The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-04-27

OF mere passing s.inwestigaxion'' has
been carefully avoided This u not q
campaign. Il = intsndsd to be definite,
couoaso arTangement Of fundamental
facts From these the proper conclusions
may BE- drawn. Permanent remedial &C.
tion II the final need. The following part
Of this Communication win b devoted
mostly to ID Copditions - they exist.
CD What has been done to remedy the
undesirable ones % far. (3) What should
be done In the Immediate future.
I. Conditions A. They Exist.
This 10 intended ~ constructive and
not destructive criticism. AZ var1ous
times II has been apparent that this city
the way they handled matters pertainins
to health.
(a) Infectious diseases were not report.
ed to hardly any extent by the majority
OF physicians. There was q great laxness
in this important aspect.
(b) No provision was made for inspoc-
ton Of schools.
(c) No follow-up work was done by
doctor or nurse to attempt to check
contagious diseases.
(d) Sanitation as applied to disposal OF
human wastes was largely neglected. as
was evidenced by the existence Of nearly
5000 foul. open, surface prfvies within
the city limits, In the areas not reached
by sewers.
(e) Shallow wells and driven pump,
abound to numbers Of 400 or 500. and
many of them are SO situated that pol
luton and infection Of the water is prac.
tically q foregone conclusion.
(f) Restaurants. soda fountains, confec.
tioneries, markets and stands where food
Is handled were not up to a proper stand
ard in regard to protection Of foodstuffs
or general cleanliness and arrangements
This was evidenced by low scores which
were made on a very thorough basis
Cd The milk and dairy question wa.
not on any definite or satisfactory basis
No efficient watch was kept on sanitary
More conscientious dairy men had nc
encouragement. tuberculosis OF cattle
which can be transmitted to human be-
ings abounded. Evidence Of this Is ms de
by the fact that the qualified veterinarian
OF the u. s. department Of agriculture
Is finding herd after herd In this vicinity
where 40 to SO per cent of the cows
test out as tuberculous- II there were
no other Objectionable features this
should be cause for serious alarm.
(h) The question Of drainage. which to
the health authoritieD means prevention
fever Is theone greatest danger. We.
places breed mosquitoes and one species
of this insect carries malaria. No mos
Quitoes, no malaria.
Your health department as organized
consisted OF one part-time health officer,
0AiA SAA SANITARY patIOAitSH uiUcI lHe
commissioner of health. The health Of
ficer was too busy to give much Of his
time to public matters. The four field
inspectors. each Of whom had a certain
section of town. had very little central d.
rection. No matter how conscientious
they might be they could not advantage
ously go 1t alone and get many results.
They could keep down gross nuisances
and answer complaints, and that Is abo:lt
ALL
The patrolmen acting milk inspector
and market inspector. respectively, were
not getting desired results as to santa
ton Of the food products under their
supervision. Therefore the many useful
functions of a department for health of
the community were being inadequately
handled or left out of consideration al
together There were ample laws on
the statutes in regard to all these ques-
tions. Where these did not quite cover