Health bulletin

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BULLETIN
NORTH CAROLINA ROARD OF HEALTH,
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington. N. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones, M. D., President,. .laThoTO.
j S. H. Ltle, M. D., FrankliD.
R. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleigh. VV. D. Billiard, M. D., Asheville.
John McDonald, M. D., Washington. ' Prof. W. G. Simmons Wake Forest.
R. L. Patne,M. D., Lexington. | Arthur Winslow, p. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.
Entered at the post-office at Wilmingtoii, N. C, as second class mail matter.
Vol. I. APRIL, 18^6. No. 1.
In setting forth the duties of the North Car-olina
Board of Ilealtli, the l:iw requires (sect.
2). " tliat the North Carolina Board of Health
shall take cognizance of the health interests
of the citizens of the Slate; shall make sani-tary
investigations and inquiries in respect to
the people, employing experts when necessary;
shall investigate the canses of iliseases dan-gerous
to the pnblio health, especially epidem-ics;
the sources of mortality; the eflects of lo-cations,
emp]oyn)enls and conditions upon the
public health. They shall gather such infor-mation
upon all these matters, for distribution
among the people, with the especial purpose
of informing them about preventable diseases.
They shall be the medical advisers of the
State, and are herein specially provided for,
and shall advise the government in regard to
the location, .sanitary conslruciicm and man-agement
of ail pul>lic institutions upon appli-cation
of the proper authorities, and shall di-rect
the attention of the State to such sanitary
matters as in their judgment aflfecl the indus-try,
prosperity, htaltli and lives of the citizens
of the State."
That the provisions of this section may be
more fully carried out, the Board begins with
this month the publication of a monthly bul-letin,
as a medium of commnnication for the
county boards of health with each other, and
as a means of keeping tlie people of each
county informed of the existence, in other
parts of the State, of diseases dangerous to the
public health. That this may be done thor-oughly,
it is necessary to have the cooperation
of the profession throughout the vState. Let
those counties which have not yet organized
local boards of health, do so at once, and elect
a superintendent of health. Then let the
physicians of the county report to him at the
end of each month the nature of the diseases
occurring in his practice during the month.
In this way the sujjerintendent will be able to
make his reports to the Secretary of the vState
Board more full and prompt.
The main work of the past year has been
that of organizing and getting the coimties
drawn up in line of battle to meet and repel
our people's deadliest foe—epidemic. Thus
'far forty-three counties have formed local
BULLETIN OF THI-: .VORTH CARQLIXA BOARD OF HEALTH.
hoards of liealth with accessions constantly
coming in. The Legislature has placed $2,000
at the disposal of the Board, to be used in the
event of an epidemic outbreak dangerous to
the public health. This sura can be used only
through the Governor; and that it may be
applied efKcaciously, it is necessary that the
State Boarcl should be kept constantly in-formed
of the nature of diseases existing
throughout the State, and this information
can be had in no other way than through the
practicing physicians in tlie State.
The State Board have undertaken the pub-lication
of this bulletin, with the hope that we
will receive the assistance of the State pro-fession,
and trust we will not be disappointed.
Summary of Reports from County Superin-tendents
for March.
Buncombe—Dr. W. L. Hilliatd reports three
cases typhoid fever with acute bronchitis,
pneumonia and rheumatism prevailing in
city of Asheville and different portions of the
county. He reports the jail as a new build-ing,
the sanitary condition of which is excel-lent.
New buildings are being built for the
poor.
Burke—Dr. J. L. Laxton, Morganton, Su-perintendent.
No report.
Columbus—Dr. I. Jackson, Whiteville, re-ports
one case of whooping-cough, also an ep-idemic
of cholera among hog.s. He says:
"The sanitary condition of the county is the
best I ever knew in the twenty four years I
have« lived and practiced here." There are
only four prisoners confined in jail, and they
were sent from Wilmington, the jail in the
latter place having been destroyed by fire.
The jail has not sufHcient heating arrange-ments
for as cold weather as was experienced
the last winter. The poor-house buildings are
inadequate, but will be replaced soon by build-ings
on the most improved plan. The sani-ta^
ry condition of both is good.
Cleveland—Dr. J. C. Gidney, Shelby, re-ports
whooping-cough and measles as prevail-ing
in some parts of the county. The food
and water served are good, but he mak- s no
report on the space allotted each inmate, or
on the number giving evidence of successful
vaccination, or the nimilier who can read and
write.
Cumberland— Dr. W. C. McDufHe, Fayelte-ville,
reports measles, whooping-cough and
scarlatina. He says, on the principle of "an
ounce of prevention being worth a pound of
cure,"' they are at work, getting sewers and
ditches in good order for the summer. All,
the inmates of jail and poor-house are in good
condition, being furnished with good mat-tresses
and clean blankets, and made to keep
themselves and quarters clean. The asylum
for paupers is now complete, with an imfiroved
"heater" put in last fall.
Catawba—Dr. George H. West, Newton, re-ports
28 cases of scarlatina, 13 of dipththeria,
and 8 of ty[ihoid fever, wilh pneumonia and
catarrhal fever prevailing in Newton and vi-cinity.
At a recent meeting of the County
Board of Health, a sanitary committee of
three was appointed for each village in tiie
county for work duringthe summer. Of over
twenty physicians in the county, he has re-ceived
reports from only four.
Chatham—Dr. John M. Manning, Pitts-boro,
reports one case of measles. Bronchitis
and some few cases of pneumonitis have pre-vailed.
Very little sickness of any kind, and
the sanitary condition of the county, as far as
he has bee'n able to learn, is good. The san-itary
con<lition of jail and poor-house is good.
The heating arrangement of the former was
defective during the very cold .weather. Ef-fort
has been made to have it remedied.
Cherokee—Dr. J. F. Abernathy, Murphy,
reports one case typhoid fever, an epidemic of
cholera among hogs and chickens. He reports
cases of erysipelas in the western portions of
the county.
Durham—Dr. A. G. Carr, Durham, reports
1 case diphtheria, 2 or 3 of whooping-cough,
and some roseola. Sanitary condition is fair.
There are sixteen prisoners confined in the
work-house, which is overcrowded, but is be-
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
ing rapidly enlarged, and then accomnioda-tions
will be ample.
Davidson—Dr. K. L. Payne, Jr., Lexington,
reports 12 cases scarlatina, 11 of dipiitheria, 1
of typlioid fever, 1 of pernicious malaria! fe-ver.
Epidemic whooping-cough and rothelii
prevailing in several portions of the county,
but he has heard of no deaths from either.
Besides the above, the general health of the
county is good. There were probably sixty
more cases of pneumonia occurring in March
than in February. The sanitary condition of
the public buildings is excellent. He com-plains
of the lack of cooperation on the part
of the {)hysicians of the county, only six hav-ing
reported to him.
Edgecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro,
Superintendent. No report.
Franklin—Dr. E. S. Foster, Louisburg, re-ports
the county as "remarkably healthy.
Less sickness fioin what I can learn than has
been the case for many years. Louisburg was
once a sickly place. Now we think it a fine
location for a sanitarium. The ctmdition of
public buildings is good. Am doing all I can
to im{)rove their sanitary condition. Shall
revaccinate all inmates of public buildings as
soon as I can get the vaccine."
Forsyth—Dr. D. M.Dalton, Winston, makes
no report on health of the county, but reports
jail in a very bad condition—bad sewerage,
poorly ventilated, and overcrowded. Action
is being taken to build a new one, and noth-ing
short of that will begin to answer.
Greene—Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill,
reports one case scarlatina. Sanitary condi-tion
of c(3unty tolerably fair.
Guilford—Dr. W. P. Beall, Greensboro, re-ports
no cases of contagious diseases having
occurred during the month. He says he is
trying to interest county physicians in making
reports, and hopes to make a fuller report
next monti). fie reports poor-house in good
condition, but jail overcrowded, each prisoner
having only 200 cubic feet of space. This is
owing to session of Federal Court being held
now, and the number of prisoners will be re-duced
this month.
Gaston—Dr. E. B. Holland, Dallas, makes
no report on prevailing diseases. He says
"few of our best farmers have an eye to the
sanitary condition of their homes. The jail is
a failure for want of ventilation and means
for warming prisoners in winter, and further,
thin brick walls through which prisoners
make their escape from time to time."
Henderson—Dr. J. L. Egerton, Henderson-ville,
reports 2 cases measles and 3 typhoid
fever.
Iredell— Dr. M. W. Hill, Statesville, reports
very little sickness in county. Isolated cases
of pneumonia have occurred at different points,
and whooping-cough has gone over the county
[iretty generally. There is but little sickness
in jail, but thinks its construction and division
not good, viewed from a sanitary standpoint.
Jones—Dr. Rom. A. Whitaker, Trenton,
makes no report on health of county. He has
bean able to arouse but little interest among
the county physicians as yet, but hopes they
will assist him to make fuller reports in the
future.
Johnston—Dr. J. G. Rose, Smithfield, re-ports
" several cases of whooping-cough " with
pneumonia prevailing in most portions of
county. General health of county good.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lawing, Lincolnton, re-ports
several cases of measles and an epidemic
of rabies among dogs. Several persons have
been bitten by dogs supposed to be mad, but
as yet he has not heard that hydrophobia has
been developed in any of them.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rountree, Kinston, re-ports
1 case di[)htheria, 5 typhoid fever, and
1 hemorrhagic malarial fever. The sanitary
condition of county good. Public buildings
are in good condition and well kept.
Macon—Dr. J. M. Lyle, Franklin, reports
no disease dangerous M the {)ublic health as
having occurred. He writes: "I have lived
here continuously for over 30 years, and at
no time have I seen the health of tlie county
better." The sanitary condition of public
buildings is good and needs no improvement.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
McDotvdl—Dr. J. H. Gilkey, Marion, re-ports
tlie sanitary condition of county good,
with no disease of a dangerous nature exist-ing.
Tiie condition of public buildings is
fair, and efforts are being made to improve it.
Madison—Dr. J. K. Hardwicke, Marshall,
makes no report on the general health of the
county. Reports the jail and poor-house as
being in gotxl sanitars' condition.
NorthampLon—Dr. V. S. McNider, J.tckson,
Superintendent. No report.
New Hanovei—Dr. F. W. Potter, Wilming-ton,
reports a few cases measles, many of
whooping-cough, two of scarlatina, and three
of diphtheria. There has been but little
sickness in the country. In the city of Wil-mington
pneumonia has prevailed in the sub-urban,
and catarrhal fever in the damper and
lower portions. Whooping-cough prevalent
but not fatal. Poor-house is in good co'^di-tion.
On account of a probable increase in
the number of inmates, it was thought best to
enlarge it, but no steps have been yet taken in
that directiopi. The jail was burned on the
night of the 2-5th of March. No move has
been made towards rebuilding.
Onslow—Dr. W. J. Montford, Ward's Mill,
reports the health of the county as being as
good as he ever knew it, no disease of a dan-gerous
nature having occurred. The jail,
however, is in bad condition, and he sees no
prospect of having it improved soon. The
condition of the poor-house is good.
Pender—Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw, reports
four cases of typhoid, and two of hemorrhagic
malarial fever, with several cases of diphthe-ria
and of pernicious malarial fever, and an
epidemic of whooping-cough. Malarial fever
has prevailed in the low, marshy portions.
He ha.s found that the month of March has
been peculiar in its tendency to "epidemic
catarrhal fever," and in nearly every case
quinine has been the " sheet anchor " in its
treatment. There is no jail or poor-house in
the county, prisoners iiaving been confined in
Wilmington. The erection of a poor-house
will be begun the first of May next.
P<«—Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville, Super-intendent.
No report.
Richmond—Dr. .J. M. .Stancill, Rockingham,
reports a few cases of whooping-cough. The
sanitary condition of that part of tlie county
is good. The condition of public buildings is
good.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton, re-ports
no diseases of a dangerous nature as
having occurred. Public buildings are in
fair condition, and improvement intended.
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harris, Rutherford-ton,
reports measles prevailing in the north-ern
and eastern portions of county. The san-itary
condition of county is very good indeed.
Rowan—Dr. J. J. Summerell, Salisbury,
reports diphtheria prevailing in western por-tions,
and whooping-c«ugh in Salisbury and
surrounding country. The latter is of mild
form, he having heard of only one death
from it. Many of the negroes in the jail and
also at the pf)or-house have syphilis. The
increase of that disease among that race is ap-palling.
Three of the four sent to the peni-tentiary
after last court had this loathsome
disease. The condition of jail is better than
during the winter, but some arrangement is
needed whereby the drainage pipes can be
flushed every day or two. This has been
[)romised by the commissioners, but not yet
done. There has been an epidemic of pneu-monia
at one of the livery stables in Salisbury
with several deaths.
Sampson—Dr. J. A. Stevens, Clinton, re-ports
an epidemic of cholera among hogs, but
makes no report on the general health of
county. A new poor-house capable of accom-modating
forty-eight paupers has just been
completed and enclosed by a barbed wire fence
eight feet high. He makes no report on the
space allotted prisoners and the number which
can read, etc.
Tyrrell— Dr. Ab. Alexander, Columbia, re-ports
6 cases of measles, 3 of diphtheria, and
7 of typhoid fever. The sanitary condition of
Gum Neck and South Fork townships is very
[MOV, of the other townships better. Will soon
build a new jail to replace the one burned.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Union—Dr. W. C. Ramsay, Monroe, reports
catarrh and pneumonia prevailing. Tliere
has ocenrred no contagions disease of a dan-gerous
nat\ire.
Vance—Dr. John C. Jacobs, Henderson, re-ports
three cases scarlatina and general sani-tary
condition of county good. There is no
jail, house of correct'on or poor-house in the
county, but they will probably be built this
year.
Wayne—Dr. .las. Spicer, Goldsboro, reports
six cases of whooping-cough, and sanitary
condition of county go(jd. The condition of
the jail is shameful beyond excuse. There
are twenty-four prisoners confined in it, and
in the day time when they have the run of
both cells and corridors aggregating 2366 cu-bic
feet, they have only 98 cubic feet to the
person, while at night when they are confined
in the four cells aggregating 1456 cubic feet,
each one has only 61 cubic feet of space.
