Evening journal., 1916-01-28
CITY death RATE
LAST YEAR WAS 14.5l
Board of Health Annual Re-
port Says This is Excel
rs lent Showing
HOUSING LAW
IS RECOMMENDED

500 copies printed.
The report deals generally with the I
functions of the health department,
and a recommendation is that a sur
vey be made of all properties in the
city with a view of correcting the
defects Of houses not connected with
sewers following the survey, that
Council pass an ordinance which
would compel the sewering of all
properties within one year from the
passage of the ordinance. During its
four years tenure of Office the depart
ment connected 2.31O houses and made
j 800 extensions to plumbing in old
houses.
= The report also asserts that the
streets of the city have been dis
grace particularly during the latter
months of 1915, and if the Street and
Sewer Department does not have
enough funds to clean them properly,
. council should see that they receive
4 more money
The overcrowding of houses is treated,
4 and it is declared that it will he neces-
sary for the department to draft hous-
ing laws and request Council to adopt
rbem The advisabilty of pure food leg
islation is emphasized, and it is again
1 recommended that the vaccine physi-
,ciaus come uncer the supervision of the
department II Is declared that 1T is
Impossible to get the police department
TO enforce the ordinance governing the
,spitting on sidewalks.
Under the head nf contagious dis
eases. statistics are given showing that
there were G6 cases oi scarlet fever
against - for 1914, with two deaths. as
compared with one for 1914; eighty
-rases OF diphtheria as compared with
81 for 1914 with - deaths. compared
with II for 1914; III cases of measles,
,swith death tmeasles were not report
able during l9l4; lO5 cases of whoop-
ng cough mot reportahe in l9lNi one
.ase of smallpox, first in four years.
There were l95 cases of typhoid fever,
Of which - cases were not residents.
Dcducting these cases the report shows
there were lao cases credited TO Viii
mington, less than for l9l4
The report calls attention to the ty-
Uphold scare. but saws that at no time
did the department feel alarmed. L.
further points out that a remarkable
-sfcaturc Of the past year vas that fifty
children under the age of l6 were vic
'tms.
The report shows that much prog
ress was made during the past year
in the way Of establishing a city lab
oratory. the board buying equipment
from time TO time from its apprOpri-
alton A tribute to the services Of Dr..
Meyers city physician. and the re-
port deals with the matter Of mu-
nicipal hospital.
During 1915 there were 2742 living
births in Wilmington. with total Of
e21 deaths as compared with 256 for
1914 and 2S9 for 1913. which is con-
sidered a good showing. The decrease
,-h deaths during the first year the
board feels was due to the department
taking over the milk supply
School Inspection.
Under the caption of Medical In
spectiOn of Schools the report says
in part
The medical inspection Of the school
..hildren Of Wilmington seems to be
as remote as ever. There seems TO
be no concerted effort on the part
sbf the citizens to promote this most
essential work. The value of medi-
,al inspection of schools has met
avOr wherever il has received fair
rial. The majority of cities OF this
country have adopted il. In this way
many children have received medical
md surgical attention. who otherwise
might still be suffering in body and
retarded in their progress through
he schools. Medical supervision Of
his kind facilitates the advancement
)f pupils from grade to grade and
.educes the number of repeaters in
.jur schools. thus lowering the per
,apta cost OF instructions. 1t raises
he general average of efficiency, both
or pupil and teacher, and il is q
Measure of the wisest economy
Considerable space Is devoted TO tell
ring of the action taken to improve th'
sanitary conditions of the schools, viii
which the public is familiar. The actor
aSn with respect TO milk supplies u
,lso reported. and Milk Inspector Emi
Ulrich is praised for his ability and zeal
Vital statistics show that there wer'
25l3 births in the city compared will
$500 for 1914. The birthrate based OF
an estimated population of 100000. d
2Gl3 of all births reported and 24.I2 o
those born alive. There were llSO mar
iiages during the year. compared witt
1883 for 1914. The number of death
was l527, and of this number !6 wer
,ion-residents. Dcducting the non-resi
dents. the report shows there wer
1851 deaths, giving death rate o
si.5l per thousand, which is considere
am excellent showing.
Cause of Death.
Concerning the common causes O
< lcath, the report states:
"a striking example of this in on
W own city, is the reduction of deaths o
.mfants and children under ten years O
age. This was brought about by a stud
/. 1f our vital statistics for l9l3-l4, whic
showed that the deaths for these year
|< we're entirely too numerous and tina
1< something must be done TO check then
< The board rot busy and adopted a com
;4 0ulsory method for reporting contagiou
|5S diseases, and also, through its city ply
F ,ician and executive officers. means q
quarantine regulations. The nest ste
vas TO control the milk supply. whic
Nas accomplished. Another step was {
ducate the mothers in the care q
labies All OF these means have cel
ainly had their good effects di rim
9l5."
The reporting of the cases of tuhel
llosis is urged, and the report show
hat the disease is in the increase. q
ather there are more deaths. as thcI
b we're li0 deaths from pulmonary tubei
ulosis last wear, which does not includ
'z< hose Of residents who died at Ilop
t{ Farm.
The report adds: 1--WE will never 2,