The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-25
AND LIVES DEPEND ON PURITY
 OE MILK SUPPLIES,
 SAYS DR. HARRIS
Vigorous Defense Made of Dairy Ordinance-Warns Dairymen and Lawyers to Give Up "Their
 UnhoIy Fight

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 and lives of Birmingham chil-
 dren are being threatened by
 an organized attack against
 the milk ordinance recently
 enacted at the suggestion of
 Dr. Bowling, city health off
 cer, Dr. Scale Harris, promi-
 nent stomach specialist, comes
 forward with a vigorous de-
 fense of the health department
 and of the 60,000 minimum
 bacteria requirement contained
 in the ordinance.
 i pr. Harris calls attention to the typhoid epidemic of 1916, which he states was due to dirty milk frozen into ice cream. He declares that hundreds ot children die here every summer from diarrohea and dysentery caused by drinking milk from l improperly conducted dairies.
 He warns the dairymen and their law yers to give up their unholy fight against the ordinance, stating that it will surely be enforced on February 1 without com promise He submits to the men and women of Birmingham that their "homes are threatened by enemies as real as the Germans" He appeals to the city com mission not to compromise with dirt, disease and death.'' His statement fol- lows:
 On Tuesday the City Commission will act on a matter of great importance for the welfare of this community when it disposes of the question $ to whether or not the citizens of Birmingham, in- cluding tens of thousands of helpless babies and children. will have clean milk said Dr. Harris. This is a vital question in which every man. woman and child in Birmingham is interested, because milk is an essential article of food Mix in some form, or one of it's products, is ab- solutely necessary to the life of babies. If they are unfortunately deprived of nourishment from their mother, modified cows milk, or some of the milk products, is the only substitute.
 HEALTH DEMANDS MILK
 Milk should be the most important ar- tie1e of diet in children and in young adult life. As we growrolder we need less milk. but recent investigations of Mac Callum at Johns Hopkins sem to prove that butter fat is necessary part of the diet of human beings of all ages. Persons who do not talk milk. or some of it's derivities. are not properly nourished and they fall easy victims to tuberculosis, pellagra and other diseases in which mal- nutrition is an important predisnosing cause. Therefore, if the people of Bir- mingham would enjoy health, and if they would be efficient in their daily work. they must have adequate supply of clean milk.
 While milk is the most important ar tcle of diet when it is improperlv han dled it becomes one of the most danger ous poisons Surely the peonle of Bir- mineham have not forgotten the summer of 1916, when an epidemic of more than 1000 cases of typhoid paralized business and caused the death of many of the fin- est of Birmingham citizens. That epi- demic was due to dirty milk frozen into ice cream.
 Every summer in Birmingham there are thousands of babies, particularly when cows milk begins to be substi- tuted for that from the mother, who have diarrohea and dysenterv and many die. because they take impure milk. If it were possible to get milk fresh from the COW or dairy milk that is properly han died or pasteurized, the second summer of childhood would lose most of it's ter TOTS, ana fnUTe DctbitS Wouiu SEoW tO uSt~ ful adult life. Tn New York and in many other cities the infant mortality has been cut in half by the adoption and enforce ment of milk laws that Dr. Bowling and the city board of health have asked for Birmingham.
 tThe city commissioners of Birmingham should receive the thanks of every good citizen of Birmingham for adopting the molk ordinances that are already in ef- fao s,. nd xxyhi will in q few years be. enforced in every town and city in the country. because the American Public Health Association the American Milk Commission and other ex perts who have studied. the question, say that milk that contains more than 6o,Wo bacteria to each cubic centimetre (about fourth of teaspoonfuD may be dan gerous This would amount to 2,60c ,oOe germs to the goblet of milk
 s1t surely seems liberal allowance of germs to drink at one meal The dairy men want to be allowed to sell as many al 100 O00 germs her cuhic centermetre or s0000 to the teaspoonfui. or 2r000(0a to the average goblet full. The human adult stomach can destroy or take care of most of these germs. unless they happen to be typhoid or tubercle bacilli. or some other disease producing organism, but the babv's stomach is not so we'll fortified. Children. therefore, need to be protected from some dairymen who would sell germs by the billions, if there were not health authorities to stop them.
 It should be said to the credit of number of dairymen that they are sell ing pure milk. and some of them are CO., operating with the health authorities to supply Birmingham with clean, whole some milk It is unfortunately true, however that there are many who want
 tContinued on Page Thirteen)