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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1906)
ELDING A .STATE IS Bi E ALTH pERN -SYLVAN IAS EXAMPLE A well, worth copying IN s' t?B organised work of caring for I th health nf the fllnif'l cltlsens I Is a much a State duty as I I the administration of It gwvern- I trnnt ty competent officials. It an ever present debt wweo ISTnnvera and ts of equal im portance with the maintenance of an art qcale police department as a proitt'ui'i'.-.nni put ana men lum om w ut imii against crime and criminals. The public; pox and spread this dread disease through health dailv becomes a more serious prob-ja whole community before It can be, '.em. with the continued growth of the large. checked. Several epidemics of smallpox) cities and the increased sources of con- were traced to this error In diagnosis, tnnilnatlon for the water supply upon The epidemics of measles throughout the which these cities depend. State have required a great deal of atten- hen a State, through the agency of an tlon. The popular Idea that measles Is a experienced and skilled health depirt-l trifling affection Is erroneous, for the flls men, practically eliminates typhoid and ease, together with Its sequelae, causes scarlet fever; when diphtheria has been more deaths In childhood and adolescence nearly eradicated and the waters of the than scarlet fever. The rules and regula State are being rapidly purified, there is a tlons of the new Department of Health ufu! lesson to be learned by other Stares. require that premises upon Which there 1 and the methods employed embody every a case of measles shall he placarded, the element of Interest for those engaged else-j patient Isolated, and, together with those where In protecting th people from the, exposed, excluded from school for a period ravages of disease. of twenty-one days from the date of onset, About tw0 years ago Pennsylvania oameand be readmitted to school only on th to ft full realization that Ita health laws! certificate of the physician attesting to wer meagre and Ineffective; that death I recovery and freedom from contagion, and disease were walking hand In handj The medical Inspector mnkes particular n quin ine environs or ine uJninpmwrnii, and that Ita negligence had grown so great as to excite the wonder of the coutvtry. Almost on the spur of the moment Its offi cials decided that a remedy had to be found.. Result: The Btate Legislature of lth the approval of Governor Penny packer, placed on the statute books three of the most compTehenWve health law ever devised In the United Btatea. It was becessary that some Immediate and rad ical steps be taken, for the State was year behind her sister States in this Work. STATE HEALTH ORGANISATION. The fit it Hoird of Health, twenty year tn existence, had been In efficient hand, but with only a nomlnul appropriation s-1 xery llmii'el powers. This Board w-as able to advise the doing of mnny things, but had no bower to put In operation nec e'ry health measure. The Iegislatuie of 1H0S created the Pe- rvtment of Heiltii and gave Its head nlvmrtnnt power and a I:irg appropriation! to nrotett the health of the people of Penn sv'vsnln. An act passed by the same t eslslature charges 1h Commissioner with the preservation of the purity of the waters of the Ktate, while an earlier act creates a Bureau of Vltnl Btat'st vs under the Commissioner of Health, which bureau w.ll for the first time m the h'story of the St ite collect accurate statistics of births and deaths. The act creating the Department of Health gave the Commissioner such broad powers a to create fear that unless a thoroughly urrlght and level headed man were placid In charge of the department great harm would re.iult by the use or misuse of the authority vested In h'm. These fears were quieted when Governor Pennypacher appointed Dr. Samuel O. D xon, president of the PMUidelnht Acad emy of Natural S.-lences. a man not only of worldwide scientific repute but an active man of affairs, who brought to the office great executive ability as well as the nec essary knowledge of sanitation. Health commissioner i:xon, mu a srvn t toward Important Btate health department in tne country. Commissioner Duxon, asaistea oy his chief medical Inspector, Dr. Frederic C. Johnson, ftnd a medical Inspector in each county, keeps In close tmieh with every community In the State and la able at the first signs of an outbreak of disease to put In motion the machinery for han dling the epldemle and checking Its spread. In a rural district without a board of health the Health Commissioner on learn ing Of an euthreak of typhoid fever details the county medical Inspector to visit the scene and seek to locate tne original aourc