Newspaper Page Text
Detailed Annual Repoi t
of Walker County Health
Commissioner For 1923
The following table exhibits the
number of cases of each of the infec
tious or reportable diaaasaa •• sent
in to the county health offiee for the
past two years. The Kllis health law
has been in operation in Walker about
four years but for a time, even in'.the
early part of 1981, the doctors did
not report regularly, or sent their
cards direct to the state office:
1922 1923
Chicken pox 5 7
Diphtheria .24 15
Dysentery 13 10
Gonorrhea 7 6
Influenza 134 120
Malaria ,11 6
Measles 0 91
Mumps 2
Pneumonia 17 46
Pellagra 4 0
Infantile Paralysis . .0 1
Small pox 0 4
Syphilis 3 5
Septic sore throat 11
Scarlet fever 16 14
Tuberculosis 20 15
Typhoid fever 14 1 j
Whooping cough 0 5 j
We are certain that numerous cases ;
of influenza in both years and many i
of measles in 1923, as well as num
bers of other lighter infections, were
never reported but the more serious
affections like pneumonia, typhoid,
diphtheria and tuberculosis have gen
erally been sent in, we believe. A few
cases of malarial fever reported each
year were diagnosed by clinical
symptoms, never confirmed, so far as
we could learn by microscopic test.
The most serious fault of our re
porting system and practice is in con
nection with the veneral diseases
which not being required by name but
by number, are usually neglected. In
two instances parties have been jail
ed and treated until sterile and two
children, two and one half and five
years old respectively, infected
through a vile prostitute, were dis
covered and treatment enforced by
several visits of the commissioner.
These diseases are undermining the
physical and moral strength of a
considerable proportion of the people
to an extent which, if revealed, would
be shocking to the body of our res
pectable citizens. ,Speed the day when
our legislature will pass a law re
quiring u certificate of health before
a marriage license shall be issued.
Following ure the deaths and their
causes as reported to the health office
for the years 1922-1923.
Cause 1922-1923
Diphtheria 3 0
Dysentery .11
Influenza 3 9
Malaria .•. 1 0
Meningitis 3 0
Measles 0 2
Pellagra .3 1
Pneumonia 17 22
Typhoid fever 1 2
Tuberculosis 22 20j
Whooping cough 0 1 I
Due to infectious diseases 54 60
Due to other causes 124 124
Total deaths 178 184
In the year 1923 only, deaths from j
"other causes” were as follows: ap- i
pond iritis, angina pectoris, arterio-1
sclerosis, gastritis, abdominal tumor, |
atelectasis, diarrhea, diabetes, drown
ing, prostatitis, erysipelas, gastritis, I
gastric ulcer, gunshot, hanging, eho
lectystitis, looked bowel, pernicious (
Anaemia, pleurisy, perotinitis, rheu- ;
mutism, uraemia, of each one death; |
apoplexy, burns, bronchitis, hernor-!
rhaire, jaundice, premature birth, of
each two deaths; cancer, paralysis 1
senility, of each three deaths; cholera
infantum and childbirth, of each four
deaths; heart disease, eleven deaths;
still birth, fifteen deaths; unknown,
thirty four deaths.
Os the two deaths reported from
typhoid in the table above, one, a
school boy, was taken suddenly ill
and died at the end of the first week
without distinctive clinical symptoms,
no laboratory test having been made, I
the attending doctor expressing a
doubt about the real character of the
case; the other was cHnrallv tvphoid
but showed a negative Widal. Neither
of these cases was reported before
death, hence the discrepancy in the
tables, as these two cases do not ap- |
pear in the morbidity report. The one '
case of typhoid shown in the table
of <1 eases was u young boy who re
covered after four weeks, having run
a _ >er typical course, the diagnosis
confirmed by positive diaxo. This one
C4ise trait rtHivt'i'wl, then, is actually
the only absolutely undisputed case
o f typhoid fever that oc
curred in the county during 1923. a
showing which contrasts favorably
with that of the preceding year when
fourteen cases and one death were re
ported.