Warren—Dr. P. J. Macon, Warrenton, re-ports
no contagious diseases as having oc-curred.
There has been a good deal of dengue.
The general health of the county good.
Wake—Dr. Jas. McKee, Raleigh, Superin-tendent,
No report.
Watauga—Dr. W. B. Council!, Boone, re-ports
measles prevailing in the western por-tions
of county. Sanitary condition of county
good. The county authorities will begin a
new jail this year, the present one being badly
situated and unhealthy, and there being no
way to improve its condition. The poor-house
is in good condition.
Wilson—Dr. A. D. Moore, Wilson, reports
no contagious diseases. General sanitary con-dition
good.
BULLI^TIX OK Tli:: NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on
BULLETIN OF THE XOETH CAKOLIN'A JBOAH]> OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails and Poor-Iiouscs by Counties.—(Continued.)
COUNTIES.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails and Poor-bonses by Counties.—(Coxtinved.j
BULLETIN OF THE N<mTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
BULLETIN
NORTH CAROLINA ROARD OF HEALTH.
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington, N. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones, M. D., President, . .Ta.r\)oro. S. H. Ltle, M. D., Franklin.
K. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleigh. W. D. Hilliard, M. D., Asheville.
John McDoxald, M. D., Washington. Pkof. W. G. Simmons Wake Forest.
R. L. F^TNE, M. D., Lexington. ' Arthur Winslow, C. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.
Entered at the post-office at Wilmington, N. C, as second class mail matter.
Vol. I. MAY, 1886. No. 2.
Summary of Reports from County Superin-tendents.
Buncombe—Dr. W. L. Hilliard, Asheville,
reports one case of diptlitheria, with acute
bronchitis and pneumonia, prevailing in city
and different portions of the county. Sanitary
condition of county, as far as known, fairly
good. Sanitary condition of public buildings
is very good. In the building recently erected
for the poor, there are fourteen rooms of the
following dimensions, to-wit: each room is
twelve feet long, twelve feet wide and ten feet
pitch, and is intended to be occupied by two
persons. AH necessary out-bnildings in addi-tion.
Burke—Dr. J. L, Laxton, iMorganton. No
report.
Catawba—Dr. Geoige H. West, Newton, re-ports
five cases whooping-cough, four of scar-latina,
two of dipththeria, and one of typhoid
fever, with rheumatism and pneumonia prev-alent
in Newton and vicinity. There has been
no work done on the streets of Newton and
Hickory for sanitary purposes. It is impossi-sible
to get half of the physicians to send in
reports.
Chatham—Dr. John M. Manning, Pittsboro,
writes: " Roseola and whooping-cough have
prevailed to some extent in various portions
of county. Judging from the little sickness,
the sanitary condition of county must be
good." The jail is a new building and in
good condition. He has recommended to the
Board of Commissioners the advisability of
surrounding the jail with a fence that the
prisoners may be allowed exercise in the open
air.
Cherokee—Dr. A. F. Abernathy, Murphy,
repoits an epidemic of cholera among hogs.
The streets in Murphy are being put in con-dition
to facilitate drainage.
Cleveland—Dr. J. C. Gidney, Shelby, re-ports
measles and whooping-cough prevailing
in all portions of the county. The sanitary
condition of public buildings is good. No re-port
on the number of inmates of jail and
poor-house which can read and write.
Columbus—Dr. I. Jackson, Whiteville, re-ports
one case typhoid fever. No contagious
12 BTTLLETIN OF THE XORTIi CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
disease has prevailed in county. The sanitary
condition is tlie best he has seen it in twenty
years. The sanitary condition of public build-ings
is good. New poor-house to be built
soon.
Cumberland— Dr. W. C. McDufBe, Fayette-ville,
reports twenty cases of measles, four of
ty[)lioid fever, and about one hundred of
whooping-cough. The sanitary condition is
good throughout county, and all necessary
work in town is being pushed before hot
weather. The poor-house and jail are in ex-cellent
condition.
Davidson—Dr. R. L. Payne, Jr.. Lexington,
reports twenty cases whooping-cough, seven
scarlatina, eight diphtheria, four typhoid
fever, and twenty rothelu. Sanitary conditioii
of public buildings good.
Durham—Dr. A. 6. Carr, Durliam, ma-kes
no report on the general health of the county.
He reports the jail as too crowded, but Court
on the 20th will reduce the number. House
of correction very much over-crowded, but
new buildings are being erected, which will
remedy the evil. He reports the number of
inmates in the different places of confinement
who can read and wri nd who give evi-dence
of successful vaccinacion as "unknown."
It should be known and reported.
Edyecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro,
reports no contagious diseases occurring in
county during the month.
Forsyth—Dr. D. N. Dalton, Winston, re-ports
quite a number of cases of whooping-cough.
The health of county generally has
been remarkably good for past month. The
jail is much in need of more and better air.
The other buildings are in good condition.
Franklin—Dr. E. 8. Foster, Louisburg, re-ports
one case of typhoid fever, and the sani-tary
conditioii of county, as far as he can learn,
very good. The sanitary condition of jail
and poor-house is also good.
Gaston—Dr. E. B. Holland, Dallas, reports
two cases measles and six of pernicious mala-rial
fever. The sanitary condition of county
fair. In regard to jail and poor-house, he
says: " No improvement, very defective jail."
Oreene—Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill,
reports two cases diphtheria and one hemor-rhagic
malarial fever. General sanitary con-dition
of county pretty fair.
Guilford—Dr. W. P. Beali, Greensboro,
says he can get no reports fiom the county
physicians, but has heard of very little sick-ness,
except catarrhal troubles. The town is
very healthy now. The sanitary condition of
jail is good. It is over-crowded, but this is
owing to the number of Federal prisoners con-fined
there, and is only temporary. Poor-house
in fair condition. No report on the num-ber
of inmates which can read and write, &c.
Henderson—Dr. J. L. Egerton, Heuderson-ville,
reports two cases measles and one diph-theria.
The sanitary condition of county and
town is good. Sanitary condition of public
buildings is pretty good. No improvement
is being made.
Iredell—Dt. M. W. Hill, Statesville, reports
very little sickness in the county. Whooping-cough
has gone over the county pretty gen-erally.
There has been some scarlatina, but
to what extent he is not informed. The pub-lic
buildings are in pretty fair condition.
There is nothing being done now to iuiprove
them. No definite report as to the number of
inmates which can read and write, and the
number giving evidence of successful vacci-nation.
Johnslon—Dr. J. G. Rose, Smithfield, re-ports
one hundred cases whooping-cough,
thirtv of tyi)hoid fever, and five of hemor-rhagic
malarial fever. Wiiooping-cough and
roseola have prevailed all over the county.
He reports also an epidemic of cholera among
domestic animals. The health of the county
is in the main good. He is pleased to say
that the condition of the jail has been much
improved during April, but will need a good
deal more work. The poor-house is in good
condition.
Jones—Dr. Rom. A. Whitaker, Trenton,
reports four cases of scarlatina.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rountree, Kinston, re-ports
the sanitary condition of county as good,
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH (LA.ROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 13
no diseases of a dangerous character having
occurred.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lawing, Lincolnton,
ruake.s no report on the health or sanitary con-dition
«of county.
Macon—Dr. J. M. Lyle, Franklin, reports
the sanitary condition of county ;ind pnblic
buildings good.
Madison—Dr. J. K. Hardwicke, Marshall,
makes no i-eport on the diseases prevailing in
the county. He says the sanitary condition
of public buildings is good.
McDoivell—Dr. J. H. Gilkey, Marion, re-ports
five cases of measles and six of typhoid
fever, and general sanitary condition of county
good. The sanitary condition of public build-ings
is good, but efforts are being made at
further improvements.
New Hanover—Dv. F. W. Potter, Wilming-tQji,
re[)orts twenty cases of German fever
(rothelu), forty of whooping-cough, two of
diphtheria, two of typhoid fever, two of per-nicious
malarial fever, and one of hemorrhagic
malarial fever. Erysipelas, whooping-cough
and measles have prevailed in most parts of
the city and county. There has been a greater
number of cases of these tliree diseases than in
many years past. He reports also an epi-demic
of hog-cholera. An effort has been
made by the physicians of the County Board
of Health and many other citizens to have
the jail about to be built, to take the place of
the one burned in February last, placed on a
dry healthy site, as the old site was damp and
necessarily unhealthy. The poor-house is to
be enlarged to meet increasing demands.
There are six prisoners confined in house of
correction, each having eight hundred cubic
feet of space. Four give evidence of success-ful
vaccination, and four can read and write
Northampton—Dr. V. S. McNider, Jackson.
No report.
Onslow— T>r. W. J. Montford, Ward's Mill,
6a3'S the sanitary condition of the county was
never belter. No cofitagious diseases have
occurre<I. There has been, however, an epi-demic
of cliolera among domestic animals.
The condition of poor-house is good, but the
jail is in bad condition. He can do but little
towards improvement in the present financial
condition of the county. Makes no report on
the number of prisoners and paupers who can
read and write, &c.
Pender— Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw. No
report received.
Pitt—Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville, reports
" a good many cases of whooping-cough" and
a few cases each of dysentery, pneumonia and
intermittent fever. The general sanitary con-dition
of county is good. The jail is well ven-tilated,
being built of brick, with iron cages
constructed of iron bars crossed, in which
prisoners are confined at night.
Richmond—Dr. .T. M. Stansill, Rockingham,
reports a few cases whooping-cough. General
sanitary condition of county good. The sani-tary
condition of public buildings is good.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton, re-ports
eight cases diphtheria, with sanitary
condition of county good. Public buildings
in a fair condition. Makes no report on the
number of inmates of jail and poor-house who
can read and write, &c.
Rowan—Dr. J. J, Summerell, Salisbury,
reports one case ' tlheria, and whooping-cough
prevailing in nearly every portion of
county. The health of the county is good,
and in the town of Salisbury especially so. The
condition of jail is better than formerly, but
there is yet room for improvement. He has
called the attention of the commissioners to
the need of sick-rooms or hospital at the poor-house,
and they have promised to prepare
such a building in the near future.
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harriss, Rutherford-ton,
reports forty cases of measles occurring
in different parts of the county. He makes
no report on the sanitary condition of public
buildings, nor on the number of inmates who
can read and write, and who give evidence of
successful vaccination.
Sampson—Dr. J. A. Stevens, Clinton, reports
three cases typhoid fever. He reports also
an epidemic of liog-cholera. The jail has
been thoroughly cleansed,, and its sanitary
condition is excellent. The poor-house is all
14 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
that can be wished for and is fast becoming a
county pride. There are two prisoners con-fined
in liouse of correction.
Tyrrell—Dr. Ab. Alexander, Coitimbia, re-ports
three cases of dipiitlieria, and five of ty-phoid
fever. The sanitary condition of county
and public buildings is good.
Union—Dr. W. C. Eanasay, Monroe, reports
no contagious diseases and the county remark-ably
healthy.
Vance—Dr. ^Tohn C. Jacobs, Henderson,
reports two cases of typhoid fever and general
sanitary condition of county good. No jail or
poor-house in the county.
Wake—Dr. Jas. McKee, Raleigh. No re-port
received.
Warren—Dr. P. J. Macon, Warrenton, re-ports
three cases typhoid fever. The sanitary
condition of county is better than known for
years. The public buildings are kept in first-class
order. He says it is impossible to make
good reports, as the physicians do not help at
all. He is having blanks struck ofl'for them
to fill out each month.
Watauga—Dr. W. B. Councill, Boone, re-ports
ten cases measles, forty whooping-cough
and two of typhoid fever. An epidemic of
lung fever has prevailed among horses and
mules to a limited extent. Five or six have
died. The sanitary condition of county is
very good. Have no swamps or low lands,
and being a mountainous country, it is well
drained naturally. The jail is not in a healthy
condition and is very old and dilapidated, but
is well kept. The poor-houses are new and
in fine sanitary condition.
Wayne—Dr. James Spicer, Goldsboro, re-ports
diarrhcea as having prevailed to some
extent.
Wilson—Dr. A. D. Moore, Wilson. No re-port
received. -
The Attorney- General of Indiana has sub-mitted
a reply to the question of the vState
Board of Health, can a physician be required
to report to the Secretary of the Board of
Health all the births and deatlis which may oc-cur
under Ills supervision? He says such a duty
is made obligatory by law within fifteen days
after births and deaths.— The Sanitary News.
County Jails.
Judge Joel Branham, of the Rome (Ga.
'
Circuit, in a recent convei'sation with a jx-porter
of the Atlanta Journal, and c()[)ied in
the Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal, thus
expressed himself on the condition of the
county jails in Georgia:
" A great many of the county jails in Geor-gia
are a disgrace to our civilization. They
are built with no reference whatever to the
comfort of those who may be compelled to oc-cupy
them, while from a sanitary point of
view, they are often hardly fit to be occupied
by animals, let alone human beings. With
few exceptions, they are not furnished with
the means of ventilation, and the bad air
which the prisoners are compelled to breathe
often breeds diseases. Then again many of
them have no provision for being warmed in
cold weather, and much suffering has resulted
from this cause during the past winter. The
law does not seek to punish a man l)y freezing
him, or depriving him of good atmosphere.
For this reason I have made it a point to
charge the grand juries, wherever I have
held court, to carefully investigate the jails,
and see that they are furnished with proper
heating apparatus and the means of ventila-tion.
There should certainly be some State
supervision over all prisoners, both county
and municipal. I have long advocated the
appointment of an inspector of such prisons,
with plenary powers to enforce all laws per-taining
to them."
The words spoken hereof the jails in Geor-gia
by one of the ablest circuit judges of that
Stale, might well have been said of the jails
in North Carolina. By reference to the Bul-letin
for April, it may readily be seen how
large a majority of the jails in the State are
reported in an unsanitary condition, and on
turning to the " Report on Jails and Poor-houses,"
it will appear evident that the jails
of this State also are "often hardly fit to be
occupied by animals, let alone human beings."
