Better Reporting Sought A new departure which should bring about better reporting of communicable diseases in Springfield is the publication of a table, in Health Director Starr's annual report for 1917, showing the number of cases of each notifiable disease reported by each physician during the year.

Several physicians have no reports whatever to their credit, and many others are credited with only one, two or three. An "advertis-, ing physician" reports more cases of venereal disease than all other physicians combined. Forty-nine physicians sent in no reports of whooping cough; all physicians together reported only fifty-five cases of this disease, while health department workers reported thirty and neighbors reported seventy-seven. Thirteen cases of lobar pneumonia were reported by six doctors, the remaining sixty-six reporting no cases of this disease.

The Springfield authorities in a recent prosecution had a fine of fifty dollars assessed against a physician who failed to report a case of inflammation of the eyes of the newborn. The doctor's plea was ignorance of the law.

Cities Have New Health Officers

Dr. H. L. Rockwood has been appointed commissioner of health in Cleveland, succeeding Dr. R. H. Bishop, Jr., now engaged in Red Cross anti-tuberculosis work in Italy.

Dr. R. W. Colville is Mt. Vernon's new health officer. He fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Dr. H. W. Blair, who has received an army commission.

Dr. Charles A. La Mont has succeeded Dr. F. M. Sayre as health officer in Canton. The former incumbent is in the medical corps of the navy.

Dr. Henry Krone has been appointed to the position of health officer in Hamilton, vacated when Dr. H. L. Smedley entered the

army.

City Has Two Health Boards

Following the removal from office of the members of the Ham

ilton board of health, upon charges of neglect of duty, preferred by the mayor, an entirely new board was appointed. The new board retained the employees of the old board. The former board refused to recognize the removal as legal and continued to hold its regular sessions, Health Officer Krone rendering his regular reports to both boards.

Pasteurization Kills Germs

An incident mentioned in the 1917 report of the Winnipeg health department is worthy of note as demonstrating the value of pasteurization of milk. Several employees of a creamery contracted typhoid fever by drinking raw cream from the supply used for butter-making. Not one case oc

curred among users of the concern's butter. The explanation: the cream was pasteurized before churning.

Akron Charter on Health

The Akron health department will be a major division of the city administration, independent of other branches, if voters of the city in November adopt the charter drawn up by the charter commission. After extended study the commission drew up health department provisions, providing for a health commission of five members, two of whom are to be physicians, appointed by the chief administrator. A director of health is to be named by the health commission.

Provision for a sound financial basis of health work is made in a clause whereby council must make an annual appropriation of not less than fifty cents per capita, the number of inhabitants to be estimated at five times the number of children of school age, as enumerated in the school census.

Health department duties enunierated in the proposed charter are: protection of the city from disease and insanitary conditions, enforcement of medical inspection and compulsory corrective measures among school children and other health activities.

Social Disease

(Akron Beacon-Journal.) We are gradually getting up our courage to face somewhat frankly the venereal disease problem, even among our civilian population. The army had to meet it and to try to solve it. The early years of the

war showed the importance of it and the menace to efficiency contained in it. Early colonial troops were hard hit by it and were put out of action literally by the thousands. The army doctors found, too, that even in cases where the disease had been arrested the man

was much less able to recover from wounds than he would ordinarily have been, that he had less recuperative power.

It became an important factor in maintaining the efficiency of the army. So when the American army was organized the subject was tackled without gloves. The banishing of booze, the the twin brother of sex disease, was a first step. Methods of control were gradually enlarged. The regions around training camps were cleaned up, clinics were established in camp, segregation of cases ordered and medical treatment given.

The army has demonstrated that a large measure of control can be secured. Figures have been published showing that of all cases of disease in camp, only 17 per cent were acquired after the men entered the army. The other 83 brought the disease to camp with them and were promptly segregated and treated. Furthermore, it is stated, that no man so afflicted will be sent overseas, being held for duty in this country.

The methods of the medical corps of the army, under direction of Surgeon General Gorgas, have largely proved themselves effective. And if this is the case, it is a logical step to apply the same methods as far as possible to the civilian population. We cannot expect, of course, the same degree of discipline among the people at home as can be instituted among men in camp. But a big city may be kept.

reasonably clean if city officials are willing to insist that this can be done. And the establishment of clinics where afflicted men can be treated is another big step ahead.

A great deal has been published about the prevalence of social dis

eases, and their direful effect on the individual. It is none too soon to start on more aggressive and constructive measures toward stamping it out, or at least reducing it to less dangerous propor

tions.

