The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-07-18
CUMMINGS GLAD
CITY HAS ACTED
Surgeon General Feels Sure Peo-
pie Will Back Up Government
In Enforcing Ordinances.

written The Journal a full explana-
tion of his attitude with reference to
the rat-proofing ordinances. He is
glad the city has acted and feels
sure that the citizens will support the
city government in enforcing them.
The letter follows:
Washington. July 8, 1920.
Lois K. Mayes, President The Pensa-
cola Journal, Pensacola, Florida.
Madam: In response to your kind
invitation expressed in letter of July
End, for a statement as to the plague
situation in Pensacola, l am pleased
to take advantage of your offer at
once, all the more so for the reason
that there has just come to my at
tention a copy of the Pensacola aft
ernoon paper of June 25th, in which
is an article on my recent, visit to
Pensacola
AS representing the proceedings of
the conference between myself, Assis-
tant Surgeon General r. H. Creel, the
State Health Officer, the city author
tiles and various business men of the
community, the referred to account in
the News" was very misleading.
I I-believe it is highly desirable to
prevent any unnecessary public alarm
on occasions such as this, but on the
other hand it would be equally disas-
trous to soothe the public mind to the
extent of creating total arathy. There
was no stenographic report made of
the meeting, but l am quite confident
tina 1.-THE seriousness of the situation
in Pensacola was not deprecated to
the extent indicated in the "News"
article. 1t was stated that while the
task of eradication of plague in Pen
sacola was a serious one and merited
the hearty cooperation of every citi-
zen with the Public Health Service
and state and local health organiza-
tions, there were certain conditions in
Pensacola that would make the task
of eradication considerably easier
than in other places where plague had
appeared. In Pensacola, practically
all the residences are we'll elevated,
and to this extent the citizens would
be relieved of very considerable ex-
pense in the way of rat proofing
dwellings,.
From a casual survey 1 believe that
the rat proofing expense would chief
ly fall on those owners of food de-
pots and upon business interests who
could best afford the expenditure.
be no interstate quarantine and there
was no danger of such action, l may
say that it was clearly pointed out
at the conference that the eradication
of plague from Pensacola had a two
fold purpose, first, for the protection
of the citizens of Pensacola and, Sec
ond, as means of preventing it's
spread to other cities of Florida and
to adjoining states. The first OBJ
ject was properly one that should be
of serious concern to the city authori-
ties, and as the second, the Public
Health Service and the state health
authorities would be able to enforce
appropriate measures if it became
necessary, but that as the best means
of preventing it's spread was in the
eradication of infection, both the ma
tional government and the state would
infinitely prefer to assist the city in
stamping out the disease.
To do this the city authorities must
render the proper cooperation. It is
not justifiable that either the nation
al government or the state should ex-
pend funds for sanitary campaign in
Pensacola, except in an efficient way
and with some promise of effective
ness.
The experience of San1tarianS
through the world in combating
plague has made it perfectly evident
that a successful fight to exterminate
rats must be accompanied by struc-
tural changes of those buildings that
provide harborage and subsistence
for the rodent population. My chief
reason for visiting Pensacola was to
urge upon the authorities the impera-
tive necessity for passing and enforc-
ing a reasonable rat proofing ordi-
nance. consider this feature of the
campaign to be an indispensable one.
Although there has been a prolonged
delay I still feel that a sense of civic
responsibility in Pensacola will i'm
pei the authorities to take appropri-
ate measures for the enactment of the
necessary legislation. To be sure,
there will be some expense and no
small inconvenience to some of the
citizens, but those affected will be a
comparatively small percentage of
the population and will be the own
ers who are best able to bear the
hardship.
/ cannot believe the selfish interest
y.