We would especially call the attention of
the Board of County Commissioners of Wayne
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 15
county to the condition of the jail at Golds-boro.
This jail contains two corridors aggre-gating
910 cubic feet, and four cells of 364
cubic feet each, making a total of 2366 cubic
feet in the whole jail. As " 700 cubic feet of
respirable air per man, suitably renewed, is as
little as will guarantee the health of each in-mate,"
it will be seen that these cells are only
about half the size they should be to be occu-pied
by one person, yet the Superintendent of
Health of that county rejiorts the horrible
condition oi twenty -five prisoners being crowded
into this prison, which is hardly large enough
for four, and whicii the Wilmington Star, in
an editorial criticising the horrors of the sit-uation
there, likens to the "Black Hole of
Calcutta" ! Nor is this only a temporary con-
I dition of things, the reports for the past four
months showing not less than twenty-three pris-oners
confined there at any time.
Did all the Superintendents do their duty
and re{)ort fully and accurately on the con-
, dition of their county jails, we have no doubt
, that other and as horrible conditions would
! be unveiled. Let the judges of the circuit
I courts follow the example set by .Judge Bran-
I ham, and lay especial stress on that part of
I their charge to the grand juries which relates
j
to the inspection of public buildings fur the
I confinement of prisoners and paupers, and let
the visits of inspection by both grand jury
and Superintendents of Health be made un-expectedly
to the keepers of these institutions,
that they may be taken unawares and not
have time to put their premises in a tempo-rarily
good condition which will mislead the
inspector*;.
Summer, and the indications are for a hot
one, is almost upon us, and something should
and will be done to make the number of pris-oners
confined, and the cubic Sfjace allotted
them, more proportionate; for if the county
authorities do not increase the sjiaee, disease
and death will most assuredly reduce the
I
number of inmates. No right-ihinking man
will hesitate which is the more desirable al-ternative,
even from an economic standpoint,
and certainly the spirit of humanity and
christian civilization should have some influ-ence
in this important matter.
A Word to the County Superintendents of
Health.
During the month of March, a new form for
monthly reports was sent to each Superin-tendent,
with circular letter asking them to
use this new form in the future. As some re-ports
continue to come in on the old blanks,
we again ask them to destroy the old blanks,
and if they have not received any of the new
form, let the Secretary know it, and he will
send some immediately.
Concerning the report on public buildings,
some Superintendents make no report at all,
and some only a partial report. In a few in-stances,
a diagram of the jail, with its cubic
space, has been sent to the Secretary some
months back ; and the Superintendent, instead
of giving each month the space in cubic feet
allotted to each inmate of jail and poor-house,
contents himself with stating the number of
inmates in each, and referring the Secretary
to the diagram sent, that he may figure it out
himself. They should remember that these
reports are filed away, and if the Secretary
had to look back over the reports' from each
county for nine or ten months to find the re-port
containing this measurement, it would be
an endless task. Each Superintendent should
take the measurement of the jail and poor-honse,
and house of correction when there
is one in his county, and keep it in his office
where he can refer to it. In this way he
could very easily fill out his report as it
should be.
A good many Superintendents make no re-port
on the number of inmates giving evidence
of successful vaccination, and the number
which can read and write. There can be no
excuse for this except a failure on the part of
the Superintendent to do his duty. He may
not be able to make perfect reports on the dis-eases
occurring in the county on account of
the non-co-operation of the county profession,
but the report on public buildings comes
within his individual work, and he should not
neglect it.
16 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Lead-Poisoning by Household Utensils.
The German Parliament has now under
consideration a bill that is intended to regu-late
the employment of lead in the manufac-ture
of cooking and other domestic utensils,
and so to diminish the risk of poisoning by
that metal. The provisions of this meas^n-e
forbid the use of vessels containing more than
ten per cent, of lead in their composition for
the above purposes. No alloy with over one
per cent, may be used in coating iron articles
used in cookery. Solder may consist of lead
to one tenth of its amount, but no more.
Enamels into which lead enters are treated
with equal stringency. The effect of tliis bill,
if it be passed, will be to obliterate the legal
existence of pewter and of soft solder as a*
present made, since these alloys contain from
one-half to one-fourth their weight of lead. —Eng. and Mining Journal, March 27th, 1886.
Mistakes in School Architecture.
The Sanitary Neics of March 27th contains
an article' under the above heading from
which the following notes are taken. Mem-bers
of the County Boards of Health and oth-ers
who have at heart the good health of the
children of the State will do well to give these
suggestions their attention.
The school building should never be more
than two stories and basement high. The
ceiling of an ordinary school-room should be
from thirteen to fourteen feet high. The light-ing
of the room should be ample, the window
space never less th'n one fourth of the floor
space. Lighting from two sides should be
from left and rear, but never left and right.
The walls are best of some delicate tint. The
old-time white wall is irritating to the eye.
A hard surface which can be easily washed is
to be recommended. The i-ooni siiould be
about thirty-two feet long and about twenty-six
feet wide. Forty pupils are enough for
one room, and never should the number ex-ceed
fifty. The floor siiould be of hard, pol-.
ished wood which absorbs little, and is easily
cleaned. The above p-oportions would give
each pupil at least twenty square feet of floor
space and three hundred cubic feet of air
space. The ventilation should be perfect. It
should be near the floor. Each pupil sliould
be supplied with 2,000 cubic feet per hour,
and cerlainly not less than 1,500. With a
large number of pupils in one room, this can
only be effected by some mechanical means
—
best by a central ventilating shaft heated by
the smoke-stack and connected with the rooms
by flues. Earth or dry closets should be used,
thoroughly deodorized and frequently emp-tied.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 17
Report on! Jails and Poor-bouses by Counties.
COUNTIES.
18 BULLETIJSr OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails and Poor-bonses by Counties.—(CoNriNUED.)
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA HOARD OF HEALTH. 19
Report on Jails
20 BULLETIN OP^ THE NORTH CAROLINA ROA RD OF HEALTH.
BULLETIN
NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington, N. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones, M. D., President,..-I&rboro.
K. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleigh.
John McDonald, M. D., Washington.
R. L. Payne, M.D., Lexington.
S. H. Ltle, M. D., Frantlin.
W. D. HiLLiARD, M. D., Asheville.
Prof. W. G. Simmons Wake Forest.
Arthur Winslow, C. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.
Entered at the post-office at Wilmington, N. C, as second class mail matter.
Vol. I. JUNE, 1886. No. 3.
Meat.
The Sanitarian for May, in an editorial on
this subject, says:
The selection of food is always important,
but in cholera times especially, and particu-larly
with regard to meats, it behooves all
who do the marketing to be on the scent,
sight, feel, and taste with regard to the first
condition of wholesomeness.
The cooking of meats, with very few ex-ceptions,
is an essential condition of whole-someness.
But no matter how excellent this
art, it should never be allowed to obscure or
deceive the senses. Some "underdone" meats
are more savory, but they are not more whole-some,
while in some cases they involve dan-ger
; for thorough cooking destroys certain
parasites which may have escaped discovery
in the selection of the meat, which survive in
meats underdone. Good meat has but little
odor, and this is not disagreeable; whereas,
the meat of diseased animals, or that which
has been kept too long, smells faint and ca-daverous,
and sometimes has the odor of med-icine,
especially when it is fresh cut, and
soaked for an hour or two in hot water.
Good meat is neither of a pale pinkish color,
nor of a deep purplish tint ; the former is
indicative of disease, and the latter is a sign
that the animal has died from natural causes,
or has been affected with some disease
;
whereas meat that is sound and of a well-fed
animal has a marbled appearance from the
deposition of intercellular fat; to the feel, it
is firm and somewhat elastic, and does not
moisten the fingers; and the internal fat
—
that which lines the ribs and covers the kid-neys—
is hard, suety and dry. On the con-trary,
diseased meat is soft and watery, with
no elasticity ; and the fat often looks like jelly
or sodden parchment, and is sometimes so
moist—especially after it has been kept a day
or two—that water runs from it, and then it
is technically "wet," a pretty sure sign that
it is bad. Under the microscope the fibre of
good meat is well defined and free from infu-sorial
animalcules, while that of diseased
22 BULLETIN OF THE XORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
meat is soaked and tumid, the fibres indistinct
and wide apart, and more or less filled with
minute organisms. The signs of parasitic dis-eases,
however, are not alwaj's well marked,
although the measles or cysticercus of the pig,
and the distoma or fluke of the liver of the
sheep, when present, are easily discovered.
On the other hand, the measle-like cysticerci
of veal and beef, and the-trichinje of pork and
ham, are less easily detected ; but meat affected
with trichinffi may generally be suspected by
its darker hue and excessive moisture, and
especially from its being infiltrated with
bloody serum.
In cooking, good meat shrinks but little
and does not lose much weight; the juice is
always slightly acid, and contains an excess of
phosphate and potash salts. But bad meat
shrivels up, boils to pieces, or " breaks down,"
in consequence of an excess of serum and ge-latinous
substance. Diseased meat is always
more or less likely to disagree with those who
eat it, and it is a mistake to suppose that
cooking is always a corrective, or destroys the
poisonous quality. While trichinae and other
parasites may be and are destroyed by suffi-cient
cooking, the meat' is still unwholesome,
liable to cause cholera morbus and other de-rangements,
though not liable to communicate
the parasitic disease. The flesh of animals
which have died of pleuro-pneumonia and
other febrile diseases is also dangerous, the
opinion of some veterinarians and most
butchers to the contrary notwithstanding.
Organize.
In a letter from a member of the State Sen-ate,
thanking us for a complimentary copy of
the Bulletin, and expressing his wish for
the future prosperity and increased means of
usefulness of the Board of Health, is the fol-lowing
paragraph:
" I regret to see that the malarial counties
of the State—especially those which, here, we
call the trans- Albemarle—take so little inter-est
in the work. Can't you stir them up?"
We are glad to see evidences of interest in
our work, and hope that the readers of the
Bulletin may all see the importance of this
work, and will demand the protection vouch-safed
them by the last Legislature when it
enacted the law—" There shall be an auxiliary
board of health in each county in the State."
See the improved condition of things al-ready
in those counties which have taken ad-vantage
of this law, as shown by the reports
of the county superintendents where the sani-tary
condition and health of the county is
pronounced better than for many years past.
The law does not require that every physician
in the county shall be present at a meeting in
order to organize a local board. One physi-cian,
who has complied with the laws of the
State (and there can surely be found one who
has the interest of his poople at heart), to-gether
with the mayor of the county town, the
chairman of the county commissioners and the
town or county surveyor can constitute a
county board of health, and elect a superin-tendent
of health. Let, then, those counties,
which have no local board of health, proceed
to organize at once; it will not do to delay too
long, for, as may be seen in another column,
the terrible experiences of the last two or
three years in the East are apt to be repeated
this year, and the plague is reported already
nearer than it has yet been to our own, hith-erto,
favored country. Government, in an-ticipation
of the danger which will threaten
us, has organized the revenue cutters into a
coast patrol to guard us against vessels from
infected ports; but we must be on our guard
lo blot out any case which may escape their
vigilance.
At the recent annual meeting of the North
Carolina Board of Health, held in New Bern,
Dr. R. H. Lewis read before the conjoint ses-sion
with the North Carolina Medical Society
a paper on "Care of the Eyes and Ears in
Children," which will soon be published in
pamphlet form for distribution among the
people of the State.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 23
Summary of Reports from County Superin-tendents
of Health for May, 1886.
Buncombe—Dr. W. L. flilliard, Asheville.
Acute bronchitis, measles, whooping-cough
and rothelu have prevailed in city anddifferent
portions of county. Sanitary condition of
county fairly good. Recent heavy rains have
had quite a cleansing and salutary efTect.
Public buildings, especially jail and alms-house,
in good condition.
Burke—Dr. J. L. Laxton, Morganton, re-ports
four cases of measles and three of typhoid
fever. Dysentery and diarrhoea have pre-vailed
slightly. Has not been able to get the
doctors to attend a meeting of the county
board, and has had a report from only one.
Jail and poor-house are in good condition
—
inmates well-fed, rooms clean and comfortable
and well-ventilated.
Caimcba—Dr. George H. West, Newton, re-ports
fifteen cases measles, three whooping-cough
and eleven typhoid fever. Bronchitis,
dysentery and diarrhoea in Newton and vicin-ity.
Three deaths from diarrhoea. The com-missioners
will either repair the present
wooden building for poor-house, or will build
a brick one this summer.
Chatham—Dr. John M. Manning, Pittsboro.
No contagious diseases of any kind have pre-vailed.
The sanitary condition of county
was never better, and the small amount of
sickness is unprecedented.
Cherokee—Dr. J. F. Abernathy, Murphy,
reports no contagious diseases. The sanitary
condition of county the best known for thirty
years. There are no improvements going on
except the destruction of the ailantus trees.
Cleveland— Dr. J. C. Gidney, Shelby. Measles
and whooping-cough have prevailed. Sani-tary
condition of county good. Lacks the
co-operation of the county physicians. The
jail and poor-house are well-kept. Keports
one death from dysentery and two from whoop-ing-
cough.
Columbus—Dr. Isaac Jackson, Whiteville,
reports an epidemic of diarrhoea in many por-tions
of the county. There was never a
healthier time in the county than now. Pub-lic
buildings in good sanitary condition. No
sickness among the inmates. Poor-house will
soon be removed and a better and more com-modious
one erected.
Cumberland—W. C. McDuffie, Fayetteville,
reports fifteen cases measles, thirty whooping-cough,
four scarlatina and four typhoid fever,
and bowel diseases in almost all portions.
Very good sanitary regulations throughout
county and public buildings in excellent con-dition.
Davidson—Dr. R. L. Payne, Jr., Lexington,
reports one hundred cases whooping-cough,
two scarlatina, five diphtheria and three ty-phoid
fever. Rothelu and whooping-cough
have prevailed in nearly all portions of county.
Apart from above-mentioned epidemic dis-eases
(which, as far as he could learn, have
not been fatal), the health of the county is
good. Sanitary condition of jail and poor-house
is good.
