Milford chronicle., 1924-07-18
DELAWARE TOWNS
SUPPLIED WITH DIRTY
MILK TESTS SHOW
Continued from first page)

OluS IN lulS test. Al l15WeS put 5O
per cent and at RehObOth but 81 per
cent of the dealers are serving un-
clean milk. Milford is next with IS
per cent, Laurel next with Sc per
cent, then Harrington with 40 and
SeafOrd with 81 per cent
The towns where the laboratory
tests show that 100 per cent of the
milk offered for sale is dirty are
Delmar, Greenwood, Bridgeville,
Georgetown, MillsbOrO. FrankfOrd,
Milton. These figures to the medical
man speak for themselves and are
his alibi in cases where diseases at
tack citizen and the physicians ef-
forts prove unavailing.
Milford Worst Offender
In the bacteria tests Milford is ap-
parently the worst offender. The reg
ulatiOns for the state are that milk
shall not show bacteria OF more
than 100000 and according to the
laboratory tests Sc per cent of the
milk sold in that town is above 10O,-
900 bacteria. Bridgeville, however, is |
a close second with 85 per cent, !
Seaford third with n per cent, Har-
rington fourth with 70 per cent, Re !
hobOth fifth with 43 per cent, George
town and Lewes sixth with SO per |
cent each, Delmar seventh with 27 |
per cent and Milton eighth, with 25 |
per cent. There are four towns, !
where as far as bacteria counts go, |
the milk tested shows less than 100,- |
900 bacteria. These are Laurel,
Greenwood, MillsborO and Frank
ford.
According to R. C. Beckett, the
sanitary engineer of the State
Health and Welfare Commission who
is assisting in the taking of the milk
tests, the chief menace lies in the
fact that the milk producers make
no attempt to cool their milk to
proper standards. Since the agita-
tion this spring for milk coolers was
begun there are some farmers who
have bought milk coolers, but these
are few. Milk comes from the COW at
a temperature of about 85 degrees,
and if not properly cooled, the bac-
terra which is found in all milk null
tiples by the millions-in warm milk.
The cooling process checks this
growth and makes the milk fit to
drink.
During the late winter and spring
the State Health and Welfare Com
mission made two visits through its
inspectors to all milk producers, of
any size in the state. On the first
trip many unclean barns and sta ]
bles were found and the owners {
promised to clean up. The second :
visit showed that the owners had {
cleaned up the premises and appar-
emily with proper personal cleanli- {
nessy the milk ought to be much pur- /
er, but test made by the laboratory
the past month, in which the anaIys- I
is shows whether the man or wo- I
man milked with clean hands or {
whether the COW was properly clean 8
ed before the milking operation, has g
developed some surprising and 6
startling facts. ..... 2
Where the Dirt Comes From P
In this connection it is stated nv i,
the health authorities of the state. 8
that even though the barn may be c
clean, if the filth of the stable is al ]
lowed to remain on the COW or if the
hands of the man or woman doing o
the milking are not clean, some of O
this dirt is bound to get into the S
milk. And that, according to the
laboratory tests is shown in the G.
tests made in the past three weeks. O
The third test showing a fatal con- I
tamination is pitiful confession. v
But three towns appear to have 4
clean bill of health in this respect. q
They are MillsbOro Frankford and D
Milton. All of the others have an z.
unfortunate record. The percentage I.
of dealers whose milk shows this q!
disgusting contamination are Laur-
el, p per cent; Delmar, 55; Bridge d
vile, 55; Seaford, II; Greenwood, W
25; Georgetown, 80; Lewes, Sc; Re
hoboth, II; Milford, "a, and Har- 81
ringtOn, IA. N
Because this menace could be o;
from the milk by the q
hands of the mixer being clean and K
the COW also clean, makes it all the Al
more deplorabIe, according to pub e,
lie health standards. IN
Fortunately five towns and cities
Of the Is tested, show good records ii,
In the bacteria tests, when the en- sn
tire town or city, comprising all the
1ealers are tabulated To be within y;
health standards the bacteria must IA
lot be above 100000 and consequent 4O
y when a percentage is taken the in
clean and unclean are added and di-
7ided by the number of dealers to
get the average. This final count
shows that Laurel with 10000,
with $1,000, NIillsboro
With $1,000, Frankford with 21,000
md Frankford with $4,000, all come po
within health standards as far as HI
,acteria goes. But other towns show
positive menace in the milk serv- De
d, according to the state health au- Fe
hosities.
Seaford heads the list with 2,200,- sp'
90 bacteria, Harrington is next pa
nth 1O85,000; Milford shows 955,-
90, Rehoboth 35S,000, Lewes 2O6,- he
80, Delmar 152,OOO Bridgeville 209,- Pa
DO, Georgetown, $4,000.
With proper cooling facilities sol
luch of this bacteria count could be Mo
-iped out and the milk retained a
fit to drink, it is stated. hol
In all of the tests the dairymen sp6
ave co-operated with the labora- ant
Try as far as furnishing milk was
If the farmer wanted to
e might see the test made. When joh
le milk is filtered through paper
)tton filters. there can be no dis
uting how much dirt was contained
/ the bottle, no matter how white
nd clean and pure the milk seemed