Norwich bulletin., 1919-08-19
HOLT DEFENDS FARMERs
 AeAfNa4 AccUoAT1CN

AGAfHo4 ACCUSATION
 When Dairy and Food Commissioner Holt opened his Hartford morning very w fa iarse m display type the announce ar aaa e.
 nent, "ffeavy Mortality Among Con- nectfcut Children Due to Uncooled Milk and immediately underneath. slse in dispsy sygs sa,e the foliemng gsapg |of ffeslthgto take drastic action unless farn1ers improve conditions. Deaths in New Haven Reach Alarming pro- portions. Farmers. fail to keep milk largest in years. This was. indeed. news that was important if true" and if was also news that concerned him more than anybody else in Connecti- the people of Connecticut. and. fur nis1fed with an ample corps of in fectors and agents to prevent such things from being true, but also be- |cause the article beneath this head ing started out by saying that the HComnissioner himself was authority for the statement that the farmers had paid but little attention to the notices he had sent out to them early in the Spring warning them to the par ticularly careful about their milk. be- cause of the scarcity of milk.
 As he had made no such sweeping accusation of the farmers, and would be the last man in Connecticut to. make such an absurd statement. be -s fn4 a farmer himself, he naturally de- sired to know what there was back Of the reports of ~ excessive infant mortality in the state. By the aid of the telephone he obtained within an hour the following reports from the chief medical authorities in the seven principal cities of Connecticut:
 Hartford--Baby hospital has only Is average of previous seasons. Only five babies in the Hartford hospital and in St. Francis hospital. Not an un- usual number of cases of diarrhea anywhere in the city.
 Brfdgeport-Only four sick babies in the hospital: one caee of diarrhea.
 Waterbury-Dr Frost. health officer reports fewer sick babies in the city in a number of years.
 New London--Physician in charge of hospital says number of sick babies is very small: no diarrhea cases.
 Norwich-Hospital reports only one baby patient. Conditions as regards sickness among infant unusually
 New Br4sain-Hospital physicians reports only babies under treatment: says infantile health conditions are unusually good.
 New IIaven-HospitAl has only six sick babies and no cases of diarrhea, but New Haven Dispensary reports many cases of diarrhea among in-
 
 part five years.
 Thus it appears that outside the New Haven, Dispensary there is to be found in no large city a particle of statements relative to infantile dis ease and mortality. New Haven has more health officials to the square mile than any other place in Connecti- cut. Why. then. should the health conditions among some of the poorer
 
 of an arraiGnment of the milk pro- ducers of the whole state. the only possible effect of which can be to scare the parents of young children, and to reduce the amount of milk that is purchased from the farmers and fed to those children?
 Referring to the pains he had taken to avoid the possibility of such false Accusations of himself or other Con necttcut farmers the Commissioner saw the difficulties that must result from the failure of the natural ice supply last winter. He then called in consultation Prof. G. C. White of Director of the Extension Service, and arranged for the issue of a special bulletin, entitled, Meeting the Ice Shortage on the Farm" Tn this com munication the farmers were care fully admonished and advised in re- gard to the removal of contaminating conditions from COW stables and the prompt and thorough coooiing of milk as soon as taken from the cows, and the best available methods of cooling milk at the farm when no ice is ob- tainable. Information was given as to the construction of cooling tanks, and particularly with regard to keeping milk cool during transportation from the farm to the distributing plant.
 Over ten thousand of these bulletins e~a ~a,4f Q at random. The Dairy and Food De- pertinent, through its system of regi- stration of the milk producers and dealers of the state. is able to reach and this milk cooling bulletin was gent to every farmer who has compiled with the registration law. While the suggestions given for the cooling of farmer who received the bulletin. they have been compiled with by many, for 1t is obviously advantageous to the | milk producer to maintain the quality | absolutely impossible for many farm SITS in the outlying districts to ob- tain ice this summer. Thus the farm sr is at a disadvantase. as compared | with the city distributing plant that Or if. But while some distributing are undoubtedly using | every effort to get the milk from the 'arms to the city consumer in as cool a condition as possible, there are ,thers who have been careless. and | who have consumed too much time | luring transportation to keep down | the temperature. |
 Tn handling the milk. too. the con sumer had a share in the responsibil- ty. He should sec to it that. after | he milk is delievered it is not allowed o stand exposed to the warm air. If unable to get ice he should use great care in protecting the milk from the neat.
 Commissioner Holt says that during he past six months inspections have oeen made by the Dairy and Food of over ten thousand dairy tables, equipment and distributing plants. and particular emphasis has seen placed in every instance on the means of cooling the milk at the farm. Every assistance has been offered in leyising means to overcome the short lee of ice. A few days ago orders were issued to every inspector to make
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