Durham—Dr. A. G. Carr, Durham. Dys-entery
has prevailed in county, town and sur-rounding
country. In the town of Durham
they are now doing their spring "cleaning
up." He has been inspecting the town with
a sanitary policeman, and thinks its condition
will compare favorably with any place in the
State. Public buildings in good sanitary con-dition.
New building going up for better ac-commodations.
There are thirteen prisoners
in "house of correction."
Edgecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro.
No report.
Forsyth—Dr. D. N. Dalton, Winston, reports
a good many cases whooping-cough, with a few
complicated deaths. Sanitary condition of
county good. No report the past month from
a single physician. Wojk has been begun on
a new jail.
Franklin—Dr. E. S. Foster, Louisburg.
Whooping-cough has prevailed in different
portions of county. The sanitary condition of
county is good. Physicians will not co-oper-ate.
His efforts to get them to report have
24 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
been futile, but he will continue thena. Pub-lic
buildings in good condition.
Gascon—Dr. E. B. Holland, Dallas. Dys-entery
and malarial fever have prevailed to
some extent. There has been an epidemic of
cholera among fowls. Sanitary condition fair,
both as regards county and public buildings.
Greene—Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill.
Dysentery has prevailed throughout the
county. Several truly malignant cases and
some deaths. Sanitary condition of county
pretty fair. The condition of public build-ings
is good. Efforts are being made to have
poor-house removed to a more eligible loca-tion,
and if this can be done, three neat and
comfortable houses will be erected, which will
be plastered and painted, and be constructed
with a general view to health, convenience, etc.
Guilford—Dr. W. P. Beall, Greensboro.
Measles and dysentery have been prevalent
throughout the county. Physicians fail to
report, but has heard of no serious sickness.
County commissioners have agreed to fit up
sick wards in poor-house and furnish a trained
nurse as soon as one can be secured.
Henderson—J. L. Egertou, Hendersonville,
reports general sanitary condition of county
excellent. No disea'ies of a dangerous char-acter
have occurred. Every one looks to
keeping his premises clean, and the county
doctors keep a sharp eye after them. Both
jail and poor-house are in good condition—neat
and clean.
Iredell—Br. M. W.Hill, Statesville, reports
measles, whooping-cough, scarlatina, dysen-tery
and diarrhoea in his county. The sani-tary
condition of poor-house is good. That of
jail is not so good and cannot be unless some
change in construction be made.
Johnston—Dr. J. G. Rose, Smithfield, re-ports
dysentery in^ almost all portions of
county. Tlie health of county is for the most
part good. Condition of public buildings
moderately good. No improvements are be-ing
attempted except in cleaning the jail.
Jones—Dr. Rom. A. Whitaker, Trenton.
Dysenteric troubles have prevailed through-out
the county. Sanitary condition very good.
No serious sickness except one case pneumo-nia.
The jail is one of the best in the State
and kept in excellent condition. The build-ings
for the poor are not so good, but are fair.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rountree, Kinston, re-ports
sanitary condition of county very good,
no contagious diseases having occurred. The
condition of jail is very good, and the pris-oners
healthy.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lawing, Lincolnton.
Dysentery and cholera morbus have pre-vailed.
Macon—Dr. J. W. Lyie, Franklin, reports
general sanitary condition good. No report
on contagious diseases or public buildings.
Madison—James K. Hardwicke, Marshall.
The general sanitary condition of county good.
Fewer diseases than usual. No contagious
diseases have occurred. Condition of public
buildings good.
McDowell—Dr. J. H. Gilkey, Marion, re-ports
four cases measles, one typhoid fever.
General sanitary condition of couat\' unusu-ally
good. That of public buildings is good
and efibrts at improvement are being made.
New Hanover—Dr. F. W. Potter, Wilming-ton,
reports one case each of typhoid, perni-cious
malarial and hemorrhagic malarial
fever and a great many of whooping-cough
and German measles (rothelu). Sanitary con-dition
of county good. One of the buildings
connected with poor-house is being renovated
and covered with tin. Estimates are being
received for building a new jail. There are
six prisoners confined in house of correction.
Northampton—Dr. V. S. McNider, Jackson.
No report.
Onslow—Dr. W. J. Montford, Ward's Mill.
Health of county continues excellent. No
contagious diseases have occurred during May.
There has been an epidemic of cholera among
hogs. The condition of poor-house is good;
of jail bad.
Pender—Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw, reports
fifty cases rothelu, fifty or more whooping-cough,
four diphtheria, five hemorrhagic ma-
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
larial fever. Malarial fever has prevailed in
the lowlands along river. There is great room
for improvement in the sanitary condition of
county and the commissioners promise every
improvement necessary. The poor-house has
just been opened. The building was not
originally intended for this purpose, but is
very comfortable and in a healthy and beau-tiful
location.
Pitt—Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville. Sev-eral
cases of whooping-cough have occurred.
Dysentery has prevailed to a considerable ex-tent.
There has been an epidemic of hog
cholera. Sanitary condition of poor-house is
good. That of jail is not, owing to the dispo-sition
of excrementitious matter around the
jail, in spite of efforts to stop it.
Richmond—Dr. J. M. Stansill, Rockingham.
The sanitary condition of this section of the
county is good. There has been a number of
cases of dysentery of a mild type and a few
cases of whoopixig-cough. The public build-ings
are in good sanitary condition.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton.
Sanitary condition of county good, no conta-gious
diseases having occurred, save a few
cases of whooping-cough. Public buildings
are in good condition.
^ Rowan—Dr. J. J. Summerell, Salisbury.
There has been good health in most of the
county, except along the river, where pneu-monia
has been prevalent. Many cases of
whooping-cougii and some of typhoid fever
have occurred, and bowel complaints among
children are beginning to appear. The jail
and poor-house are fairly kept and are now
in good condition.
j
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harris, Rutherford-
I
ton, reports no contagious diseases in his own
practice, and has had no report from other
physicians. The county is in pretty good san-itary
condition, also the public buildings.
Sampson—Dr. Jas. A. Stevens, Clinton, says:
"The health of our people has been unusu-ally
good this month. Malarial fevers, diar-rha?
a and dysentery have been the prevailing
diseases during May. The jail and poor-house
are in good condition. There are two
prisoners confined in housaof correction."
Tyrrell—Dr. Ab. Alexander, Columbia, re-ports
twelve cases measles and six typhoid
fever. The sanitary condition of county is
improving. We have very little sickness.
The county commissioners are having a new
jail erected.
Union—Dr. W. C. Ramsay, Monroe. No
contagious diseases have occurred. Diarrhcea
in a mild form has prevailed to a slight extent.
Vance—Dr. John C. Jacobs, Henderson,
reports one case of typhoid fever. He says
the "sanitary condition of the county is good,
as evidenced by the health of the people,
there having been only six deaths during the
month of May."
TFaX-e—Dr. Jas. McKee, Raleigh. No re-port.
Warren—Dr. P. J. Macon, Warrenton, re-ports
"a few cases of typhoid fever." Diar-rhoea,
dysentery and malaria have prevailed
throughout the county. The jail and poor-house
are first-class—disinfected often—plenty
of space, and never crowded.
Watauga—Dr. W. B. Council, Boone. Ten
cases of measles, fifty of whooping-cough and
one typhoid fever have occurred. The county
is in good sanitary condition, and there is
very little sickness of any kind. The poor-house
in good condition, but need anew jail and
hope to get the county authorities to build one
this year.
Wayne—Dr. .lames Spicer, Goldsboro, re-ports
no contagious diseases as having occurred
in May. Diarrhcea and dysentery have pre-vailed.
Thinks in a few months the condition
of jail will be improved.
Wilson—Dr. A. D. Moore, Wilson. No re-port.
26 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Municipal Sanitation.
It is the duty of town authorities to protect
the citizens not only from the attacks of law-less
and predatious individuals, but also from
the ravages of disease-breeding nuisances.
And further, it is not enough for the town to
wait until the existence of such nuisance has
shown itself through its injurious effects and
then proceed to its removal, but action should
be preventive and not merely curative. In
the exercise of authority in such matters in-dividual
and municipal rights are apparently
very often conflicting. Thus the individual
may hold that he has a perfect right to retain
and make use of a leaking and filthy cess-pool
which is remote from any but his own well
and which is not recognized as a nuisance by
neighbors. But it is an undoubted fact that
with certain character of soil and of water flow,
filthy and disease-breeding fluids will be
transported from such a center much farther
than the ordinary individual would imagine
and will contaminate water without the fact
being detected by the taste. Also, the occu-pant
of the house is not the sole user of the
water of his own well. His servants, his
neighbors, his very guests, may become inno-cent
victims of his blind disregard of conse-quences.
Further, what is allowed one must
be allowed all, and the inevitable consequence
is a town riddled with cess-pools and a soil
saturated with filth. And so with other de-tails
of sanitation.
But in many connections the authority of
the town in insisting upon sanitary precau-tions
is undisputed. Thus with regard to the
drinking water, plumbing, drainage and ven-tilation
of hotels and other public buildings
and resorts, it should have perfect right and
power to dictate. It is clearly its duty to lo-cate
and build public wells or other means of
water supply with every regard to public
health and the same with relation to public
disposal of sewage.
It is the custom, frequently, in small towns
which have no sewerage system, for individ-uals
to lay short lines of pipe to carry sewage
from a single house or from a number of
houses to some adjoining small stream. No
such work should be allowed in any town
without plans of the work having first been
submitted to the proper authorities. And
these plans should contain full information as
to location} materials to be used, method of
construction and point of outlet, which should
all be approved by the town before the work
is allowed to be begun, and the town should
further see that the plans are carried out. It
is highly desirable that small towns which are
not at the time prepared to introduce a sewer-age
system, but which contemplate having one
ultimately, should have a plan of sewerage
prepared, so that any such private lines of
pipe as may be laid be made to conform to the
general ultimate plan and need not be dis-turbed
at a later date. A. W.
Owing to an increased subscription list, the
last issue of the Bulletin fell short and a
few who were receiving complimentary copies
did not receive the May number. This will
not occur again, however, and new subscribers
will not be able to get back numbers, but their
subscription will begin from the date it is re-ceived.
As the BcLLETix is published for the in-formation
and instruction of the people, it
should be in every family in the State, and the
price (50 cents a year) is so small as to put it
within the reach of all. Let those who now
receive it show it to their friends and induce
them to subscribe, and in that way, by increas-ing
our printing fund, we will be able to give
more room to those things which would inter-est
the people, and so the Bulletin will
grow in usefulness.
The New Orleans Auxiliary Sanitary Asso-ciation
is doing good work in flushing the
streets and gutters with river-water, which,
besides carrying away filth, reduces tempera-ture.
In consequence of the sanitary precau-tions
of this Association the health of the city
is steadily rising in the scale, and the death-rate
has been correspondingly reduced.
—
Medi-cal
Times.
BULLETIN OF THE XORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 27
Report on
28 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARl) OF HEALTH. 29
Report on Jails
30 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
ITIeteoroIoglcal Report.
BULLETIN
NORTH CAROLINA BOAfiD OF HEALTH.
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington, HI. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones, M. D., President, . .Tarhoro.
R. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleigh.
John McDonald, M. D., Washington.
R. L. Payne, M. D. , Lexington.
S. H. Ltle, M. D., Franklin.
W. D. HiLLiARD, M. D., Asheville.
Prof. W. G. Simmons, Wake Forest.
Arthur Winslow, C. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.
Entered at the post-ofBee at Wilmington, N. C, as second class mail matter.
Vol. I. JULY, 1886. No. 4.
Summary of Reports from County Superin-tendents
of Health for June, 1886.
Buncombe—Dr. W. L. Hilliard, Asheville.
Twenty cases of whooping-cough and two of
pernicious malarial fever, witii diarrhoea and
dysentery prevailing in city and diflferent
portions of county. Sanitary condition of
county fairly good. We have continued wet
weather, unfavorable to health and farming
interests. Sanitary condition of jail and poor-house
is especially good. An appropriation
of §100,000.00 lias been recently made for
supplying the city with water, lights, drain-age,
etc.
Burke—-Dr. J. L. Laxton, Morganton. Five
cases measles and one typhoid fever. Dysen-tery
is prevalent in the eastern portion of
county with several deaths, but can get no def-inite
information, having liad a report from
only one physician in the county. The jail
and poor-houee are well ventilated, and the
prisoners supplied with good water and food
in sufficient quantity.
Cabarrus—Dr. Robert S. Young, Concord.
Dysentery, diarrhoea and malaria to a slight
extent have prevailed. Twelve cases tj'phoid
fever and an epidemic (300 cases) of whoop-ing-
cough have occurred- The condition of
jail has been extremely bad, but, since we are
provided with a magnificent system of water-works,
it will be greatly improved. Our com-missioners
have erected at the poor-house a
nice hospital building, consisting of four large
and well ventilated rooms. Only the sick are
ever sent to this hospital, which is not only a
great convenience to me but a blessing to the
poor. Let me beg all the Superintendents of
Health of sister counties to insist upon the
erection of a suitable building for hospital
purposes at their poor-house or some other
point.
Catawba—Dr. George H. West, Newton.
Twenty-eight cases typhoid fever with dysen-tery
and diarrhoea prevailing in Newton and
vicinity. There lias been .some work done on
streets and the condition of the town is good.
Reports from four physicians show over 200
32 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
cases of dysentery but of a miid type, the mor-tality
being small. The commissioners are
having the jail repaired and put in good con-dition.
Chatham—Dr. Jno. M. Manning, Pittsboro.
No contagi(nis diseases have occurred. Dys-entery,
diarrh(jea and malarial diseases have
prevailetl in many portions nf county. Tiie
sanitary condition of county is not as good as
heretofore owing to the continuous rain. The
public buildings are in good condition.
Cherokee—Dr. J. F. Abernathy, Murphy.
There has been an epidemic of rubeola and a
few cases of pneumonia among children.
With these exceptions the health of our peo-ple
is very good. The space in f)oor-house is
not sufficient for the number of inmates (5),
but an effort will be made at the meeting of
the'commissioners to have an addition built.
Cleveland—T>Y. J. C. Gidney, Shelby. Mea-sles,
whoopi.ig-cough and dysentery in a mild
form have prevailed all through the county.
