
Screening against flies is virtually
never practiced in cow barns, as one
gentleman remarked to me when
commented upon its absence. He con-
sidered 1t cruel to so deprive the COWS
of fresh air: he would much prefer
his barns to be fy-ridden
81 have seen COW barns of the latest
type kept in an unspeakable con-
dition of neglect, all the good quail
ties of improved air space, etc, being
in my opinion, nullified by the
proximity of fy-infested manure
heaps and fermenting food mixtures
From such dairies milk with higl
bacterial counts could be expected
not actually because of this con-
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