of Inrectlon. It may be the water or the milk supply. Perhaps he finds nu merous petty pollutions of the water sup ply that must be cleaned up. He urges the water company to have its Watershed pa trolled constantly and tfhe pollutions stopped. The county medical Inspector then goes to the homes where the disease Is. and without Interfering with the family physi cians he sees that the necessary precau tions are taken to avoid secondary cases. The county medical inspector may find that the source of infection Is the milk sunolv. and under Instructions from the; Commissioner of Health he may find it necessary to cut off an Infected supply and insist upon the dairies being put In sani tary condition. DIPHTHERIA AND SCARLET FEVER. Cases of scarlet lever anil diphtheria re closely watched, for at they generally occur among school children it must be mads certain that there is careful Isola tion of the patients and that the other school children In the same household are excluded from school during the period of Illness and for thirty days after recovery and disinfection of the premises, as re quired bjr law. WTien the dally reports of communicable disease come in from the physicians of ( the cases In the rural districts the records' are taken off on large sheets, and to each household In which there Is a contagious a, lease is em a circular containing rules or,rvea oy nurses enq attendants In charge of the patient. Special attention is patd in the circular to tha becr.y of . Ill, h. h.'mikln lon strides,'"' """"k of years to bring about the sanl-jto oward mfe'ctlng the largest and mostj tary disposal of sewage In all the munici- killing the perm In fecal matter and other! discharges before they leave the sick room,; setting forth simple but effective Ways of; household disinfection. Since smallpox has appeared In mild forrtii In the State It Is necessary to be on the alert for the report of chicken pok among j' adults, as such a cane may be pronounced note of the occupation of the wage earner In every household where there Is a con tagious disease. He may be milkman. I for Instance, who htmaelf through lack of proper precautions ts Infecting the milk which ha la aupplylng to hundreds of people. Mild cases of smallpox, diphtheria or scarlet fever occasionally break- quaran tine. In such rases the Patients must he located with all possible haste, quaran tined and placed under guard if necessary. The railroad company must be at once no tified and the car In which the person with the contagious disease travelled taken oft the line and thoroughly disinfected. POWER OF THE COMMISSIONER. The local hoards of health In boroughs and cities are not Interfered with hui thai o r frequently sends his county medical Inspectors to advise with local boards In the case of an outbreak threatened outbreak of disease. Th hi -h 1 officers of the local boards are supplledlP"'8 tor the free distribution of diphtheria mm iii.-imure giving instructions for theiantuoxin in tnose cases wnere me amicw most effective means of controlling con- i household Is too poor to pay for the serum., tugloua diseases and methods of dislnfec-'Thls free antitoxin Is curing children Hon. i stricken with that disease, and as the antl- Although many potty comnlalnt. r.v. , the department, none are too small to re-j hundreds of others, when exposed to the celve httentlon. However, where it Is a disease, are kept from Its grasp. . Where matter which the lo-al boards of heolth I antitoxin Is not used It la known that should remedy, the Commissioner endeav- forty-two. or about every other person ors to have the evil remedied through this' in a hundred stricken with diphtheria, die. Biiard. I The Department of Health is rapidly re- The whole country will watch with In- duclng the death rate among Pennsyl terest the work of the Pennsylvania Com- vanla's poor. From February J to April 30 mlsstoner of Health to reclaim the waters clinical reports received by the department of that State to their virgin purity. Fori cut the death rate to about eleven per cent, years the streams of the State have 'been A far more remarkable feature of Penn poiluted with raw seWnge, and ronse-'sylvunla's free distribution of antitoxin quently the death rate from typhoid fever' appeurs from an examination of the cllnl haa been enormous and appalling. lenl reoorta of the cases In which anti- l'nder a recent legislative act every mu-' nlclpjllty which desires to extend Its' after the first attack. Out of hundreds of: which contribute to excessive death rates, sewerage System must first obtain the per-j canes thus treated during a period of four More than that, they furnish an oppor mlt from the Commlestoner of Hauhh, and. months there was not a single