Columbun—Dr. I. Jackson, Whiteville. The
sanitary condition of county was never better.
An occasional case of malarial fever and some
cases of diarrhoea are reported, but no deaths.
The jail and poor-house are in good sanitary
condition and a new poor-house will be built
in the near future.
Cumberland—Dr. W. C. McDuffie, Fayette-ville.
Six cases of measles, twelve of whoop-ing-
cough and six of typhoid fever have been
reported ; and an epidemic of hog cholera and
meningitis among cattle. Sanitary condition
of county would be excellent, but that many
heavy rains have filled up ditches, etc., to a
great extent. No sickness caused yet. Pub-lic
buildings in good condition.
Davidson—Dr. R. L. Payne, jr., Lexington.
Fifty cases of whooping-cough, six typhoid
fever and five pernicious malarial fever have
occurred. Whooping-cough and dysentery
have prevailed in nearly all portions. Apart
from this the health of county has been good.
I have just succeeded in instituting a sanitary
police of county town, which is suppressing
many nuisances. The condition of public
buildings is good. An effort is being made
(with promise of success) to secure a nurse for
the poor-house and to give a mure varied diet-ary.
The present diet (fat bacon, flour and
coffee) is unsuited for the majority of these
broken down subjects.
Durham—Dr. A. G. Carr, Durham. One
case of scarlatina and several of German
measles have occurred. Dysentery has pre-vailed
throughnut the county, but is now sub-siding.
We are always on the watch for filth,
lack of drainage, etc. When our system of
water-works is completed, we will be able to
have better drainage.
Edgecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro.
Sanitary condition of county good—no cases
of contagious diseases to report. There has
been an epidemic of cholera among chickens
and hogs.
Forsyth—Dr. D. N. Dalton, Winston. Sev-eral
cases of whooping-cough have prevailed.
Pertussis with dysentery and bowel troubles
seem to have prevailed throughout county
;
but not one physician has reported. Sanitary
condition of poor-house is good. Jail is rap-idly
approaching completion.
Franklin—Dr. E. S. Foster, Louisburg. One
case each of pernicious and hemorriiagic ma-larial
fever has been reported. No epidemic
has prevailed. There have been several cases
of pneumonia of a mild type—an unusual
thing. No reports from county physicians.
Sanitary condition of public buildings is very
Gaston—Dr. E. B. Holland, Dallas. Two
cases of pernicious malarial fever have oc-curred.
Dysentery and malarial fever have
prevailed. Sanitary condition of county and
public buildings is fair. No improvements.
(?ree«e— Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill.
Epidemic dysentery, truly malignant in some
cases, has prevailed throughout county. We
are endeavoring to have poor-house moved to
a better location and constructed on a better
and more healthy plan.
Guilford—No report received.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 33
Henderson—Dr. J. L. Eserton, Henderson-ville.
The sanitary condition of county is
reasonably " fair," no contagious diseases hav-ing
occurred. Condition of public buildings
is "fair."
Iredell—Dr. M. W. Hill, Statesville. Twenty
cases of wl)oo[)ing-cough and one of typhoid
fever have been reported. Dysentery lias pre-vailed
to some extent. Condition of poor-house
is good—that of jail not so good owing
to unscientific construction, but there is little
or no sickness among the inmates.
Johnston—Dr. J. G. Rose, Smithfield. Two
cases hemorrhagic, four of pernicious mala-rial,
ten typhoid fever and seventy-five of
measles have been reported. Dysentery and
whooping-cough prevailed in almost all parts
of county. Condition of county is good except
in those portions affected by malaria. The
sanitary condition of jail has been much im-proved
since last report and is now perfect.
Prisoners all healthy. Poor-house is in good
condition and well kept.
Jones—Dr. Rom. A. Whitaker, Trenton.
Sanitary condition of county is good, only one
case typhoid fever being reported. I learn that
whooping-cough has prevailed in the lower
part of county, but to what extent I cannot
state, as I have had no report from that sec-tion.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rountree, Kinston. Two
cases pernicious malarial fever have been
reported. Sanitary condition of county is
good. We have some defective drainage in
the town, but it is being repaired as fast as
the limited resources of the town will permit.
Condition of jail is good—no sick this month.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lawing, Lincolnton.
Several cases of measles have been reported.
Much damage has been done this month by
overflows caused by the continuous heavy
rains. Probably one-half the wheat crop is
destroyed. The public buildings in this
county do not present an attractive appear-ance.
Thej poor-house is a small wooden
structure built on a very cheap plan.
Madison—Dr. Jas. K. Hardwicke, Marshall.
The sanitary condition of county is better than
it has been for same period in ten years.
There has been reported only one case typhoid
fever. Condition of jail and poor-house is
McDowell—Dr. J. H. Gilkey, Marion.
Twenty cases measle-; and one typhoid fever
have been reported. There is considerable
sickness in the county caused by the incessant
rains and eating unhealthy fruits and vegeta-bles.
We had an epidemic of rothelu imme-diately
preceding the regular measles. Sani-tary
condition of public buildings is good and
we shall try and keep it so.
Neiv Hanover—Dr. F. W. Potter, Wilming-ton.
One case of rhemorrhagic malarial, two
of typhoid fever, two of diphtheria and many
of whooping-cough and measles have been
reported. Sanitary condition fair. A general
epidemic of whooping-cough of a most violent
and fatal character has prevailed, but is now
subsiding. Poor-house and house of correc-tion
are in good sanitary condition. The con-tract
for building a new jail on the site of the
old one has been awarded.
Northampton—Dr. V. S. McNider, Jackson.
There has been one case of diphtheria and
much dysentery generally throughout the
county. In the Roanoke river valley much
malarial fever has occurred, caused, doubtless,
by the heavy fresliets covering rank vegeta-tion,
and subsiding, and leaving the residue
to rot in the hot sun. Poor-house in good
condition and the inmates comparatively
healthy.
Onslow—Dr. Wm. Montford, Ward's Mill.
Health of county good. No contagious dis-eases
have occurred. There has been an epi-demic
of cholera among hogs. Poor-house in
good condition. .Jail in bad condition. The
prisoners are now all sick, owing to the damp,
and I may say wet, condition of jail.
Pender—Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw. Six
cases of typhoid fever and a few of pernicious
malarial fever and whooping-cough have
been reported. Sanitary condition of countynot
as good as it should be, owing to the extreme
34 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
wet weatlier. Have had as liigli as four inches
of water fall in twenty-fonr hours. The jjoor-house
is in good condition and is being im-proved
by the coniroissioners in every possi-ble
way.
Pitt—Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville. No
contagious diseases have occurred. Sanitary
condition of county good. Dysentery is still
prevailing to a certain extent. Public build-ings
in good sanitary condition.
Richmond—Dr. J. M. Stansili, Rockingham.
One case typhoid fever in Rockingham. Dys-entery
of a severe type has prevailed in this
section. Some deaths have resulted. Ty-phoid
fever is reported in Laurinbnrg but I
have liad no reports from physicians in that
section. Public buildings in good sanitary
condition.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton. One
case of typhoid fever and some whooping-cough
have been reported. There has been
an epidemic of cholera among swine in most
parts of county. Sanitary condition of county
fair. Hardly a day has passed during the
month without a heavy rain fall. The streams
are all overflowed. Public buildings in good
condition.
Roxvan—Dr. J. J. Suramerell, Salisbury.
Bowel complaint and whooping-cough have
prevailed in nearly all portions. Heavy rains,
high water and constant humidity of the at-mosphere
operate against the sanitary condi-tion
of the county. Intermittent fevers have
begun rather earlier than usual. Dysentery,
in some cases fetal, has appeared in some
neighborhoods.
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harris, Rutherford-ton.
Five cases measles and fifteen dysentery
have occurred. Murrain has prevailed in
western portion of county. Sanitary condition
good. Sixteen days of rain. Condition of
public buildings very good indeed.
Sampson—Dr. J. A. Stevens, Clinton. The
sanitary condition of county is not ver}' good.
Malarial fevers are quite common, and a few
cases of typhoid. Dysentery and diarrhoea
prevail throughout the county and whooping-cough
in upper portions. Condition of public
buildings good. For the first time in twenty
vears there are no prisoners confined in county
jail.
Tyrrell—Dr. Ab. Alexander, Columbia. No
report.
Union—Dr. VV^. C. Ramsay, Monroe. Diar-rhoea
and dysentery have prevailed to some
extent. No contagious diseases have occurred.
Vance—Dr. John C. Jacobs, Henderson.
Two cases scarlatina have occurred. No epi-demic
of any kind.
Wake—Dr. James McKee, Raleigh. No
report.
Warren—Dr. P. J. Macon, Warrenton.
Three cases of typhoid fever reported. Dys-entery
and entero-colitis have prevailed, with
very fatal results in some sections. I attrib-ute
the cause to fruit, vegetables and so much
rain, with hot days and cool nights. The con-dition
of public buildings is good—construc-tion
perfect.
Watauga—Dr. W. B. Councill, Boone.
Whooping-cough of a very mild form has pre-vailed
in some parts of county—no deaths.
Sanitary condition of county is good. That
of poor-house is good. Of jail, not good: and
no efiort has been made to improve the old or
build a new one.
Wayne—Dr. Jas. Spice r, Goldsboro. San-itary
condition of county good. No contagious
diseases have occurred. Dysentery has pre-vailed
in all portions of county. Condition of
public buildings good, except jail.
Wilson—Dr. A. D. Moore, Wilson. No
report.
--»-
The Average Weil-Water.
It is a common belief that when a well is
dug pure spring water, oozing from the
ground, is obtained; that is true in the case
of artesian wells, but, although |)ossible, is
rarely the case in ordinary surface wells, and
under this name are embraced all wells not
more than fifty feet deep. The water obtained
from these wells is merely the water which
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEAI/IH. 35
has fallen on the surface of the ground in
rains, and has percolated the soil and becomes
collected in this excavation. It is called
g;round-water. Even granting that some of
the water may be spring water, some of it
must be the result of drainage, and the amount
of this will depend upon the rain-fall and the
character of the soil. A moment's reflection
will show that welis must act as drains to the
surrounding soil. Just as a wet field may be
dried by digging one or more trenches, into
which the soil may drain and be carried away,
so when a deep trench or well is dug the wa-ter
from the surrounding soil will necessarily
tend to drain into it. This is not only a mat-ter
of reasoning but a matter of experience.
The following case is reported: "In conse-quence
of the escape of the contents of a bar-rel
of petroleum or benzine, which had been
buried in an orchard, a circuit of wells 60
feet below and 250 or 300 yards distant be-came
so affected that the occupiers of fifteen
houses, containing eighty-two inhabitants,
were for ten days unable to use the water for
cooking or drinking." When wells are first
dug in rural districts, the water is pure and
may remain so for a long time. Fortunately
the soil possesses some power of purification,
and although the water may receive polluting
matter on the surface of the ground, some of
this matter is detained mechanically by filtra-tion,
and other portions may be decomposed
and taken up by growing plants and trees.
But this power of the soil is limited. When
the sources of pollution are constant and nu-merous,
as in cities, from privies, cess-pools,
slop-watei', ofl^al and the manure of domestic
animals, and sometimes from leaky and im-perfect
sewers and drains, the soil becomes
"filth sodden," and the filth is carried deeper
and deeper, until finally it appears in our
drinking water. Sanitary literature is full of
instances of the outbreaks of epidemics of
diarrhoeas, typhoid fever and cholera, which
have been traced to the drinking of well-water
thus polluted; and even though the city may
go through one or more years without such
epidemics, it is not a pleasant thought for the
inhabitants to indulge in : that they are drink-ing
the drainage of their privies and cess-pools,
and yet they must realize the idea that
their wells are and must be drains for the sur-rounding
grounds with all its contents that are
capable of solution in water. Science cannot
tell us that a given water is charged witli the
poison of a definite disease, but it can tell us
that it has received the products of decaying
matter from animal sources, and experience
has shown, again and again, that such water is
dangerous to health.
—
Dr. E. J. Marsh in the
Sanitary Monitor.
Fine for Delinquency in sending in Monthly
Reports.
Section eight of the act relating to the Board
of Health requires County Superintendents of
Health to make reports to the Secretary of
the State Board by the 10th of each month,
for the month preceding, and a failure to do
this "shall subject the delinquent to a fine of
one dollar for each day of delinquency, and
this amount shall be deducted from the salary
of the superintendent by the board of county
commissioners, on authenticated statement of
such delinquency by the Secretary of the State
Board of Health.
Sanitary Engineering.
This is the third edition of this valuable
little work edited by Professor William Cain,
C. E., former member of the North Carolina
Board of Health. It has been considerably
enlarged and treats in an interesting and intel-ligible
manner of drainage, ventilation, water
supply, sewerage, etc. It is intended as a
guide for small cities, towns and families wish-ing
to improve their sanitary condition, and
we can recommend it as meeting in a concise
and very practical way the object for which
it was written. It can be had, free of cost, on
application to the Secretary of the State Board
of Health at Wilmington.
I
36 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
The Great Question of the Day.
The late Dr. Samuel D. Gross, the father of
American surgery, used the following words
in an address delivered at the dedication of
the McDowell monnment:
"Young men of America, listen to the voice
of one who has grown old in his profession,
and will probably never address you again, as
he litters a parting word of advice.
"The great question of the day is not this
operation or that, not ovariotomy or lith-otomy,
or a hip-joint amputation, which have
reflected so much glory upon American medi-cine,
but preventive medicine, the hygiene of
our persons, our dwellings, our streets; in a
word, our surroundings, whatever or wherever
they may be, whether in city, town, hamlet, or
country, and the establishment of eflicient town
and State boards of health, through whose
agency we shall be more able to prevent the ori-gin
and fatal effects of what are known as the
zymotic or preventable diseases which carry
so much woe and sorrow into our families, and
often sweep like hurricanes over the earth
destroying millions of human lives in an in-credibly
short time.
