his responsibility for proper conduct and liability to penalties for failure to maintain such conduct. made centers of commercialized immorality, if the towns permit it. The authority of the War Department ceases outside of Federal ter 2. Control of Camp Environ- ritory and the problem automati ments A law has been passed by Congress under which a five-mile zone has been established around each cantonment, making this circle. amenable to Federal control. These zones will be policed if necessary by military forces in charge of a provost guard, although the Government hopes the civil authorities will take the initiative in enforcing the required measures. Every saloon, every den of vice and prostitution, will be expelled from these zones. The supervision of these federalized and cleansed districts will be in charge of the Commissions on Training Camp Activities, established by the Secretaries of War and Navy and ably headed by Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick, an expert in the study of vice conditions. Under these, committees games, athletic sports, club houses, libraries, and other healthy diversions will be provided for the soldier. The Surgeon General of the Army in co-operation with the Surgeon General of the U. S. Public Health Service is providing a special officer in each cantonment to assist community organization for combating venereal diseases. 3. Civilian Cooperation The third plan is for wholehearted civilian co-operation in the suppression of prostitution and vice outside of the five-mile Federal zones. This is where every man and every woman can help. Vicious influence will naturally try to establish themselves as near an encampment as possible. Towns outside of Federal zones will be cally becomes a civil one. Local authorities may, through ignorance, or carelessness, not realize the gravity of the situation and may even become partners in spoils derived from illicit earnings. Every healthy community is quick to detect wrong-doing. The behavior of men in uniform is particularly noticeable. Public opinion can immediately command the correction of evils both for the protection of the soldier and the civilian. If each town drives immor ality from its doors and cleanses its community, it will help the Government and be doing its bit during these days of undivided responsibility. NOTE: Assistance for campaigns against venereal disease can be obtained from The Council of National Defense, Sub-committee for Civilian Cooperation in Combating Venereal Diseases, Washington Office, Room 144 Old Land Office Building, Washington, D. C.; New York Office, 105 West 40th Street, New York City. The following excerpts are taken from "Do Your Bit to Keep Him Fit," another pamphlet published by the National Defense Council's sub-committee for civilian cooperation in combating venereal diseases: "The world has tried for centuries to solve the old problem of prostitution and its corollary, venereal disease. The greatest obstacle in the solution of this problem has been human nature itself —human nature that has been so blind, so inefficient, so apathetic. that it has not only made few really the purpose, the percentage of her victims must be much smaller. "You may find that the editors of your local papers feel some hesitancy about discussing the subject of prostitution and venereal diseases in their columns for fear of offending their readers. They must be made to feel that their readers want this kind of discussion and are not afraid to face a problem of such far-reaching significance." Why Venereal Disease Problem is Serious One to United States Now Cases of syphilis in the United States number, it has been estimated, from five to ten million. The estimated number of deaths in 1916 due to venereal diseases was 250,000. Osler puts syphilis next to tuberculosis, pneumonia and cancer as a death-dealing agent. In New York in 1914 of 25,653 cases of disease reported, 28 percent were syphilis, 21 percent tuberculosis and 13 percent diph theria. Ninety to 95 percent of the cases of venereal disease are due directly to prostitution. A survey during the Mexican border mobilization showed 10,000 prostitutes gathered in San Antonio. Figures for 1907 and 1909 showed, respectively, 19.7 percent and 16 percent of the men in the United States army and navy venereally diseased. State and Cities Assist Venereal ENTRY of Ohio's state and local health authorities into the fight against venereal disease, pronounced the most important sanitary problem of the war, was marked by a gathering of health officers of eight Ohio cities, at the invitation of the State Commissioner of Health, in Columbus, November 7. Methods of dealing with the situation were discussed, with a view to adopting some method of direct control. California's way of meeting the problem was taken up in detail and attention was also given to steps already taken in Cincinnati, Toledo and Dayton. The following pronouncements subscribed to by all those present, resulted from the discussion: I. Ohio Law Inadequate That the present statutes of Ohio are inadequate for the control of venereal diseases; 2. That the State Department of Health and local health officers agree to cooperate in the control, as far as present law permits, of such carriers of venereal diseases as may be discovered by the civil and military authorities; 3. That this conference agree, that every effort be made to cooperate with the policy of the War Department for the suppression of prostitution; Promise Wasserman Tests 4. That the State Department of Health provide as soon as possible for Wasserman examinations, and that the department endeavor to secure the appropriations neces sary for the free distribution of Salvarsan; and, 5. That the State Department of Health request all municipalities to provide sufficient funds to enable the local health authorities to inaugurate suitable measures for the isolation or quarantine of known carriers of venereal dis eases. Health officers present at the conference were: Dr. R. W. .E. Cole, Akron; Dr. D. E. Robinson, Camp Sherman Sanitary District; Dr. Louis Kahn, Columbus; Dr. W. H. Peters, assistant health officer, Cincinnati; Dr. A. L. Light, Dayton; Dr. A. L. Smedley, Hamilton; Dr. E. B. Starr, Springfield; Dr. C. C. Dreyer, Toledo, and Dr. H. E. Welch, Youngstown. Army Campaign Vigorous The military authorities, as is well known, are waging a vigorous campaign to suppress venereal diseases. Vice is being stamped out in the five-mile zones about all cantonments, careful