death. ,ti.nlty for future generations to secure an every water company which desires to use I The late W. A. King, chief statistician accurate record of the personal and statls a new source of supply must secure a per- of the United States Bureau of the Census.' tu al oart'.cul irs. as well as the facts sur- m't from the Commissioner. It will be N what the Londoners call "fine ked along the earnestly at the a coquettish e out the rea- brighi sun shine Was withheld. Really, a foreigner in Ixmdon feels like picking a personal quarrel With the sun on these "fine days." He It temptel to ask some uc useless question as this "If you're going to shine why don't you go ahead and do it, Instead of smirking up there like a big, bashrul, red headed glrlT Uet busy! Come on, now, and show Ixmdon what you do in the States!" By the time you have finished such a brief appeal to the solar intelligence the j reddish orb will have very likely dlsap- pea red altogether behind rain laden clouds. To be so unheeded Is some' hat unnerving, and you are without pom-er of speech a few moments later when, through the partially translucent atmosphere, there struggle ft few more glimmers of quasi brlghtness. only to vanish again as tanta llalngly aa before. Yet such are the days which Txmdorwrs call "fine." Wonder ta-h.it would happen if the sun did some real shining over londonT "Most extraordinary!" they'd say and promptly chronicle it as a purely Iximloneae virtue As compared with the foggy autumn and the overcast skies of winter the Iondnn spring Is a very pleasant season. he sun, as 1 have said, oasts coquettish glances upon the cltyT-some five hours or more before she visits her favorite sone, the United States of America and d les it from a hasv. graylsn-blue sky whl out comparative charms, but the deep rtcfe blue which axches days" I have wal I I streets gaslng I hesitating gleams of M sun, trying to pussle ' son why genuinely v0 Hr E R 1 T"""1 F TTT" '.jV ri-'----HWAREE-W HfKEA'N !. . L,. . BRADFORD jsosoanMNlH I CRAWFORD ! . .1 . jPO T T.EJi! T 1 00 A i iW A YNE I ( ri ,! , 1 L y .roRtsT iErK i .v ."- U,Tr7n7WVOmNG V'V , . vrmsoJK-.lJl-S. Ll . JAlycomincV' wnpik:e y poii J. .. x XV .fir VZERNY-oty .-amae WROfl- . V'E N.T R.e , f- : .F V'. ' iff KEBXER jWASHfNGTON? t- ORE EN E)rETTE 1 r , . f. ' ' 5 ' : jr ' ' ' '' ' ' . S L ' - i -V a 1 1r CTa.Tnue? i Dixoii OTtu Dalttles nf Pennavl vflnln. and the nractl-i cal problems to be solved are as difficult as are Known to sanitary engineering, jne bv one. however. Dr. Dixon Is getting the. cities and horourha tn tnke un this work, brtnuln them to realise that thev cannot continue sending disease laden water to their neighbors down stream. rnmmi,.i..i, Dinn has ealshltshed In Pennsvlvnnln more than Ave hundred de- toxin is furnished for immunising use also. toxin was used within twenty-four hours! whose m work had been largely devotee, the Improvement of vital statistics and who was probably better qualtited to speaH PNDON GiOOM- xPmiNE f ' ,; ' ' "Walk along the Thames at night naaies it from yoxl wnt io ,M a flne .tarry sight." saldl ch is not w.th. Dnd,.n fnends. and 1 obe'ed them, .?il'i!,nl",'tv' traversed We.ncn ter.Waterloo' net Manhat:an and Ulvkfrlar. bridge, on clear evenlnss' , and, following iustiutuon., have gazed . ('' ' '" I' I' hsisi .wi.nwiiij tinon ISn mMect than nnv nthpr man In the United States, only a few days before' nis ueain. rererrtng to me memoas !',"""" .u.c l-.. , ""'i""" forms adopted In Pennsylvania, wrote as waged by Health Commissioner Dixon for follows: "I shall refer Inaulrlea to the Pennsylvania Uenartment of Health for the most complete and up to date equip- ment for carrying out registration laws. The enaenti.i feature nf fhe rerlstratlon law as enacted in Pennsylvania provide thnt no dead human body shall be removed from the registration district In which death occurred. Interred, cremated or otherwise disposed of until a satisfactory certificate of death, signed either by the attending physician or Coroner, shall have been filed with the local registrar of vital statistics of such district and a burial or removal permit granted by that official. These original certificates of death after being received, dated and registered by the local registrars are at the end of each month forwarded to the Central Bureau of Vital Statistics in the State Capitol, where they are scruilnlxed. Indexed, tabulated and bound for future permanent reference. These certificates form a basis of an ana lytical study of the causes of deaths, of the principal ages ai wnicn nenm occurs, of the occupations, sex, locality and nativity roim ling the death of any Individual In tli- Ftate. The registration of births la i w ' i " ' k i ' mi sta - . Ifskyward. Yes. the stars have shonel brightly, aa advertised. On some B'g-itsjThe only possibH explanation 1 that the they have aee.ncd to vie w.th one anotner' sun. be.ng modest and reticent, hale, to in snappinj bright gleam, earthward. Al.