"The day has arrived when the people
must be roused to a deeper and more earnest
sense of the people's welfare, and suitable
measures adopted for the protection as well as
fur the better development of their physical,
moral and intellectual powers. This is the
great problem of the day, the (juestion which
you, as the representatives of the rising gene-ration
of physicians, should urge, in season
and out of season, upon the attention of your
fellow-citizens ; tiie question which, above and
beyond all others, should engage your most
serious thoughts and elicit your earnest co-op-eration.
" When this great object shall be obtained ;
when man shall be able to prevent disease, and
to reach, with little or no suffering, his three-score
years and ten, so gra]>bically described
by the Psalmist, then, and not until then, will
the world be a paradise."
—
Scientific American.
Many millions of dollars are annually lost
to the country by disease and death occurring
which could have been prevented; for this
reason this question should be held to be of
the greatest practical importance, not only by
the medical fraternity, but by the political
economist and legislator. Thousands of dol-lars
are spent year after year fur the amelior-ation
of disease after it has attacked the pa-tient.
If a small proportion were projierly
exfiended' in carrying out preventive meas-ures,
the result would be of great benefit to
the poorer classes.
—
Extract from Dr. W. H.
Neivell's Prize Essay in the Sanitary Monitor.
Cabarrus county has organized a Board of
Health, and the Superintendent of Health,
Dr. Robt. S. Young, of Concord, sends in a
full report this month. We hope others, at
present having no local board, may soon
follow suit.
BULLETIN OF THE XORTH CAROLIXA BOARD OF HEALTH. 37
Report on
38 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails and Poor-lionses by Counties.—(Continued.)
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF^ HEALTH. 39
Report on Jails and Poor-bouses by Counties.—(Continued.)
40 BULLETIN OF THE NOIJTH CAFIOLTNA P.OAKD OF HEALTH.
BULLETIN
NiiPUliflilT IJii uAr \
ii A
m
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington, N. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones. M. D., President, . .Tzrhovo.
R. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleigh.
S. H. Ltle, M. D., Franklin.
W. D. HiLLiARD, Ml D., Asheville.
John McDonald, M. D., Washington, j Prof. W. G. Simmons, Wake Forest.
K. L. Payne, M. D., Lexington. i Arthur Winslow, C. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.
Entered at the posl>ofl8ee at Wilmington, N. C, as second class mail matter.
Vol. I. AUGUST, 1886. No. 5.
Summary of Reports from County Superin-tendents
of Health for July, 1886.
Buncombe—Dr. W. L. Hilliard, Asheville.
The sanitary condition of county is pretty
good. Three cases of typhoid fever have oc-curred
and cholera-morbus, diarrlio?a, dysen-tery
and whooping-cough have prevailed over
county generally. The return of fair weather
has brightened the prospect for good crops
and cheered the heart of the farmer. Public
buildings are all in very good sanitary condi-tion.
A large number of workmen are daily
employed in repairing and cleaning streets.
We expect soon to have quite a respectable
looking and smelling little city.
Burke—Dr. J. L. Laxton, Morganton. Six
cases of measles have occurred. There has
been an epidemic of hog cholera in several
localities. The sanitary condition of jail and
poor-house is good. Only one piiysician (Dr.
Moran) reports to me.
Cabarrus—Dr. R. S. Young, Concord. Ten
cases of typhoid fever have occurred. Whoop-ing-
cough has prevailed tiirougliout the county.
It would be impossible to give the number of
cases. It is of a light form, liowever, none
having, as yet, proved fatal. Jail is now sup-plied
with water from water-works, and is in
good sanitary condition. Not one physician
has reported to me for last month.
Catawba—Dr. George H. West, Newton.
Four cases of diphtheria, thirty-nine of ty-phoid,
and two of pernicious malarial fever
have occurred. Dysentery and typhoid fever
have prevailed throughout county. There
has been and still is going on, work on the
streets of Newton, repairing damage caused
by recent heavy rains. The sanitary condi-tion
of town is good, better than it has ever
been, thanks to an efficient sanitary commit-tee,
who inspect back lots and privies every
two weeks. There is less sickness in Newton
than I ever knew. The jail is in splendid
condition. The sewerage is nearly completed,
the walls have all been calcimined, all wood
work painted, and new floors laid. There has
not been a case of continued sickness in jail
this year.
Chatham—Dr. John M. Manning, Pittsboro.
Dysentery, t3'pIio-malarial and intermittent
fever iiave prevailed in many portions of
42 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
county. There has been an epidemic of chol-era
among domestic animals. The sanitary
condition of county needs improvement. That
of public buildings is very good.
Cherokee—Dr. J. F. Abernathy, Murphy.
The sanitary condition of county is not good.
Flux made its ap|iearance in this county last
month. There have occurred about sixty
cases, with six deaths, mostly ciiildren. Twelve
cases of pneumonia, with no deaths, have been
reported. Extreme heat and heavy rains
have prevailed. There has been an epidemic
of quinsy among hogs and gaps among poultry.
Cleveland—Dr. J. C. Gidney, Shelby. A
few cases of measles and one of typhoid fever
have occurred. Whooping-cough is subsiding.
Columbus—Dr. I. Jackson, Whiteville. No
disease of a dangerous nature has occurred
except one of typhoid fever. The sanitary
condition of county is better than it has been
for years at this season. Public buildings are
in good sanitary condition.
Cumberland—Dr.- W. C. McDuffie, Fayette-ville.
There have occurred about one hun-dred
cases of whooping-cough and perhaps
forty of typhoid fever. Little or no fatality.
There has been an epidemic of hog cholera.
We have as good or better sanitary surround-ings
than ever before, especially in town. The
unprecedented rain-fall in June and July
affected the rural districts (where drainage
was deficient) more seriously than it did the
town. The public buildings are in excellent
condition. The grand jury was very compli-mentary
in their report on poor-house, but
found fault with two cells of jail because they
had not been recently whitewashed, &c.
Davidson—Dr. R. L. Payne, Jr., Lexington.
There have occurred eleven cases scarlatina,
ten diphtheria, fifteen typhoid fever, and five
pernicious malarial fever. Whooping-cough
has prevailed in all portions of county, about
150 cases having been reported. Malaria is
unusually rife. There has been an epidemic
of cholera among poultry. The food served
the inmates of poor-house is unsuitable.
Durham—Dr. A. G. Carr, Durham. Some
whooping-cough and typhoid fever have oc-curred.
Typho-malarial fever has prevailed
in many portions of county. The county is in
good sanitary condition. Think there is com-paratively
little sickness. Tlie condition of
public buildings is fair. The mayor has issued
a circular calling on every one to clean up
lots and remove filth. Work-house hands are
hired out to neighboring farmers, so I do not
know whether they are vaccinated or whetlier
they can read or write.
Edgecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro.
No report.
Forsyth—Dr. D. N. Dalton, W'inston. There
has been an epidemic of whooping-cough
throughout the county, and a number of cases
of typhoid fever has occurred. The sanitary
condition of county is good. A new sanitary
police has been created, and we hope to be
benefited much thereby. The sanitary condi-tion
of public buildings is pretty good.
Franklin—Dr. E. S. Foster, Louisburg. No
contagious diseases have occurred. As far as
I can learn, the health of county has been ex-ceptionally
good. The sanitary condition of
jail and poor-house first-rate.
Gaston—Dr. E. B. Holland, Dallas. Mala-rial
fever has prevailed to some extent. The
sanitary condition of county is fair. The con-dition
of public buildings has not been im-proved.
That of jail is bad.
Greene—Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill.
Three cases of whooping-cough and four of
pernicious malarial fever have been reported.
Dysentery has prevailed generally in county.
General sanitary condition of county tolerably
good. Our town has been put in first-rate order.
Remittent fever has been unusually prevalent
in my own section. Some cases pernicious.
Public buildings are well kept and in good
order generally.
Guilford—Dr. Ed. Lindsay, Greensboro.
No report.
Henderson—Dr. J. L. Egerton, Henderson-ville.
No contagious diseases have occurred.
Sanitary condition of public buildings good.
Iredell—Dr. M. W. Hill, Statesville. I have
heard of a few cases of typhoid fever, and
there has been some whooping-cough and
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 43
scarlatina in the country. The poor-house
and surroundings are clean and well kept.
No sickness. The .sanitary condition of jail is
not so good. Not so well constructed or kept.
Still there is tm sickness.
Jolnisloa—Dr. .J. (J. Rose, Siniihfielil. San-iiary
vniiiliciin of cnunty j^odd. Twenty- five
cases of whooping-cough and ten ty piioid fever
reported.
Jones—Dr. R. A. Whitaker, Trenton. Ten
cases of whooping-cough and one pernicious
malarial fever have occurred. The sanitary
condition of county is not so good as last
month. Have had a good many cases of ma-larial
trouble^, especially along the river.
Whooping-cougli has prevailed in lower part
of county.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rountree, Kinston.
Thirteen cases of whooping-cough, two hem-orrhagic
malarial, three pernicious malarial,
and five typhoid fever have occurred. There
lias been an epidemic of cholera among hogs
and poultry. The county is in good sanitary
condition. The condition of jail is as good as
we can get it. No case of disease was reported
to me in July. The town is now very healthy,
and tiie commissioners are still at work on the
sewers.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lawing, Lincolnton.
Four cases uf typhoid fever and some measles
have been reported. There has been but
little sickness in the county during the month
of July. The town of Lincolton is in good
sanitary condition, the streets are clean and
present a nice appearance, and for many
reasons, I can recommend it to healtli-seekers.
Public buildings are in good sanitary con-dition,
but could be improved in construction,
but no efforts are being made in this direction.
Macon—Br. J. M* Lyle, Franklin. Three
cases of measles and one of typhoid fever have
occurred. The sanitary condition of county
was never better. The death rate for past
eight months is lower than ever known to the
oldest inhabitant. Public buildings in good
sanitary condition.
Madison— Dr. J. K. Hardwicke, Marshall.
Cholera-morbus has prevailed in some portions
of county, one death resulting. Weather
cool, healthful and pleasant. One case of
typhoid fever reported. Public buildings in
good sanitary condition.
McDowell— Dr. J. H. Gilkev, Marlon.
Twenty cases of measles reported. Diarrhoea
aiid dysentery liave prevailed in many jxir-tions.
The epidemic of dysentery has been
very hard to control, and a number of cases
have proved fatal. Sanitary condition of jail
good ; of poor-house bad on account of the old
and dilapidated buildings, which it is impos-sible
to keep clean and healthful. Efforts
will be made to get new and better houses con-structed
for the poor.
New Hanover—Dr. F. W. Potter, Wilming-ton.
Four cases whooping-cough, seven scar-latina,
two typhoid and eight pernicious
malarial fever reported. I learn of no special
epidemic from heavy rains, as was feared. A
few cases of diarrhoea have occurred. Sani-tary
condition of public buildings good.
Northampton—Dr. V. S. McNider, Jackson.
No report.
Onslow—Dr. W. J. Montford, Ward's Mill.
Health of county continues good. Some
whooping-cough and some sickness of a bilious
remittent character have occurred. Jail in
bad condition; poor-house in good.
Pender—Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw.
Twenty-seven cases whooping-cough, tliree
typhoid fever and thirty-six pernicious mala-rial
fever reported. Malarial fevers have
prevailed in eastern sections of county. Since
the recent heavy rains, the condition of
county in swampy sections was alarming for
a few days, but ponds have been drained and
the last rains have washed them out, so I think
the health of county will be better. The tem-porary
poor-house is kept as neat and clean as
possible.
Pitt—Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville. No
report.
Richmond—Dr. J. M. Stansill, Rockingham.
Seven cases of typhoid fever have occurred.
The health of the county is moderately good,
very little sickness in the country. The sani-tary
condition of jail is good; that of poor-
44 BULLETIN OF THE XOETH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
house not so good, having had three cases of
typhn-malarial lever among the inmates dur-ing
the month—all improving.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton.
Some whooping-cough has occurred. , The
county is in foir sanitary condition ; some sec-tions
need draining. Public buildings in good
sanitary condition.
Rowan—Dr. J. J. Summerell, Salisbnrj'.
Whooping-cough and typhoid fever have pre-vailed
in many portions of county, with some
deaths from the latter. The health of Salis-bury
has been good. The sanitary condition
of jail is good, but were there more prisoners,
the present means of flushing the sewers would
prove inadequate in dry weather. The com-missioners
still talk and do nothing. The
commissioners have made a start toward
making a better place for the sick at the poor-house.
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harris, Rutherford-ton.
Sanitary condition of county very good.
A few cases of measles have occurred. Public
buildings in very good sanitary condition.
Sampson—Dr. J. A. Stevens, Clinton. Three
cases diphtheria and some whooping-cough
and typhoid fever have occurred. These three
cases of diphtheria occurred in one family in
western part of county. Malarial and typhoid
fever are common ; whooping-cough is of a
severe form, and witJi summer diarrlicea, is
causing a great mortality among children.
The general health of county is not good, that
of town is good. Public buildings are in good
sanitary condition.
Tyrrell—Dr. Ab. Alexander, Columbia.
Twenty-one cases of measles and two of
typhoid fever have occurred. The sanitary
condition of county is better than it has been
for six or eight years. The heavy rains ail
over the county have ruined the crops. Our
poor-house is well kept.
Union—Dr. W. C. Ramsay, Monroe. Two
cases of typhoid fever have occurred. Gen-erally
speaking, Union county is independent
of art for good drainage. The soil is slaty,
the surface rolling, and creeks and branches
run closely between the hills, with but little
bottom land. The sanitary condition of poor-house
is excellent, but the jail is badly con-structed
for health. Prisoners' rooms are all
on third floor and close together, to economize
space. Vaccination has not been practiced here
since the war.
Vance—Dr. John C. Jacobs, Henderson,
There have occurred about fifty cases of
whooping-cough. The health of the county is
good. Little sickness except old and chronic
cases, and some bowel troubles caused by the
advent of melons, fruit, etc.
Wake—Dr. James McKee, Raleigh. No
report.
Warren—One case of typhoid fever and of
pernicious malarial fever have occurred, the
latter being contracted south. Intermitient
and remittent fevers and enteric affections
have prevailed In all portions. There has
been an epidemic of cholera among poultry.
