New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1915-08-07

born to be nursed through
measles. mumps and the whol,
| catalogue of so-called children ;,
diseases.
We accept sickness as inevita
| blc--and so it is some. We dt
not know. or we do not believe
that. in great part, this evil Is
preventable. Neither do we
know. or realize that every
spell" implies lowered vitality
lowered resistance and possible
future physical degeneration.
| suppose there is not an adult
present who has not experienced
illness, few who have not lived
through an attack of some one
of the infectious diseases. Ger
tainly, not one who has not paid
at some time, either drug or
doctors bill. or both. for himself
or member of his family. These
are the two aspects of disease
with which all are familiar. 1t
would seem that they are suffi-
GENTLY distressing, or of import
ance to warrant consideration,
yet because of our notion that
disease can not be prevented. we
submit without protest to condi-
tiOns.
Health can be conserved :;
health can be promoted; the
common contagious maladies can
be controlled with ultimate Grad
ication. 1t is fundamental mis-
take to think otherwise.
Health depends to a degree on
environment in town or city,
largely, it is "a community prob
lem. Where homes are far apart,
there are certain sanitary cOndi-
tons which the individual family
can control. therefore. for the
members of that household, i'm
from specific diseases can
be assured, hookwOrm, for ex-
ample. Where areas are more
thickly populated, for protection,
there must be a common under
standing of means and a oneness
of action in the execution of these
measures. The greater the num-
Der Of persons, the greater the
of restrictions and the
greater need for strict enforce
ment of necessary rules.
Your community is large
enough to do effective work and
have community comforts and
conveniences if everybody will
unite in the effort. You have
about 1900 individuals. A sur
vey shows:
Drainage System Of bitches
fair; not well kept. '-'
Water supply-Filtered bayor
water, also softened well water.
A number Of cisterns. -
Closets, majority SURFACE. &
Condition Of closets, in general,
not good. '.' i
IN the quarters occupied by the
negroes, the water supply is from
cisterns and shallow
wells while a number of places
have no supply at all. -
Water and sewage or waste
disposal are two Of the funda-
mentals of community health. If
the water supply is from an un-
protected source and if human
excreta is not disposed of in
sanitary manner, then sickness
in the community which tol,rates
such slackness is inevitable and
epidemics imminent. "a
In the installation. or proposed
establishment Of municipal
plant of any kind the first qhes-
ton advanced is always that of
expense Let us estimate. If
you are very fortunate, you have
approximately 70 deaths an
If the cost of the illness
averages $4,000, burial $2E 90, the
expense incident is $3.50. 1t is
estimated that one-third of those
who die are in the working period
Of life and their average commun.
ity value not less than $1,000
each. Loss of time of those who
take care Of the sick, average OF
five days for each. at one dollar
a day, will add $3.50, a total Of
about $24,OO For every person
dying, there are 10 i'll; let us say
s. The cost Of this item, average
expense, one dollar lay for five
days adds $1,75O, bringing the
total amount to nearly $4,000.
If We subtract the potential value
of the wage earning portion who
die. then the average cost to the
family is 81 annually. This is
a cash estimate. It is borne by
the few who are so unfortunate
-. .