Ohio's two newest district tuberculosis hospitals will be enlarged if movements which have been started in the districts meet with success. The Dayton Tuberculosis Society has asked the joint board of commisioners in the Dayton district to appropriate funds for adding cottages to the new Stillwater Sanatorium, which now has accommodations for forty-six patients. Plans to enlarge the new Chilicothe hospital so as to provide more room for incipient cases are being considered.

Changes in administrative personnel have resulted at Stillwater

Sanatorium from the resignations of Mrs. M. E. Ahlborn, maintenance superintendent, and Dr. J. D. Kramer, medical superintendent. Miss Martha E. Dull, accountant for the institution, and Dr. E. B. Markey, former medical superintendent, were put in temporary charge by the trustees.

School vaccination requirements were put into effect in Athens and Portsmouth before the opening of the fall term. In Greenfield methods of checking the spread of communicable diseases in the public schools were discussed at a recent joint meeting of the board of

health, the board of education, the Public Health League and the physicians of the town.

W. I. Van Arnum, recently engaged in water purification work in Bridgeport, Conn., and for seven years prior to that in charge of the Cohoes (N. Y.) purification plant, has been appointed superintendent of the Youngstown filtration plant.

Resolutions endorsing proposals that Fairfield County enter a tuberculosis hospital district and petitioning the county commissioners to co-operate immediately with such other counties as might be selected in the organization of such a district were recently passed by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. The Lancaster newspapers are giving strong support to the project.

Dr. Stephen A. Douglass, superintendent of the State Tuberculosis Sanatoriuin, in his annual report for 1917 to the Board of Administration, recommended either the establishment of a state sanatorium for tuberculous children or the enlargement of the present Mt. Ver

non institution to provide accommodations for children.

Dr. Douglas has been granted a leave of absence in order to enable him to take up work with the Red Cross tuberculosis commisison in Italy.

To educate the people of Chillicothe in methods of typhoid prevention, the health authorities in that city in the latter part of August distributed handbills reading as follows:

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Typhoid Fever Prevention

The danger of contracting typhoid fever at this season of the year is great and the large number of visitors to Chillicothe makes it doubly necessary to take all possible precaution.

Typhoid fever is usually caused by the entrance of the germ of this disease into the alimentary tract in the food or water. The following precautions are urged upon all:

1. Do not drink any water, unless known to be pure, without previous boiling. The city water is much safer than that from private wells or cisterns. 2. Be sure that all uncooked vegetables and fruits are thoroughly washed with pure water before eating.

3. Make the privy vaults and the home fly proof as flies are a common carrier of typhoid germs, coming directly from privy vault, stable, etc., to your table.

4. Thoroughly disinfect all discharges from typhoid patients and disinfect the hands after caring for the patient.

5. Secure immunity from typhoid fever by inoculations. These will be given you by your family physician_or can be obtained free of charge at Dr. Hanley's office, 84 E. Second street.

D..E. ROBINSON, Surgeon, U. S. Public Health Service, Health Officer.

A "council of municipal housekeepers" is the instrument by which Dr. Jean Dawson, chief of the Cleveland health department's

bureau of fly prevention, proposes to improve health conditions in the Sixth City.

The council, as proposed by Dr. Dawson, would include a chief municipal housekeeper and an assistant for each of the city's twenty-six wards. The duties of the council would include prevention of insanitary disposal of garbage, elimination of weeds, reporting of sick and neglected children, encouragement of mothers to patronize baby dispensaries and management of fly-prevention work. The body would hold weekly meetings and would be responsible to the health department.

Cleveland's fight against venereal diseases is being aided by an appropriation of $8,600, granted by the mayor's war board for the establishment of clinics.

In regard to Cincinnati's leadership in typhoid fever prevention among the cities of the state, as indicated by the mortality rates, the Cincinnati Times-Star makes the following editorial comment:

The statistics of typhoid fever during 1917, issued by the State Bureau of Vital Statistics, give Cincinnati the position of honor among the cities of Ohio. The relative number of deaths from typhoid in Cincinnati was approximately one-half the number in Cleveland, which stood second, and one-tenth the number of deaths in Youngstown or Akron. The sixteen deaths in Cincinnati represented but 3.9 persons for every hundred thousand.

The reassuring figures prove that from a city with about the worst water in the world, Cincinnati has become a city with about the best water in the world. Instead of a muddy fluid that was almost a thing of loaves and fishes, we now have limpid, sparkling aqua purá. It is a great municipal advancement. Opposed, kicked about as a political football, pondered in the courts, our