-k at the sooty buildings, while th. singular phenomenon- t he sun forever mars-the Jalea!-have ieu scruple ut pariimoniou In Ita indulgences to London, MHKUN MS. . ' 1 sin ' pllshed by requiring from physicians or mid wives a certificate setting forth In de- been take.t to write long letters, explaln ta II the personal and statistical particulars, ng the need and wisdom of Vaccination. required to make a perfect record or in birth. These certificates, signed and regis tered by the local registrars, are monthly forwarded to the Central Bureau of Vital StitlBtlcs, at Harrlsburg, where they arc indexed, classified and bound In the same manner as death certificates. These cer tificates give not only an opportunity for a careful statistical analysis of the sources from which the population Is renewed, but also give individuals the opportunity of securing at any time a perfect record of any individual birth that has occurred In the State. Communicable diseases within the limits of Incorporated municipalities are reported direct to the local health authorities, and by them In turn reported to the Depart ment of Health at the end of each week. In run! districts Immediate reports are made by attending physicians direct to the Department of Health. A WIDE TERRITORY. It may be Interesting to note thatPennsyl vanlt comprises a land area of 44,K!5 squar miles; SO cities, 849 Incorporated boroughs, 67 counties, 1,54" townships, with an urban nnnutnflnn of 4 447 KKIi nH a rural nonuU - tion of 2,436,S02. For the collection of Vital statistics it has 76 local registrars, rachln People of the State that Dr. Dixon is with a deputy appointed to act in rase ofl" ")an of the deepest Sympathies, a man absence. Illness or disability. In addition S7 subreglstrars acting In portions of the registration districts. It has been said that Pennsylvania pos sesses features which provide for a more Interesting study of vital statistics than any other State, in the Union, for the reason that It preaenta the greatest diver sity of occupations and that Its popula tion represents the various degrees of con - eentration from the third largest city In; the United States down to the sparsely wageo oy iieaun Lommissioner l'lxon rorihu w J ,, . . v vaccination in order to check the spread helt! y jh uP"'e Court of Penney! of smallpox has been a most Important work carried on bv the new denartment. " i ' " Last year Dr. Dixon sent a letter to each secretary of the 2.000 school districts In Pennsylvania asking them to place In the hands of the teachers or principals In charge of schools In their districts a cir cular letter calling the attention of these principals and teachers to the vacclnatkin!cer and.,h" "'lpases, and we have clauses of the act providing that no child was to be admitted to school until It had presented a certificate signed by a physl slan stating that the child had been suc cessfully vaccinated or had previously had smallpox. A supply of blank vaccination certificates was sent to each secretary of a school district. Since that time the de partment has sent out about four hundred thousand vaccination certificates on re quest. This shows that thousands of chil dren have since been vaccinated and thus made Immune against smallpox. j The department's medical Inspectors in each county have ylalted schools where there was opposition to vaccination, Im pressed on the teachers their duty of up holding the law. talked with school direc tors and visited In their own homes parents who through prejudice were keeping their children from vaccination. The Commissioner has received thou sands of letters from teachers, school di rectors and parents In regard to the en forcement of the vaccination law. Every t i - v ' J , I . r-. - - , -e r t, and the stars prodigal tn their generosity, jappeaxancea. lvcTER ,V & ) (X 4 ' ' - one of these has been answered. Time has : giving facts and figures to strengthen in arguments. No Questions have been con sidered too trivial to answer. In this cor respondence the Commissioner has treated the writers as sincere In their requests for Information. Dr. Dixon has alao received many anony mous letters and slanderous communica tions. No matter iow bitter a letter In opposition to vaccination has been. If the Commissioner felt that there was any chance at all to have the writer listen to reason he haa taken the time to corre spond at length. Circulars have been sent out setting forth the necessity of vaccina tlon, putting in