Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-03-18
PRAISES WORK Of
BOARD OF HEALTH
DIR. Grace Sherwood of st. AL
bans Tells Members of Athena
Club Something of What Is
Being Done to Prevent and
Cure Disease

Before members of the Athena club
! Friday evening Or. Grace Sherwood of st
Adams paid a fine tribute to the State
Board of Health. telling of it's usefulness
to the State and of the work it Is doing.
THE clubs of this state" said Dr. Sher-
wood, have always had q warm place
in my heart for they have always helped
me whenever have asked them and the
least can do In return is to bring here
something worth while as message There
are many things that have occurred these
past few months to bring keenly to my
mind the wonderful growth Of the pub
lie health work of this country. Advance
ing years bring compensations and one
is the ability to reminisce. Tonight ]
am going TO rcminsce to bring before you
briefly the growth. the power an. the
problem of public health work especially
AZ 1t relates to our own State. Vermont.
Since returning from California in
February | have done so much slamming
of the weather and climate of this poor
old state that l will take this opportunity
to tell publicly of some of the good things
here and this will be a kind of a talk of
appreciation of Vermont. Vermont has
fine organizations and ] don't know of
any State with as little money as YER
mont that is doing the work Vermont is
DOING
DR.. Sherwood gave n brief history of
the public health service telling how
the women physicians worked and how
Or. Rosalie S. Morton put their plans on
a working basis. Then, after three years
of success, they were made part of the
American Medical association and all that
association did was to vote to always
have woman on tho board and their
work ceased. That work however. has
han trly h1,n
| Or. Sherwood then outlined the growth
of the present state Board Of Health, tell
: ing how a change was made from the
system by which there was a health Of
{ fcer in every town in the State, all with
different ideas and some not very inter
| ested in their work, to the present spe-
cially trained officers. one in each county,
each one interested and having that for
| his only work
! "The growth of the State Board of
! Health" she said, includes the story Of
| the advances in medicine and story of
/ the bacteria which are important
causes for the large per cent Of ailments
and present DAY conditions"
| DR. Sherwood gave resume of the
bacteria commonly known. including
! those which cause children's diseases,
such az whooping cough, measles. scar
]
| the more virulent ones, such diph-
| liberia, smallpox. erysipelaS, typhoid
| fever, tuberculosis. influenza and pneu-
| monia and the venereal diseases local
/ and systematic. She told something of
| the symptoms of these diseases, of the
use of the anti-toXin and vaccine. I'm all
| of these diseases" she said, the board
of health gives a free examinatio for
the germs and reports within "a hours
| This is a great help in combating the
disease
| Two of the germs not identified with
| any one disease but which complicate
many of the other ones" she said, ARE
streptococci and staphlococci. They are
bad company for any of the other germs
and they what make influenza and
| pneumonia so dangerous. In themselves
they are pus-forring germs, causing
blood poisoning and septic throat. The
former germ is much more dangerous
than the latter and no medicine has been
discovered that will cure either The only
way to combat them it to build up the
| strength of the patient 80 he can fight
them off"
| Dir. Sherwood also spoke of the special
department of the health board, tubercu-
losis. She told something of the history
OF the fight against the disease and OF
the sanatorium at Pftsford for durable
cases and the preventorium at Essex
| This department. which already has done
so much, plans for places for incurables
for II central committee with an expert
| consuter. for public health nurses 70
watch people who might get the disease
| to establish public health stations ant
tuberculosis hospitals.
She also spoke OF the children's bureau
| which grew out of the startling things
learned al the beginning of the war with
regard to the health of the youth of the
country She outlined the plan for work
for the chdrens crusade and told of som,
OF the things the women of Pasadena
Caf.. are doing for the children there
Every organization" said DR.. Sher
wood, has its department of public
health. All appear like spokes in a great
wheel, all tending to a center the hui
of which is the children of this and futur.
generations AZ the wheel grows larger
it goes around and also forward towards
progress"
The meeting was in charge OF the de
pa1tment of civics and health and DR.
Sherwood was introduced by Miss Mabe
Brownell. After the meeting punch anc
cookies were served.