New Britain herald., 1915-12-22
WILL FIGHT AGAINST
 EUROPE'S DISEASES
Government Has Four Lines Of
 Defense to Stop Invasion

Washington, Dec. 22.-According to the authorities of the public health service, the European war exposes the United States to greater risk of in- vasion by foreign disease-foes. The danger will be greater after the war ends when emigration from the strife torn and pauperized nations of Europe returns to its usual proportions. Sanitary organization has been car ried to the highest degree possible in military operations as large as are 1 now witnessed in Europe. Still, it is 1 inevitable that the war will breed de- fectives and SOW the seeds of disease 1 on an enormous scale.
 It is therefore part of a sound preparedness policy thoroughly to inspect and, when possible, to strengthen American Qualifications against the disease enemy" This is now being done
 We have four Hines of defense'' against disease: CD The maritime and overland quarantine CD the i'm, migration inspection system (3) state health authorities, (4) local health | authorities. The two former are ad- ministered by the public health ser ; vice, under the secretary of the treas ury. The. public health service is always in close cooperation with the two latter.
 The first line of defense or the quarantine, involves the infinite pre- cautions and gauntlet of inspections to prevent the quarantinable diseases from getting a foothold in the United States. These diseases are plague, cholera, yellow fever, typhus, small pox and leprosy. The second line pro- vides for complete physical examina tion of every immigrant, and thus weed out all immigrants who are legally classed as physical or mental undesirables. The third and fourth lines are depended on for emergency service if, notwithstanding the efforts of the first and second lines, the dis ease' enemy effects landing in America
 Two Successful Fights. In California and more recently in New Orleans, plague-infected rats got ashore and the fleas upon them com municated plague to human beings. 1 In both these cases the state and local health auth critics called on the public health service to conduct the fight to | prevent spread of the disease. In 1 both instances, the federal disease 1 fighters were successful. UndOubted ] ly the country owes the suppression of i threatened epidemics of this most fla tai of pestilences to the governments l corps of health defenders. '.'.
 This service has been much expand ed under President Wilson and in l cludes manifold duties of the highest ] importance. It affords citizens of the l United States a guarantee against in vasion of American territory by the | unfortunates who are crippled in mind or afflicted with communicable dis ease as the result of the war. 1 Reaches the People. Wide dissemination of health facts is of the highest general importance. The stereopticon, the movie, the tal- l ents of both writing and picture story 1 tellers, therefore, are being employed to lay these facts before the public. "The Stereopticon Loan Library" of the public health service is an inter esting illustration of one of the ad- vertising schemes maintained by the United States government for human itarian purposes solely.
 The library contains thousands of slides. showing the causes of disease
  vention and cure. Without cost, these slides are loaned to physicians, health organizations, educators, welfare workers and in fact, to any responsi- ble applicant.
 Is malaria prevalent in your neigh borhood? If so, should it not be the business of the local health authori- ties and physicians to show the entire local public the causes of malaria,- the malarial parasites, the breeding places of misunderstanding mos quitoes. the methods of extermination, including the use of oils, and how cer- tain types of fish destructive to the larvae of mosquitoes can be intro duced to good advantage?
 The public health service will pro- I vide 275 views for use in an illus trated lecture, showing all these things dramatically, by "ideagraph." Other picture-lectures are available which deal with yellow fever, typhoid fever tuberculosis, trachoma, smallpox
 plague, pe1lagra, hookworm and lep- rosy. Another set of slides show tu- berculous cows, proper and improper stabling, care and treatment of dairy herds, how milk-borne epidemics are
 caused, and how simple, inexpensive, sanitary measures are guarantees
 against the spread of disease through
 the use of polluted milk.
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