Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1920-07-28
HEALTH WORK .
REVIEW Of YEAR
Summary Given Of Efforts
To Prevent Dis
eases
.MILK INSPE &C TION s
Department Says That Practical and
Constructive Wcrkk Has Been Ac-
Complished During tie Past Year

Summary ,of gaaeral lines of work
! carried out in our efforts 10 improve
the sanitary condition OF the City 81
Alexandria, and protect the inhaDi
sants against communicable diseases.
From its organization. this depart
ment adopted the policy Of using pub
lie educational propaganda as the most
effective means Of securing general
! cooperation from the citizens Of the
city. To that end, the health officer
| during the past fiscal year. wrote and
The Alexandria Gazette kindly publish
ad tota! of % articles upon the sub
jects Of general sanitation ard the
cause and prevention Of communicable
disease. Nose Of these articles we're a
column and half in length, and were
designed 10 be simple. practical ana
instructive Ten public addresses on
sanitation and disease prevention were
delivered during the year.
Dairy and Milk Inspection
We have considered milk inspection
work Of the utmGst Importance ana
nave devoted much time and labor to
:hc general inspection Of all daires
delivering milk within our city limits.
Every such dairy must secure per
NIT frc;n our department. and wc only
grant such permits after persona!
inspection Ct the dairy and the meth
eds of handling the milk. All COWS
must be tubercu!in tested once each
year. Barns must he kept in sanitary
;condition. The metrcds., Of washing
bottles and milk utensils. the cooling
and handling Of the milk from the
time it is taken from the cows unt3
it reaches the hands Of the customers:
must he approved BY our department.
And last but not least. we take
samples weekly from the dairy wagons
"a thcy are delivering their milk about
the city. These milk samples are
.iiea tested in our laboratory for but
tcr-fat content and bacterial count. If
any fall below our standard, we warn
the dealer. A second warning means
prosecution.
Tha. this work was greatly needed,
is amply shown by the fact that the
sanitary condition Of the many dai
res serving our city. their general
methods Of handling their milk ard
the quality Of the milk has been raised
from 80 to 30 per cent during the fis-
cal year just closed.
General Food and Meat Inspection
The Importance and value to the
public Of the constant and careful in
Spect,on cf the meat and various otncr
focdstuffs offered for sale. is mat
ter than can 10 longer be questioned
BY any intelligent person. That your
Health Department has done thia
work honestly and fearlcssly during
the past year is attested by the fac;
that we have condemned and destroy
Cd many thousands of pounds cf meat
fish and other f0odStuffs as being un-
r;t for human food. The various article
condemned and the quantities of each
v!I! he found tabuiated IN the detailed
rcpor.-.
If for no other reason. we fee! just
fled in saying the work Of the Health
Department in guarding the milk and
food supply of our city would amply
repay our citizens for its cost.
General Sanitary Inspection
Under this head cur work has been 50
varied and continuous. that il IS rather
hard to summorize It. All the res.aG-
rants and lunch rooms cf the city are
unde. almost daily inspection. Ther7
are about 300 places in Aleyandri@
where frodstuff< or drinks in one form:
or another are sold. This includes gro
ccry stores. meat ard fish markets. ice
cream and soft drink establishments,
bakeries. candy stores. etc. It will be
seen that this alone would entail a
large amount of work. and much CT it
has to be done after regular office
hours.
The conditions we Frequently. find