Also, an endemic of dysentery in a small sec-tion
of Shocco township—cause unknown
—
and a few cases of meningitis among children,
some cholera-iufantum, enterocolitis, etc. The
mortality among the colored population is
great, owing to bad hygiene. Condition of
public buildings is good. They are thoroughly
cleansed and disinfected daily. Town has
been thoroughly policed, the streets freed
from grass and weeds, and back lots attended to.
Watauga—Dr. W. B. Council, Boone. Three
cases typhoid fever have occurred. Flux
(fifty or more cases) has prevailed in different
sections of county for the past month. Sani-tary
condition of. poor-house good. That of
jail bad, with no efforts at improvement.
Wayne—Dr. Jas. Spicer, Goldsboro. Sani- '
tary condition of county good, with no conta-gious
diseases to report.
Wilson—Dr. A. D. Moore, Wilson. No
report. -» *
Ventilation of Cellars.
A great mistake is sometimes made in ven-tilating
cellars and milk-hoiises. The object
of ventilation is to keep cellars cool and dry,
but this object often fails being accomplished
by a common mistake, and instead, the cellar
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 4r.
is made both warm ami damp. A cool place
should never be ventilated unless the air ad-mitted
is cooler than the air within, or is at
least as cool as that, or a very little warmer.
The warmer the air, the more moisture it
holds in suspension. Necessarily, the cooler
the air, the more this moisture is condensed
and precipitated. When a cool cellar is aired
on a warm day, the entering air being in
motion appears cool, but as it fills the cellar,
the cooler air with which it becomes mixed
chills it, the moisture is condensed, and dew
is deposited on the cold walls, and may often
be seen running down them in streams. Then
the cellar is damp, and soon becomes mouldy.
To avoid this the windows should only be
opened at night, and late, the last thing before
retiring. There is no need to fear that the
night air is unhealthful—it is as pure as the
air of midday, and is really drier. The cool
air enters the apartment during the night, and
circulates through it. The windows should
be closed before sunrise in the morning, and
kept closed and shaded through the day. If
the air of the cellar is damp, it may be thor-oughly
dried by placing in it a peck of fresh
lime in an open box. A peck of lime will
absorb about seven pounds, or more than three
quarts of water, and in this way a cellar or
milk room may soon be dried, even the hot-test
weather.
—
Scientific American—Sanitary
Neivs.
Fine for Delinquency in sending in Monitily
Reports.
Section eight of the act relating to the Board
of Health requires County Superintendents of
Health to make reports to the Secretary of
the State Board by the 10th of each month,
for the month preceding, and a failure to do
this "shall subject the delinquent to a fine of
one dollar for each day of delinquency, and
this amount shall be deducted from the salary
of the superintendent by the board of county
commissioners, on authenticated statement of
such delinquency by the Secretary of the State
Board of Health."
Unnoticed Dangers.
Far too many houses, both in city and
country, are positively dangerous. Many
city honses stand on made land, or at least
that which was formerly swampy. The foun-dation
walls, when there are any—for houses
often stand on posts alone—are built of solid
masonry, but with no cement either outside or
in. Such walls are porous and soak up water
nearly as rapidly as a sponge. Then it slowly
trickles down the inside, emitting malaria,
forming a fine soil in which all manner of
fungoid growths flourish. The rooms over
such places are first-class disease breeders,
and every home should be frequently exam-ined
to see that this source of danger does not
exist.
Then drain-pipes often leak in the cellar and
basement. This adds to the danger to the
rooms above. The two fiends, stagnant water
from the sewers and the water filtering slowly
in through the walls, work in concert to sap
the life of the little ones, and to fit them to
yield to the first disease.
The walls of the rooms themselves, in f;ir
too many houses, are disease breeders. A
neat and tasty paper upon the wall makes a
room inviting, and adds to the home comfort.
But, unfortunately, even when the paper is
made free from poison, and good paper can be
so made, the paste with which it is attached
is just the home for the minute organisms
which produce certain diseases. This is bad
enough where there is only a single layer of
paper; but when, as is often the case, several
layers of paper and paste are spread upon the
same wall, outside of one another, the danger
is multiplied many times. Such walls are
really masses of festering filth. The best wall
is, undoubtedly, the plain plastered wall.
All cases like these demand caution. Those
who are responsible for the homes cannot be
too careful. The health, often the life, of
loved ones, children pariieularly, depends
upon rigid exclusion of all these lurking
places of disease and breeders of death. Beauty
should be, and is, consistent with perfect safety
in the home.
—
Le Roy F. Griffin, in the Chi-cago
Current—Building.
46 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA bOARD OF HEALTH.
Scarlet Fever from Cow's Milk.
A contagious malady among cows is reported
by Dr. James Cameron, in the London Lancet,
to be prevailing in certain sections of Eng-land.
The exact nature of this disease is not
well understood, but it has been oliserved that
at the time of its greatest prevalence the milk
produced by them disseminated scarlet fever.
The disease is said not to be a new one ; it has
been known among farmers as a contagious
malady under the name of " sore teats," ''blis-tered
teats." etc., but its relation to scarlet
fever has not heretofore been recognized. It
appears that a newly purchased cow suffering
from the disease communicated it to a herd of
one hundred cows, and that coincidenlly with
its spread among the cows, scarlet fever began
to appear among those persons who were con-sumers
of the milk from this dairy. Dr. Cam-eron
observed that newly calved rows are
more susceptible to the disease, and that the
virus is easily communicated to healthy cows
by direct inoculation of the teats through the
medium of the milker's hands. The disease
is described as continuing from four to six
weeks, beginning with a short initiatory, a
dry hacking cough, sore throat in the severer
cases, discharges from the nostrils and eyes,
an eruption on the skin round the eyes and
hindquarters, and vesicles on the teats and
udder easily broken by the milker's hand.
The milk from such cows is described as being
ropy, after it has stood for five or six hours.
-Sanitary Monitor.
X,. j Dr. John H. Ranch, Secretary of the Illin-ois
State Board of Health, gives, in the Sani-tary
News, a review of Asiatic cholera abroad.
The disease is reported in Brittany,- in and
near Treboul, and in Venice, and to have ex-tended
to several important inland towns.
For the week ending May 12th, 52 fresh cases
and 18 deaths were reported in the town and
province of Brindisi. The disease has ex-tended
about seventy miles up the Adriatic
coast to the port town of Bari, where 61 cases
and 21 deaths were reported on May 9th and
10th. For the same week there were reported
at Venice, -63 cases and 25 deaths, and for the
week ending May 18th, 28 deaths; and at
Kari, 79 cases with 32 deaths.
The latest reliable intelligence from Europe
indicates that cholera is still confined to Italy,
the fatal cases occurriilg between May 1st and
June 7th, numbering 266.
"From the foregoing, it will be seen that
the disea.se is gradually spreading, and is
prevalent in various parts of the kingdom, and
its maintained persistence in one or two places
at the two extremes of the peninsula, must
still be regarded as giving ample grounds for
anxiety for the future.
"For the last two weeks no intelligence has
been received in this country concerning the
cholera in Italy. Since the report was writ-ten,
the increase of cases and deaths in and
near Brindisi has been announced, also that
four points in Austro-Hungary had been af-fected.
This may be due to a diminution in
the outbreaks, owing to measures taken to
prevent its spread ; or to the fear that the im-position
of quarantine measures will prevent
travelers from visiting certain parts of Italy
as usual. The latter might be an inducement
to prevent, as far as possible, the publication
of the real situation. Should, however, the
disease remain under control a month longer
(July) as well as it apparently has thus far,
but little apprehension need be felt of its find-ing
a lodgment on this continent during the
present season, though it would still be unsafe
to discontinue the precautionary measures
now being prosecuted. In fact there is danger
to this country as long as there is a case of
chor^ra on the continent of Enrope."
We notice' a paragraph in a State paper
warning people against the use of galvanized
iron pails, it stating that the zinc coating is
readily acted upon, forming a poisonous oxide
of zinc. The zinc, as staled, is dissolved by
the water, forming soluble and insoluble com-pounds,
but that they are injurious to health
is much disputed, and it is generally believed
by authorities that zinc lined pipes or pails
may be safely used.
i
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 47
Report on
48 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails and Poor-houses by Counties.—(Continued.)
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 49
Report on Jails and Poor-lionses by Counties.—(Continued.)
50 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH (^AROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
BULLETIN
ORTH CAROLINA B
52 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
condition of county good. Jail is in fair san-itary
condition but needs repairs. That of
poor-house excellent. Considerable work is
being done on the streets of Shelby, and the
town is consequently healthy.
Columbus—Dr. I. Jackson, Whiteville. Two
cases of typhoid reported. An epidemic of
hog cholera has prevailed, and staggers among
horses and mules. Of the latter, some thirty
or forty have died. From the heavy rains of
June and July we expected much malarial
fever, but it has not yet put in an appearance,
the health of county being very good compared
with previous years. Public buildings in
good condition.
Cumberland—Dr. W. C. McDuflBe, Fayette-ville.
Twenty cases of whooping-cough and
eight typhoid are reported. The sanitary
condition of county is good. Much less sick-ness
during August than for same month last
year. Condition of public buildings is good
—
plenty of room, free ventilation and good
heaters in jail and poor-house. Repairs go-ing
on at the latter place.
Davidson—Dr. R. L. Payne, Jr., Lexington.
Thirty-five cases of whooping-cough, ten of
scarlatina, three diphtheria, six typhoid, and
one pernicious malarial fever have occurred.
Malaria is unusually rife. The epidemic of
whooping-cough is becoming less severe and
extended. There is reason to believe the epi-demic
of scarlatina is spreading, but reports
this month are very imperfect. Condition of
public buildings is good. During the month
a paper on village hygiene was published in
county paper with apparent good efiect. Tiie
people seem awakening to a proper apprecia-tion
of sanitary questions in a most gratifying
way.
Durham—Dr. A. G. Carr, Durham. Whoop-ing-
cough and dysentery have prevailed, with
some typhoid fever. The sanitary condition
of connty is as good as could be expected. I
make one visit at least monthly seeing to the
condition of things and making recommenda-tions.
Our Mayor is always on the lookout
for filth and adopts any suggestions I may
make. From time to time he issues circulars
calling on the people to clean up their prem-ises,
and it is done. Work on streets goes on
at all times.
Edgecombe—Dr. Julian M. Baker, Tarboro.
Tvphoid and malarial fevers have prevailed
in some portions of county. Sanitary condi-tion
good.
Forsyth—Dr. D. N. Dalton, Winston. San-itary
condition of county good. No conta-gious
diseases reported. Condition of poor-house
ordinarily good. Old jail will soon be
vacated for the new.
Franklin—Dr. E. S. Foster, Louisburg.
There have occurred three cases of typhoid
and one of hemorrhagic malarial fever. The
county is in very good sanitary condition.
Malarial fevers of a mild type are more prev-alent
than during the summer. Condition of
public buildings good.
Gaston—Br. E. B. Holland, Dallas. Dys-entery,
typhoid and malarial fevers have pre-vailed.
Sanitary condition of county and
public buildings is fair. No improvements
going on.
Greene—Dr. W. C. Galloway, Snow Hill.
Whooping-cough, diphtheria, typhoid and
pernicious malarial fever have occurred.
Guilford—Dr. E. Lindsay, Greensboro, re-ports
whooping-cough, diphtheria and typhoid
fever." No epidemic except a lack of interest
in board of health matters among the doctors
in the county.
Henderson—No report.
Iredell—Dr. M. W. Hill, Statesville. Ty-phoid
fever and whooping-cough have oc-curred.
There is very little sickness in the
county—some intermittent, remittent and ty-pho-
malarial fever. The condition of poor-house
is good, but of jail not so good, though
there has been some improvement since last
report.
Johnslon—'Dr. J. G. Rose, Smithfield, re-ports
twelve cases whooping-cough, three per-nicious
malarial and twenty typhoid fever
with six deaths from the last named. The
sanitary condition of county is good, that of
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 53
public buildings as nearly perfect as it is pos-sible
to make it.
Jones—Dr. R. A. Whitaker, Trenton. No
report.
Lenoir—Dr. F. M. Rounlree, Kinston, re-ports
a few ca.sies of whooping-cough, diith-theria,
typhoid and pernicious malarial fever
with remittent and intermittent fever very
prevalent in .some portions of county. The
farmers are paying more attention than ever
before to draining their lands, and, as a con-sequence,
there is less malarial fever than
usual. The jail is in good condition and well
kept.
Lincoln—Dr. J. M. Lowing, Lincolnton.
Health of county excellent. Only a few cases
of malarial fever reported. The Mayor issued
a circular notifying the people that a health
oflScer would visit every place on or before
September 1st, and every ten days thereafter,
and any filthy hog-pens, privies or other
things causing ofTensive smells would be re-ported
and the offender prosecuted. No sick-ness,
except chronic cases, in jail or {loor-house.
Macon—Dr. J. M. Lyie, |*'ranklin. Four
cases diphtheria and six typhoid have oc-curred.
The health of county is fairly good,
with no serious diseases prevailing.
Madison—Dr. J. K. Hardwicke, Marshall.
Four cases scarlatina. Sanitary condition of
county and public buildings good.
McDowell—Dr. J. H. Gilkey, Marion. Mea-sles,
diphtheria, typhoid fever and dysentery
have occurred. The sanitary condition of
jail is good, of poor-house bad, on account of
dilapidated buildings which it is impossible
to keep in a healthful condition.
New Hanover—Dr. F. W. Potter, Wilming-ton.
Measles, whooping-cough, scarlatina,
typlioid and pernicious malarial fever have
occurred. Sanitary condition of county good.
That of poor-house and house of correction
good. Work on new jail is being pushed.
Northampton—Dr. V. S. McNider, Jackson.
No report.
Onsloii>—Dr. W. J. Montford, Ward's Mill.
Whooping-cough and malarial fever have oc-curred
to some extent. The health of county
is as good as I ever knew it—better than at
this time last year. Condition of poor-house
fair; of jail, poor.