convincing form the argu ments for Ita efficacy. The public press J in uie opinion of Dr. Dixon, has been a Dig factor in advancing the cause of vaccina tion. Finally the Cnmmlulniiu hm mnda ad dresses In different oerts of the Stste be fore teachers' Institutes and conventions of school directors and county superintend ents, in this Way he has got In close touch with the people and exerted a won derful influence In breaklne down tha nrei ',;lpe against vaccination and counteract i'nff the work of the antl-vacclnntlonlats. These public addresses hav convinced to,w"" a oig, warm neart. who loves children who Is not swayed by an Impulse or at all oitna to reason. His opponents have pict ured him In a bitter light, as being hard hearted and a good deal of a tyrant. Con vinced by actual experience that tha chil dren in the schools should be made Im mune against smallpox by vaccination, he is aeierminea in tits efforts to have the law 'ohyet - VACCINATION PROBLEM. The right to debar from school a child who ha not been v.eein.to k. 1" "'cc,m,;t T v"nla 3l,lrln the present year m a declslo the Pertinent part of which ays:-"Va Ion, I , . , i . . V. " la the Infliction of a disease, cowpox, on the subject, and If that can be done irrespective of his con sent then the next step may be to require submission to inoculation with arrtltoxln or serum for diphtheria, tuberculosis, can rather a dismal picture of the possible con sequences. It will be time enough to con sider such matters when they arise. At present the vast preponderance of opinion among Intelligent and educated people, under the guidance of the best medical authority. Is that vaccination la a highly useful ameliorative. If not always a preven tive of one of the greatest of the Scourges that have In past times afflicted humanity and that the regulation of It by a statute is not only a Justifiable but a wise and beneficent exertion of the police power over the public health. When the legislature goes beyond that into new or more debat able fields it will be time enough to con sider the limits cf Its power." The Department of Health consists of tne i-omimsJionfr 01 rieaun. appointed byiBtudy. Returning to Philadelphia, he was the Governor, with the advice and con-'gmdunted from the Mercantile College and sent of the Senate, who must be a physl-jthen studied law, being admitted to the clan of at least ten years' experience and' Bar In 1877. He studied medicine and was a graduate of a legally constituted medl-'gra.iutej from the Medical School of the cal college. Associated with the Commls-'ijnVerslty of Pennsylvania In 1SS6, having stoner Is an Advisory Board consisting of been singularly honored by the trustees before graduation by an appointment to rzr; the position of assistant demonstrator of Certain faint, shuddering recollections of astronomical Instruction lead me to Inform the world that stnwspher1c heat is derived from the sun. This, f course, will be news to persons aa far away aa are Hamerlcans from this, the manufactory of universal wisdom. Well, arguing from the suppo sition that my tutor In astronomy was a conscientious man and did hla best to tell me the truth. I am led to believe that the; sun does Its full duty to london as regards I the matter of spring and summer hea a , . . I Sometimes the place seems like Tophet with the lights out. You unhappy persons who Inhabit the half olvlHsed North Amerloan continent probably know the feeling of physical dis comfort experienced on hot, cloudy days "Muggy" ts the provincial adjective which many of you apply to such dava. Well that is the sort of dsy that prevails here in the warm seaaon with "ua" Iondonr. . Turkish bath twenty-four hours a day and seven unri w----n. There are no records to show that the sun was ever on really friendly terms with I-ondnn. Very ancient records describe the fearful death to which a famous Druid Theoryblodd. was subjeted for his Im pious comments on the weatlier. This would seem to Indicate that the atmos pheric conditions did not please She unfor tunate commentator. Coming down to the Roman era we learn hum -aenar after spending two aiys in a I-onaon hotel dur ing the hot season waa heard to remark: Home for mm even in tne good old sum mer time." There 1s reason to beHeva that " .ted stronges terms of the sama e fl. bfhe hlstorlin "r 'mft"' to give his Saume4.i4. ooir ntrrure tn8- l 5IILADELBDA tER members, the majority of whom shall Physicians of ten years' experience and one a civil engineer. They are also ap pointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for four yeajrs and serve without pay. The law says: J" 1 the d"ty of the Commissioner of Health to protect the health of the peo ple of the State and to determine and