Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1920-10-22
HEALTH MATTERS
ARE DISCUSSED
State Board of Health Secretary
at Woman's Club
Present District Plan Much More Eff
cient Than Former Plan Of Town
Health Officers.

Present District Plan Much More Eff.
cient Than Former Plan Of Town
Health Officers.
Public health problems as they have
been met, as the state health department
is trying to meet them, and those which
have not been met were brought before
about 100 members of the Brattleboro
Woman's club by DIR. c. +. Dalton Of
Burlington, secretary of the state board
of health. in a meeting in the Unitarian
parish house Wednesday afternoon.
Previous to the talk by DIR. Dalton
the club held a brief business session in
which Mrs. II. l.. Waterman spoke of
the coming of Tony Sarg's Marionettes,
which she saw in Nantucket this summer
and which she commended in high terms
and Mrs. Walter j. Bigelow spoke of
the program for the next meeting, Nov.
3, when The Florist Shop will be pre-
scented by the dramatic club of the
Springfield, Mass, Womans club.
\ group of songs was then rendered
by Miss Astrid Ericsson, who possesses
a soprano voice of rich quality and
clear sweet tone and who was received
enthusiastically. She was accompanied
at the piano by Miss Izetta NJ. Stewart
| Mrs. G. l.. Stickney, president of the
club, then introduced DR.. Dalton, who
complimented the Brattleboro club by
saying this was the largest audience to
WHDUt lie Uuu SPOKEN ut IL W oman y CluD
meeting in Vermont.
! lie spoke of the beginning of the state
board of health, referring to the fight
made for il by the late DR.. Henry ID.
lIolton of Brattleboro, who finally got a
bill for its establishment through the
Legislature in the session of 1886 after
it had been introduced in every session
beginning in 1872. He said it was among
the early boards of the country, and that
the plan that there should be a health
officer in every town of the state had
been carried out until July, 1919 when
the new law providing for 10 sanitary
districts went into effect. At that time,
DR.. Dalton said, doctors held the Office
of health officer in only 81 towns Of the
state. The idea of the new law, he
said. was to take the public health
problems out of politics in Vermont, the
sanitary districts being presided over by
health officers who are trained men and
who will give their whole time, doing
no general practicing. Ht.
I Vermont, said the speaker, was the
first state in the country to have any
thing of the kind, although some of the
Estates had been organizing what were
called county health departments. Yer
mont was first, too, to have state lab
) oratOry.
!, He declared that there was some OPP
, position to the district plan because
some of the local health officers had been
put out of job. The present system,
however, i much more efficient and con-
ducive to the health of the people.
Secretary Dalton spoke of the differ
ent departments of the state board of
health and went into the work Of each
in some detail. In speaking of the work
of the tuberculosis department it was
brought out that every town in the state
had been visited with moving pictures
and a lecture on tuberculosis that much
literature had been distributed that
there had been 10000 children in the
state doing the chores called for by the
Modern Health Crusaders. Explanation
was made of the preventOrium and the
way in which it works for children.
In speaking of the work of the de-
partment of venereal diseases DIR. Dali
ton declared that the work was very
important and that people are realizing
the diseases to be a much greater men
ace to the homes than smallpox or tuber-
culosis and that therefore it was called
the great black plague. Disease sta
tons he said, had been started in some
parts of the state. and he hoped one
would be started in Brattleboro.
Research work of polomyelitis origi.
mated in Vermont. with New York, Mas
lowing. remarked the secretary. who
added that letter recently had been re-
ceived from Maine inquiring about what
is called the Vermont plan" In the
past year only five cases were known in
the state, but from the natural course
OF events more are expected next year,
although every precautionary measure
known will be used. An interesting fact
to the audience was the announcement
that the state had been able to secure
a complete wing in one of the Boston
hospitals. where from 80 to 80 Vermont
children. who have had the disease and
who have been left crippled in some way,
4 Ofa1
the winter.
Since the work of the public health
department has been carried on so vigil
, !antly people of the state are living
seven years longer than they did 20
wears ago, according to the statistics.
only about half last year of what it was
in 1909. The tuberculosis death rate.
too, is diminishing. there having been
only II deaths in the state last year
Vermont holds second place in the
United states with respect to the low
death rate from typhoid fever. Vermont
| has the lowest diphtheria death rate of
New England and third in the country:
lowest in tuberculosis in New England
and third in the country; lowest in in.
/ FAINT mortality in New England.
There are still black places. however.
declared DIR. Dalton. Measles, whoop-
ing cough and scarlet fever work is not
going as we'll. The health department
does not vet know how TO control these
diseases. Cancer. said the speaker. is
not a Dreventablc disease as such. In
1916 Vermont had the highest death
rate from cancer of any Fstatp In The
country although in 1917 Massachusetts
surpassed Vermont Pneumonia also il
one of the big problems. certain tynes
OF the disease being very contagious, and
segregation of pneumonia eases was adj
vOCHted. ""-
Secretary Dalton spoke of the co-op-
Grafton. in the state. If the different
aseIlceS WIN the board of health, which
best results. '"o