city of Warren. The investigation of the Mahoning River, made in 1908, resulted in a conclusion that the improvement of the stream could be accomplished in the most satisfactory manner by co-operative action on the part of the various municipalities. However, this method received little active support and nothing was accomplished to put it into effect. The State Board of Health therefore, continued its efforts to secure independent action by each municipality to provide proper disposal of sewage. It may be stated that during the period from 1895 to 1916 actions were taken looking toward the provision of sewage treatment plants for the following municipalities: Warren, Niles, Girard, Youngstown, East Youngstown, Struthers, and Lowellville. However, up to the present time, as previously stated, none of these municipalities has actually installed a plant for sewage treatment.

The State Board of Health consistently recognized the undesirability of the use of the Mahoning River as a source of water supply. In 1913, in connection with approval of the enlargement of the water supply for Youngstown by the construction of the Milton Reservoir, the State Board Health demanded that steps be taken looking toward the extension of the water supply intake or the abandonment of the river as source of supply.

of

a

The investigation of the Mahoning River, carried on in 1915, demonstrated that the condition of the stream was rapidly growing worse, due to the intensive development in the Youngstown district and the almost total disregard for the proper protection of the river from pollution. It was apparent that

action to improve the condition of the stream should not be longer delayed. This investigation gave rise to a recognition of the necessity of considering the problem as one of a district, rather than of individual municipalities and industrial establishments, and the facts disclosed made it apparent that little improvement could be hoped for through individual efforts. Therefore, when the city of Niles, in 1916, proposed an extensive sewerage improvement which was necessary for the development of the city and which involved the establishment of an outlet to discharge untreated sewage into the river, the State Board of Health permitted this improvement. Similar actions were taken in the cases of the Carnegie Steel Company's McDonald Bar Mills and McDonald Town Site in 1916 and 1917, respectively, in the case of a number of new sewer districts in the city of Youngstown in 1916 and 1917, and in the case of the Buckeye Land Company's Loveland Farms Development in 1917. In each of these actions recognition of the necessity of improved sewage disposal in the Youngstown district was expressed and conditions were attached requiring future action in the provisions of a satisfactory method of sewage disposal. each case the department pressed the attitude that the condition and use of the Mahoning River and the location and nature of the sources of pollution made it obvious that the cleaning of the stream must result from concerted action on the part of the various municipalities and industrial establishments responsible. It was advised that the problems throughout the district as a whole should be investigated and solved as a dis

In

ex

trict problem rather than as individual ones. This attitude toward the Mahoning River problem received support in each case in which it was expressed and has been concurred in by the cities of Youngstown and Niles, by the Carnegie Steel Company, and the Buckeye Land Company, each of whom has expressed the willingness and intention of entering into any co-operative action which is most advantageous for the district. as a whole.

Conclusions. The combined effect of sewage and industrial wastes discharged into the Mahoning River from the several municipalities and industrial establishments from Warren to the OhioPennsylvania state line, renders the river an unsatisfactory source of municipal water supply even where the water is treated by means of modern purification works and causes serious pollution of the stream during periods of normal dry weather flow to such an extent as to make it objectionable to the inhabitants of the district. The rapidly increasing degree of pollution resulting from the growth in population and industrial development will, in all probability, overcome the beneficial effect brought about by the increased minimum flow as a result of the construction of the Milton Dam and impounding reservoir. The condition of the river is serious and steps should be taken without delay to adopt corrective measures if the health and comfort of the citizens in the district are to be safeguarded.

As a number of the municipalities are contiguous and others. nearly so, it is essential that the correction of the pollution of the river be considered as a district

problem. A thorough and comprehensive study of the disposal of sewage and industrial wastes and of water supplies should be conducted jointly by the several political subdivisions and industrial establishments in the district for the purpose of determining existing conditions and the most satisfactory remedies in the improvement of water supplies and the disposal of sewage and industrial

wastes.

The Modern Health Department

The modern health department in the performance of its duty should seek to educate rather than temporize with attempts to cure ill health. Prevention is the watchword, and that old adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is the slogan of every wide-awake health officer. True, there are legal obligations imposed upon boards of health which must be met, and epidemics of disease must be combated, but the meat in the cocoanut is prevention. It is much easier to prevent disease than to cure. All that is needed is a sympathetic community and the cooperation of physicians. Give the wide-awake health department this assistance, and any community can reduce its death rate. It will take time but the trick can surely be turned. It is only a matter of educating the masses, a process, I admit, that is slow, but a persistent effort is sure to win out. The health officer looks for big things from the coming generation. The younger element is being educated along the lines which are sure to bear fruits.

Public Health, Michigan State Board of Health.

adopted by the Cincinnati Board of Health, which ordered that they be spread on the minutes of the body and that a copy be sent to the family of the late health offi

cer:

"Our very efficient health officer, Dr. J. H. Landis, died this morning, August twenty-third, nineteen hundred and eighteen.

"By his death the City of Cincinnati is robbed of one of her best officials and the medical profession of a shining mark. It can rarely be said of a man that he perfectly fits the position he has occupied. Of Dr. Landis it can, however, be truthfully said that he was the man for the place. Morally, mentally and socially he found his niche. He was a man of many fine attainments; he was an eloquent speaker, a great student, and always abreast of the times. As an executive officer his ability was unquestioned. He was held in highest regard by the men who worked under him. His writings, which were numerous, were copied everywhere by those who were interested in those things dear to his heart. Everything that he undertook, he entered into with vim and vigor, which always brought victory. He has filled many honorable positions besides that of health officer. He was president of the Academy of Medicine, physician at St. Mary's Hospital, and professor of hygiene at the Ohio-Miami Medical College. He was also a member of many medical societies -local and national. His services as a speaker were in great demand at medical meetings, and in no case did he disappoint his hearers. His manner, voice and clarity of diction made him easy to listen to and to understand. His honesty of purpose, strength of character and

unswerving faith in doing what he thought right, made him a tower of strength in all his undertakings.

"It can be truly said of him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant'."

The following tribute to Dr. Landis was written by Dr. W. H. Peters, his former assistant and his successor as health officer:

"In the death of John H. Landis Cincinnati loses one of her most progressive men.

"For more than a decade he labored earnestly in advancing public health measures. Under his leadership the affairs of the health department have been competently managed and the health of the city has never been more carefully safeguarded.

"His honesty, fine purpose and conciliatory manner made him an executive of unusual ability. His kindness, steadfastness and staunch support won the love of all subordinates in the department.

"It will be hard to fill his place as professor of hygiene at the University. His lectures, always dignified and impressive, scintillated with wit and humor. The boys will miss him.

"It is difficult to place a value on Dr. Landis' work, for enormous benefits will accrue through the years to come, but it is safe to say that he was a positive factor in reducing sickness and death rates in the city.

"Dr. Landis was a man whose influence was felt outside of home circles. In the American Public Health Association, in the councils. of the New York Milk Committee and the American Academy of Public Health his judgment was respected. He was a champion for the best public health enactments,"