em ploy Uie most efficient and practical means for the prevention and suppression of dis ease." To carry out effectually the respon sibility which this duty Imposes the Com mlssloner and his agents are given full power to order nuisances detrimental to the public health or the causes of disease and mortality to be abated and removed and to enforce quarantine regulations. The Commissioner may Issue Warrants to any sheriff, constable or pollcemah to arrest persons who disobey the quar antine orders or regulations of the De partment of Health, and In the Inspection of nuisances the Commissioner's duly au thorised agents have the power and au thority conferred by law upon constables, and where an owner of the property re fuses to abate a nuisance detrimental to the public health the Commissioner or his agents may have such nuisances abated; and to cover the cost of such action the Commissioner may file a Hen in the hame of the Commonwealth, as provided by law for other municipal liens. The Commissioner may revoke and mod ify any order, regulation, bylaw ot or dinance of a local board of health con cerning a matter which In his Judgment affects the public health beyond the ter ritory over which such local board has Jurisdiction. General supervision Is given the fctate Commissioner of the registration of births, marriages, deaths and diseases; or practitioners of medicine and surgery, of mldwlves; nurses and undertakers and of all persons whose occupation Is deemed to be of importance In obtaining complete registration of births, deaths, marriages and diseases. There are laid upon the Commissioner the duty and responsibility of preserving the puMty of thy waters of the state for the protection of the public health. By "wa ters of the tttnte" Is meant all streams and springs and all bodies of surface and ground water, whether natural or arti ficial, within the boundaries of the State. Whenever in the opinion of the Commis sioner the sewage discharged into the wa ters of the State by Individuals, private corporations or compan'e becomes Injuri ous to the public health he may order a disctiarge of such sewage discontinued. He may also revoke permits thnt his de partment grants to municipalities to con struct or exiend a sewer system whenever In bis opinion the Interests of the publlo health demand It. SKETCH OF THE WORKERS. The personnel of the department Is of distinct Interest, Bince to those men hag been Intrusted the heulth of severul m lllon people. Samuel O. Dixon was born In Philadelphia' March 23. 1KM. He prepared fur tlarvnrd. hut Instead went abroad to physiology. ite weni auroau again 10 study and was graduated from the Depart ment Of Bacteriology of King's College, jlondon, and afterward studied In Petten Ikofer's laboratory of hygiene. In Munich. While In Europe be made an exhaustive study of the disposition of sewage In large cKles. Upon his return. In lsss, he was I made professor of hygiene In the Medical lonhnni mwA Henn nf the Auxiliary Denart ment of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. lieavtng the university in 1850, he was made professor of bacteriology and microscopical technology at the Acad emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, executive curator In 1W2 and president In 1KH, which last two positions he still holds. He served for several years ss a member of the Board of Education of Philadelphia and as chairman of the Committee on Hy Ury cnndltlons of the schools of that city t. .h tnr i.mtv vear giene and aia muc-n to improve im vani- Dr. Benjamin I-ee, who for twenty years 111 . I 1 i" i - - ' was the secretary of the rormer Btate Board of Health, occupies the position of assistant to the Commissioner. His long xpeiience especially fitted him for the work of aiding the Commissioner to estab lish and successfully build up the new De psrtment of Health. Dr. Iee was a spe ciallst of widely recognised ability In or thotiedlc surgery before he began to de vote his life to sanitary sorlt. Dr. Frederic C. Johnson, chief medical Inspector, at the time of his a ppola Intent was assistant chief resident physician Id the Philadelphia Hospital. F. Herbert Snow, chief sanitary engi neer, Is one of the beet known engineers in the country. Mr. Snow Is a pioneer In the work of devising sanitary systems of sewage disposal and his knowledge and experience are of Inestimable vain,- to the Department of Health In Its dealings with municipalities and corporations in regard to sewage and water supply systems. ' Dr. Wllmer R. Batt, State Kegistrar of Vital Statistics, is a graduate? of the Uni versity of Pennsylvania Medical School, class of 114.. Tor a number of years he k.7" identified with sanitary work m mjl tlM service,. , v s ( 4 .If.
