Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-26

PETERSBURG, Va, Feb. 21:-
When Petersburg adopted the city
manager form of government in the
autumn OF 1920 there was curious
unanimity IN the part Of the council
and the people that the first duty of
the new government was to clean up
the city and that the public health
should be a primary consideration.
There were then 1900 houses in
the city without water or sewer con
nections. The campaign OF SANTA
ton carried on by the federal au-
thorities during the World War, for
Petersburg was an extra-cantonmept
zone of Camp Lee, three miles away,
had convinced the people that sani-
tation was necessary. The city health
officer and the city engineer had
done all that they could to improve
conditions. The new government be-
| gan to work at once and now, after
an expenditure Of nearly $400, 900.
the work of extending the water and
sewer system is nearly complete.
Only 800 houses remain without con-
nections and nearly all of these will
be reached in 1928.
While great sums of money were
required to extend these necessary
services, other accomplishments in
the same field were not accompanied
by increased expenditures. Under
the old government the garbage was
collected by the city engineer under
the supervision of the street commit
tee. The moderator was conducted
by the health officer under the SUI
peryisionS of the health committee.
The two committees did not agree,
so The garbage vas hauled to a dump
where it caught fire from time to
time and made a frightful nuisance,
and the incinerator worked only a
few hours a week to burn what was
hauled to it from private stores. The
streets were extraordinarily clean in
some sections where white wings
swept them several times a day-in
the neighborhoods of wealth-and
just as dirty downtown and in the
other sections.
Now all the garbage from all the
town is burned in the incinerator,
and the streets are swept in all parts
of the city, the paved streets every
night and in the business sections all
through the day. The streets are
markedly clean where they were be-
fore markedly dirty. The whole
street cleaning and garbage collec-
ton service has been recognized.
approximately twice as much work
is done as under the old system. The
cost is about $4,000 a year less than
IL was.
Having laid the foundations by
these improved sanitary measures
Mr.. Brownlow. the city manager, ad-
dressed himself to the Improvement
of the public health service. He took
the health department from three
little rooms upstairs in an old build
ing and put it in a building to itself,
called the health center.
All Under One Roof
There, under one roof, are center
ed the health activities of the COM
munity, public and private. The
venereal disease clinic formerly con-
Quoted by the Red Cross was taken
over by the city, and the Red Cross
opened in The health center a child
welfare station and baby clinic. A
tuberculosis clinic vas opened, after
a survey of the entire city and the
actual clinical examination OF more
than 100 persons has demonstrated
the need for the service. A bacteri-
illogical laboratory not only does the
contagious disease work and the
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city, but does diagnostic laboratory
service for private physicians for a
fee. making the laboratory practical
ly self-sustaining. The food inspec-
ton, milk inspection and sanitary
inspection services have their offices
in the same building, while the
mothers clubs, the associated chart
ties case conferences and many other
organizations interested in health
hold their meetings there.
The number of citizens coming To
the health office for definite health
service has been increased ten-fold,
a thousand per cent, in two years
The result is that both in 1921 and
1922 the city had the lowest morbid.
ity rate and the lowest mortality rate
in its history, lower in 1922 than in
1921-in other words year by year
fewer people are sick and fewer
people are dying in Petersburg.
Infant mortality shows a remark.
able decrease. In 1920 the baby
death rate both white and colored
that is, the number of babies who
die before they are one year old
compared to each thousand of babe,
born, Was ISL. In 1921 it was re.
duced to 149. In 1922, with the
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