medical attention to this phase of the soldier's health is being given, educational work to acquaint the men with the dangers of dissipation is being carried on and wholesome recreation for the soldier's spare time is being provided. Co-operation of civil agencies and of civilians in general is being sought. It is such co-operation that is to be given by the health authorities in Ohio, working in harmony with the military authorities who are striving for the same end. Will Isolate Carriers Reports of venereal disease carriers, obtained by military and civilian physicians from their patients, will be followed up vigorously. A policy of isolation for known carriers will be put into effect. While, as the statement of the health officers previously quoted points out, Ohio's laws are not perfect, it is felt that much can be accomplished under such provisions as are now on the statute books. The most dangerous carriers of venereal diseases, as of any other disease, are comparatively few, according to persons in touch with the problem, and it is expected that an isolation policy thorough enough to do much toward checking the spread of infection will be possible. California's Plan The In California, where the law specifically includes venereal diseases among the quarantinable diseases (as it does not provide in Ohio), the health authorities are in a position to take and have. taken - very effective steps in fighting this disease peril. regulations there make the local health officers inspectors of the state department, and direct them, as inspectors, "to use every available means to ascertain the existence of, and immediately to investigate, all suspected cases" of venereal disease in their respective jurisdictions. The inspectors are given power, and are directed, to: Make examinations of all persons suspected of venereal infection (in which class are to be placed all prostitutes); isolate infected persons when deemed necessary; continue quarantine or isolation until the case is determined non-infectious; use proper means of suppressing prostitution and refrain from issuing certificates of freedom from venereal diseases; keep records of reports of venereal diseases closed to public inspection and make reasonable efforts to keep the identity of sufferers secret, so far as is consistent with the public health. NEED HOUSING LAWS IN RURAL SECTIONS Housing laws are needed as much in the country and small towns as in the large cities, to protect health, according to discussion at the National Conference on Housing held recently in Chicago. A point brought out was that nearly every small town had shacks, huts and cabins used as abodes for human beings, that were menaces to health and good citizenship, and that overcrowding, particularly room room overcrowding. was a condition frequently found in the country. As a matter of fact, worse conditions in the way of overcrowding, lack of ventilation and room cleanliness, have been found in the country than in the slums of the big cities. Sickness rates as well as deathrates in the country bear out this testimony. The relation between room overcrowding and communicable diseases is close. Recent data collected in an illness census in New York City shows that there is a regular increase in the sickness rate as the number of persons occupying each room increases. Where the number of persons occupying a room was three or four, the sickness rate was much higher than if only one or two occupied the room. The number of cases of grip, colds, tuberculosis and the other contagious diseases increased according to the number of persons in the room. NEW DISTRICT HOSPITAL OHIO'S FIFTH Institution at Chillicothe Makes Public Care Possible in State for 1,500 Tuberculosis Victims - Fayette, Highland, Ross, Pike, Scioto and Jackson Counties Join in Erecting Structure at Cost of $45,000 WITH the opening of the dis trict tuberculosis hospital at Chillicothe, Ohio will have five such institutions in operation, it is expected, by the beginning of January. In addition the state has three county and two municipal hospitals for the care of tuberculosis victims, besides the state sanatorium at Mt. Vernon, where only incipient cases treated. The total capacity of these institutions is 1,500 patients. are In the newest of the district hospitals six counties- Fayette, Highland, Ross, Pike, Scioto and Jackson are co-operating. Fairfield and Pickaway counties were included in the original plan for this district, but did not come in. Charity and Pay Patients The Chillicothe hospital has been erected at a cost of approximately $45,000. It will care for both charity and pay patients and for both incipient and advanced cases. Present capacity is 30 patients, and outdoor shacks to house other patients are planned. The hospital stands on the plateau at the edge of the steep hill west of the city about a mile out West Main street. Built in a roughly semicircular shape, with a central portion from which wings extend out diagonally forward, it overlooks a beautiful view of the city and the fertile Scioto valley. Miss Maranda L. Dye, former public health nurse at Piqua, is medical superintendent of the new institution. The board of trustees includes: Conrad Roth, Scioto County; Harry F. Brown, Fayette County; Schuyler Slanger, Ross County; J. B. Pratt, Jackson County; S. H. Hamilton, Pike County, and Chris C. Kesler, Highland County. Law on District Hospitals The five district tuberculosis hospitals have been organized under provisions of Section 3148, Ohio General Code, which permits commissioners of any group of counties, numbering from two to ten, to form themselves into a joint. board for the purpose of establishing and maintaining such an institution. There is a proviso that no county in which there is a municipal hospital for the treatment of tuberculosis shall enter such an agreement. It is also provided that new counties may be admitted to districts already established. Any new district or addition to an old district must be approved by the State Health Department. The board of trustees of a district hospital consists of one member from each county. represented, to be chosen by the joint board of joint board of county commissioners. How Cost is Apportioned The cost of constructing the hospital and of all betterments and additions is borne by the member counties in proportion to the amount of taxable property in each. Costs of maintenance are asessed upon the counties in proportion to the total number of days spent in the hospital by the pa |