Pender— Dr. W. T. Ennett, Burgaw. Ty-phoid
fever and whooping-cough have oc-curred—
the latter subsiding. Bilious and
malarial fevers have prevailed in low, swampy
lands. Sanitary condition of county is good,
also of public buildings.
Fill— Dr. J. T. Sledge, Greenville. No
contagious diseases reported. An epidemic of
hog cholera has prevailed. Sanitarv condi-tion
of public buildings good, of county, fair.
A few cases of typhoid and several of inter-mittent
fever have occurred.
Richmond—Dr. J. M. Stansill, Rockingham.
The health of county is good. There is no
sickness of any kind except four cases of ma-larial
fever. Public buildings in good sani-tary
condition.
Robeson—Dr. R. F. Lewis, Lumberton.
Diphtheria has occurred to some extent.
County and public buildings are in fair sani-tarjjf^
ondition.
Rowan—Dr. J. J. Summerell, Salisbury.
Typhoid and malarial fevers have prevailed
—
malarial fevers along the creeks and river
courses as usual at this season, and typhoid in
many places, but not as an epidemic—a case
here and there—some fatal, and without any
ascertained cause or contagion. At the poor-house
work has been begun on a new build-ing,
and the contract for repairing the old
ones has been awarded. The commissioners
are urged by the grand jury to build a small
but convenient hospital there to make super-intendent's
work easier and more efficient.
Rutherford—Dr. E. B. Harris, Rutherford-ton.
No report.
Sampson—Dr. John A. Stevens, Clinton.
The general health of county is fairly good.
Whooping-cough is very prevalent, A good
many cases of malarial fevers, bowel diseases
54 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
among children, and a few cases of typlioid
constitute the principal sickness. Poor-house
in good sanitary condition. Jail should be
improved. Being urged by me, the commis-sioners
have promised to provide a place at
poor-house for the insane until they can be
removed to the asylum.
Tyrrell—Dr. Ab. Alexander, Columbia.
Measles, diphtheria, typhoid, pernicious ma-larial
and hemorrhagic malarial fevers have
occurred. Many hogs have died this month
from cholera. Sanitary condition of poor-house
is good.
Union—Dr. W. C. Ramsay, Monroe. Sani-tary
condition of county generally good. We
have had a few cases of diphtheria, typhoid
and intermittent fever. Condition of poor-house
is good; of jail, not good. No further
efforts at improvement yet.
Vance—Dr. John C. Jacobs, Henderson.
Sanitary condition of county good. There is
more interest being taken in sanitary matters.
Wake—T>r. Jas. McKee, Raleigh. Health
of county good. Eleven cases of whooping-cough
reported. All physicians have been
furnished with postal-card blanks on which
to report to me, and I will probably l^ave
fuller reports next month. Public buildings
in good order. The 65 prisoners in house of
correction have each 108 cubic feet of space.
Warren—Dr. P. J. Macon, Warrenton. The
health of town has been splendid, only a few
chills, and they very amenable to treatment.
Remittent and inte'-mittent fevers have pre-vailed
generally on the fiats. A few cases of
typhoid and two of pernicious malarial fever
have occurred. Condition of public build-ings
good.
TFaicrajrct— Dr. W.B. Council, Boone, reports
twenty cases measles, fifty whooping-cough
and six typhoid. Hemorrhage of bowels or
flux has prevailed in county to an alarming
extent, with about fifty deaths, mostly small
children; only one adult having died from
the disease that I know of. Poor-house is in
good condition, jail bad, and no steps toward
improvement or rebuilding have been taken.
Wayne—Dr. Jas. Spicer, Goidsboro. Sani-tary
conditir>n of county and public buildings
good.
Wihon—Dr. A. D. Mooie, Wilson. No
report.
Yancey—Dr. W. P. Whiltington, Bunis-ville.
Board of health just organized. Re-port
will come in next month.
The Pennsylvania Board of Health in in-vestigating
"Three Simultaneous Epidemics
of Typhoid Fever," found the first caused by
the unsanitary condition of the village, it be-ing
" situated in a kind of basin, the middle
being swampy ground, with but one sewer,
the privies neglected, and the wells exposed to
pollution from them." In the second instance,
the disease seems to have been caused by the
pollution of the Mnnongahela river, from
which south Pittsburgh gets its water supply,
' by several bone-boiling establishments above
the city. The third e{)idemic was among the
employes of the Glasco Iron Co. and " the
source of this outbreak was unquestionably a
well in the company's yard, on which, in
consequence of its supposed superior purity,
all the neighborhood depended for its drink-ing
water." An analysis of the water from
this well showed it to be rich in ammonia,
and the fact was clearly demonstrated that
all of those who were seized with the epi-demic
had drunk of the water from this well,
while none of those who had used water from
other sources exclusively, were attacked.
Those persons doubtful of the wholesome-ness
of their drinking water, by applying to
the Secretary of the State Board of Health,
through the superintendent of health of their
county, can obtain a permit for the analysis
of their water by the State Chemist. Instruc-tions
for preparing and sending samples of
water for analysis are printed on the permit.
Persiins sending samples of water to be an-alyzed
will receive from the Chemist the re-sult
of the analysis, and they are requested
to send a copy of this result to the Secretary
for the use and information of the Board.
BULLETIN OP THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 55
Damp Cellars.
Tlie importance of having dry cellars can-not
be too strongly urged upon the people.
We recently visited an afHicted family at
Phcenix Park (near Pottsville, Pa.), where
five members of the family were sick with a
typhoid disease, and two had died, making
seven cases in all. We made a very thorough
examination of this house, had the drinking
water analyzed, and were forced by exclusion
to the conclusion that the sickness in this
case was caused by a damp cellar.
A stream from a worked-out mine kept
the locality marshy and the cellar wet. To
obviate this a drain iiad been run from the
cellar to a neighboring creek. This drain
had been stopped and some inches of water
had accumulated in the cellar. Had this
family known that dynamite was in the cel-lar,
tliey would not have slept easily until it
was removed ; but with this insidious foe to
life and health they ate and slept contentedly
until the favorite child, a boy of eleven, was
taken ill'and died. Then, suspecting the damp
cellar, the drain was cleaned out; but it was
too late, the mischief was done, the family
was infected, and all of the children had the
disease. As I looked at the bereaved and
saddened mother, I could but pity her want
of knowledge that had brought such afHiction.
The doctor could not cure, but the parents could
have prevented. Do not live over a damp cel-lar
for one hour.
—
The Annals of Hygiene.
Yancey county sends in, this month, notice
of the organization of aboard of health, with
Dr. W. P. Whittington, of Burnsville, as su-perintendent
of heahh.
Let the good work go on, and let the eas-tern
counties, which have been rather slow to
take hold, come to the front, and show their
willingness, which we know they have, to aid
in keeping out preventable diseases from the
State and promoting the health of their cit-izens.
Influence of Sewerage and Water Supply on
the Death-rate in Cities.
At this period when so many of the towns
of this and other Southern States are contem-plating
the inti-oduction of systems of sewer-age
and water supply, and when, therefore,
the advantages which are to be derived are
earnestly considered and discussed, a paper
bearing the above title, which was read by Mr.
Erwin F. Smith at the Sanitary Convention
held at Ypsilanti, Michigan, June 30th and
July 1st, 1885, deserves to be carefully studied.
Space will not permit the full review of this
paper which its value and the importance of
the subject treated deserve.
The general propositions which he concludes
to be clearly deducible from the data at his
disposal are the following :
1. Typhoid fever and cholera decrease in
proportion as a city is well sewered.
2. There is no direct relation between diph-theria
and sewers.
3. The general death-rate falls after the
sewering of a city, and, other things being
equal, never again reaches the maximum of
its^ti-sewered condition.
-^The cost of building and maintaining
sanitary works is inconsiderable in compari-son
with the direct pecuniary loss, by sickness
and death, which their absence entails.
These results Mr. Smith deduces from sta-tistics
of numerous cities and towns both in
this country and abroad, and these statistics
and their analysis occupy over eighty octavo
pages. The statistics from Frankfort are par-ticularly
striking. In 1870 when only 49
water-closets were in use, the typlioid mortal-ity
was 5.9. B>om that time to 1874 the num-ber
of closets increased to over 7,000, but the
mortality showed no decrease, but in 1874, in
fact, made a rapid jump to 11.3. From that
date, however, the rate diminished steadily
and in 1879 with about 20,000 closets in use,
the mortality had reached 2.2 and in 1884
was reduced to 1.2.
56 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Studying the subject by groups of cities in
European countries, he finds the highest ty-phoid
mortality in the least perfectly sewered
countries ; and in turn, from groups to indi-vidual
cities he finds the highest mortality in
those in which the greatest carelessness pre-vails
as to the disposal of the night soil.
With regard to cholera, he deduces the fol-lowing
general propositions:
1. Unsewered cities sufTer severely ; sew-ered
cities escape, or suffer chiefly in the un-sewered
districts
;
2. A pure and abundant water supply is a
gieat safeguard ;
3. Cesspools, privy pits and stagnant drains
are sources of great danger;
4. Localities subject to typhoid fever are
the ones likely to be visited by cholera;
5. The cholera-scourged cities of one epi-demic
are usually those of the next epidemic,
unless, meantime, there has been marked san-itary
improvement.
In relation to diphtheria, he argues and
maintains that "there is no direct relation
between sewers and diphtheria." ^
The following table is taken verbatim from
this paper as a general illustration of th^n-fluence
of sewers upon the annual death-rate
of cities. As Mr. Smith .states, it cannot, by
itself, be used as a conclusive argument in
favor of sewers, but is of interest in connec-tion
with the argument already advanced.
Mean Annual Death-rate in Sewered and Un-sevjered
Cities in Recent Years.
UNSEWEKED CITIES.
Period inclnded. j^^'^-^?^
33.4
City.
SEWERED CITIES.
Period included. i£n'l.^" 1000 living.
22.7
City.
New Orleans, 20 years, 18t)5-'84
Baltimore, 15 " 1870-'84, 25.3
Charleston, S.C, 5 " 1880-'84, 34.6
Mexico, 2 " 1876-'78, 52.0
Madrid, 1881, 37.0
Marseilles, 5 " 1880-'84, 31.0
Naples, 7 " 1878-'84, 32.8
Turin, 20 " 1865-'84, 27.2
Palermo 7 " 1878-'84, 24.5
Budapest, 10 " 1870-'79, 42.7
Moscow, 2 " 1879-'80, 39.9
Riga, 13 " 1870-'82, ' 28.8
St. Petersburg, Recent years, 40.0
Pekin, " " 50.0
Cairo, " " 37.0
Average 35.8
London, 20 years, 1865-'84,
20 large English
cities, 10 " 1869-'78, 24.9
Glasgow, 10 " 1871-'80, 28.1
Edinburgh, Average of 5 years
between 1874 and '84, 20.9
Brussels, 10 years, 1875-'84, 26.3
Berlin, 15 " 1870-'84, 30.5
Breslan, 10 " lS75-'84, 31.7
Hamburg, 10 " " 25.0
DaiJtzic, 10 " " 28.9
Frankfort, 20 " 1865-'84, 20.4
Munich, 10 " 1875-'84, 33.7
New York, 20 " 1865-'84, 28.0
Brooklyn, 15 " 1870-'84, 24.1
Boston, 20 " 1865-'84, 23.9
Chicago, 20 " " 21.5
Average 26.0
In future numbers of the Bulletin fur-ther
extracts from this very valuable article
will be given. A. W.
F/ne for Delinquency in sending in Monthly
Reports.
Section eight of the act relating to the Board
of Health requires County Superintendents of
Health to make reports to the Secretary of
the State Board by the 10th of each month,
for the month preceding, and a failure to do
this "shall subject the delinquent to a fine of
one dollar for each day of delinquency, and
this amount shall be deducted from the salary
of the superintendent by the board of county
commissioners, on authenticated statement of
such delinquency by the Secretary of the State
Board of Health'."
So large are the possibilities for evil which
may result from the use of milk taken from
animals improperly fed, either through de-sign
or carelessness, that it is not too much to
ask that all public dairy farms should be
placed under sanitary supervision, and that
the food and quarters of all cattle, whose milk
is offered for sale, should he regularly inspec-ted
by officials appointed for the purpose. —Scientific American.
In the July number of the Bulletin, in
the meteorological report, the report credited
to Wake Forest should be credited to Chapel
Hill. There was no report from the former
station. Prof. W. G. Simmons, the voluntary
observer, being absent during the month of
July.
BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH. 57
Report on
58 BULLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARp OF HEALTH.
Report on Jails
BITLLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OP^ HEALTH. 59
Report on Jails and Poor-Iioiises by Counties.—(Continued.)
*
60 BTTLLETIN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF HEALTH.
Meteorological Report.
STATIONS.
Smithville..
Hatteras....
Knoxville(Tenn.)
TEMPERATURE.
77.4
7.'i.5
74.8
Charlotte 7.5.1
Fort Macon 76.5
Lynchburg (Va.) 73.8
Cliapel Hill
j
75.9
I
Kittv Hawk |
74.9
87.0
84.3
93.2
92.8
86.5
91.8
90.0
90.5
58.81 22
05.51 4
17' 58.2: 18
Wilmington 77.0 92.8
Average I 75.6! 90.5
56.41 21
64.9
j
22
57.3 21
55.0
j
23
65.6
1
3
60.21 22
60.2!
O
28.2' 1 20.8
18.8; 8.7! 12.3
35.0; 19.2 26.2
36.4i 19.9! 25.6
19.4
25.6
32.0
19.7
21.9
21.6
BULLETIN
MO , Ulllll uCAROLINA BOARD OF HEA
m
Published Monthly at the Office of the Secretary of the Board, at Wilmington, N. C.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.
J. W. Jones, M. D., President,.. Tarboro.
|
8. H. Ltle, M. D., Franklin.
K. H. Lewis, M. D., Raleish. W. D. Hilliard, M. D., Asheville.
John McDonald, M. D., Wasblagton. Prof. W. G. Simmons, Wake Forest.
K. L. Payne, M.D., Lexington. Arthur Winslow, C. E., Raleigh.
Thomas F. Wood, M. D., Secretary and Treasurer, Wilmington.