New Britain herald., 1919-12-30
HEALTH DEPT. WOULD
 ENFORCE DRY ED|CT
Points to Recent Deaths as
 Argument in Favor


 Bureau of PreVcntable Diseases.
 It was a striking instance of the irony of fate that the wood alcohol tragedies of last week began to oc- cur within twentv-four hours after the newspapers published the warning IS sued by the state department ot health In Hartford, where most ol the Connecticut deaths took place, the daily papers of last Tuesday gave the bulletin prominent display. two of the papers using double column head lines. As is customary in the pub lcity work of the health department, the article dealing with the poisonous effects of wood alcohol was also sent to every foreign language newspaper printed :n the state.
 The disaster should not be attribut- ed, however, to general ignorance of the dangers involved in the Consump- ton of wood alcohol as a beverage. For many years the newspapers have been reporting cases where death re- suited from it's use, so it may be ac- cepted as a fact that the peril is a matter of common knowledge. The victims probab knew the effects of the poiscn, but they did not know it was contained in the drink they bought for whisSey.
 Enforcement Is Necessary.
 The one thing which this great ca lanlity emphasizes is the absolute ne- cessity for rigid enforcement of the prohibition law. Before the matter had been adjudicated by the supreme court of the United States, there ap- peared to be sufficient doubt as to the constitutionality of the law to jus tify a certain leniency in dealing with law w-breakers; but the recent ruling of the supreme court has removed that doubt.
 At a time when We arc making great efforts to Americanize the for cgn- born element of our population, the open and fragrant violation of the law cannot but have an evil effect on respect for authority. Aside from the l moral aspect of the matter, it is evi- dent that the stock of liquor avail able for bootlesging is about depleted, From now on it may be expected that the stuff sold illegally must consist of the rankest grades of whiskey, and though the results may not come as quickly as in the case of wood all colIol, they will be quite as deadly in the long run.
 .... Waterbury SIs,aIlpoN Cases. l.. In the outbreak of smallpox which occurred in Waterbury last week the three cases reported were in people who had never been Naccinated. There were also two cases of Varioloid. The source of infection was traced to a mild, unrccognized case which oc- cured in a child two weeks before the present outbreak. The state and local health officials feel no particu- lar alarm over the situation. as Water bury is considered well protected as a result of the general vaccination treatment given at the time of the epidemic which occurred there a few years ago. There arc very few unvac- cinated children in the schools, and a number of the factories make vac cination d requisite to securing en- ployment The present cases have been placed under close quarantine.
 AIisdircctcd Letters.
 Last week special delivery letter ordering diphtheria anti toxin was delayed 36 hours because it was ad- dressed Board of Health, Hartford, :" instead of to the State Departmen of Health. Tn spite of the fact that the state board of health was abol- ished more than two years ago, many officers still use the title of the old health organization when referring to the State Department of Health.