The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1919-02-07
HEALTH TALKS.
BY the County Health Officer

the greatest problems of sanitation
This problem is of especial difficult,
where there is no sewerage system
and few words about the construc
ton of closet probably will not bt
amiss. The closet should not be or
the ground that Is higher than the
house. we'll or yard. If germs are
to be kept from spreading, it is ab-
sOlutely necessary that the closet be
tightly closed in with the openings
in the seat covered to keep but flies
The closet should not be too far from
the house (150 feet is a good dis
tance), or there Is danger that it
will not be used, and closet should
not be near a well. Lime should be
freely used in the closet, and if this
is not to be had, wood ashes will be
found Just as good, for the lye in
the ashes helps to kill the germs and
prevents the breeding of flies. If
we will either pause and think or
perhaps learn that typhoid fever,
dysentery. cholera, infantum, hook
worm disease, the various other
forms of Intestinal disease or infes-
tation are mainly due to the fact
that human waste is, in the country
and outside the water and sewerage
district of the towns, left on the
ground where thousands of the little
winged messengers of death, com
monty known as the house fly, cover
the waste and then they fly direct
to kitchen and dining room and
cOntaminate the food with germs
and eggs of intestinal worms and
disease. Scores upon scores of lit
tie new made graves in the ceme-
teries at Aberdeen. Amory, Nettle-
ton. Hamilton, Wren. Smithville,
Hatley and the many, many ceme-
teries of the county will tell, all
silently, an eloquent yet sad story
of the little lives thrown away be-
fore life had hardly begun. And yet |
some people don't understand why |
we want fly proof closets to keep |
flies from coming in contact with |
human wastes and go back to the |
70 IL ii
consumption, typhoid fever, bowel |
complaints by the dozen with so
many unnecessary deaths every year.
One or two (thank God only "A very
few landlords say their tenants
would not use closet because they
had meyer used one. There would
be just as much sense In saying they
would never consent to eat square
meal because they had never had
one, or that a man would never be
sick because he had never been sick.
The landlord is.supposed to furnish
the small amount of material re-
quired, the tenant to haul it and
dig the pit for the closet then my
carpenters come along and build the
closet.
The Mississippi State Board of
Health feeling that the towns could
have water and sewerage and dis
pose of these wastes in a sutisfac-
tory manner and already having
passed a regulation that no open
sloset would be tolerated within the
limits of a town, decided
that something must be done for the
too. Country people have
been content with poor schools. I
poor churches. poor roads and poor
or often no sanitary conveniences :
all these years. Country people {
sacrifice the savings of a life time
to move to some little town to school
their children when this should be I
done at home in the country and :
would be done but for the fact that
we country folks seem to think that {
all progressive and good things be-
long to the town and not the coun- |
try. The welfare of the State and ]
your welfare demands that we have l
an educated citizenship. For chill !
lren to be educated they of neces- t
sity must be regular in their attend '
ince at school and good one at v
hat. c
The State compels us to pay taxes |
% support public schools, and if
necessary. the Slate should by law, 4
us to send our children to @
school and educate them. AS stated 4
,y Clarence Poe recently the talk t
lbout the rights of the parent" is a
lbsurd. | have no right to cripple 8
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