Diphtheria is another item worthy
of notice in both the morbidity and
mortality tables. Fifteen cases and
no deaths in 1923 against twentyfour
aas ‘s and th-.ee deaths for the preeed
in -nr. a* least smn»«*ts that the
nearly seven hundred immunisations
done, for the most part, in the early
f.' f the last year have had some
influence in bringing about the less
a«d prevalence of this disease which
a. i be seen, is doing more harm
tha any other infection susceptible to
ah«e!ute r -*trol.
Work In The School* During 1923
Number of children examined . 2039
Number eh dren found defective 1406
Total number of defects found 2118
ji.. above defects are divided as
*uowb,
Defects of Throat—Usually tonsili
who are more than 10 per cent under
the standard weight for children of
their age ad height 501
Defects of Vision—Errors of re
fraction of one or both eyes to a de
gree that impedes the progress of the
child or that is liable to lead to fur
ther harm if not corrected by glasses
Defects of Throat—Usually tonsili
tis suffciently marked to demand im
mediate attention or render it pru
dent to consult a doctor and often as
sociated with adenoids 347
Defects of Eye—Other than refrac
tion errors 29
Defects of Teeth—Not always de
cayed teeth but in some instances ir
regular organs needing correction or
often a foul mouth and teeth covered
with tartar needing attention J 055
In addition to defects named above
there were a few of hearing and con- j
siderable number of nasal obstruction
often due to adenoids alluded to
above as generally associated with
disease of the faucial tonsils. Another
frequent and serious defect, not tab
ulated, nor often reported in our work
is bad posture.
During the year we have made 147'
talks in the schools, the att indance ;
aggregating 8589.
Subjects of the Talks: The marvel-I
ous discoveries in medicine in the last
forty years that have dispelled the i
mystery which, prior to that time, was
always associated with sickness and
that have rendered many of opr most
serious diseases subject to partial or
complete control by easily understood
effort, have been discussed, for in
stance, how malaria, a few years ago
the most common disease with us, has
now been eliminated from the country
by destruction or screening out of the
mosquito, the only agent that can in
fect us with the germ; how typhoid
fever has been much reduced, and can
be entirely eradicated, by the proper
disposal in sanitary privies of human
excreta the only source of the typhoid
germ; how the toll of consumption
has been shut off more than half in
forty years, even reduced to less than
one seventh its former mortality in
some limited portions off our country
that are diligent in enforcing the now
well known means of prevention; how
diphtheria is being rapidly eliminated
by inoculation, smallpox kept sup
pressed by vaccination, and similar
topics that secure the interest of
school children, give them practical
knowledge and enlist their co-oper
ation in the suppression of disease.
An effort has been made to teach
children that no one has the moral—
and should not be allowed the legal
—right to scatter disease-producing
germs that cause others sickness,, ex
pense and death any more than he
possesses that same right to shoot
bullets into people, which is followed
by no worse result?.
Many of the talks have been given
to the discussion of the defects listed
above. It has been pointed out that
underweight, now so common as to be
alarming, which lowers resistance to
disease and often results in inefficien
cy both physical and mental, may be
due to improper or insufficient food,
to a defect that may be removable or
to some injurious habit as the use of
tobacco; the disinclination to study,
actual suffering, and consequent fail
ure to progress in school, resulting
from eye strain have been described;
a diseased suppurating tonsil buried
in the soft tissues of the throat gen
erates poisonous matter which is tak
en up by the blood and distributee!
throughout the body very much as a
dead body in the spring pollutes the
whole stream, thus causing t'heunia
tism, heart and kidney disease and
many other serious conditions. We
have tried to emphasize the impor
tance of mouth hygeine. The repul-1
sive appearance of unclean teeth, foul I
odor, toothache and even difficult !
mastication are of little importance
compared with the serious injury re
sulting from a deeply buried
I suppurating tooth and the immediate
entrance into the blood of disease pro
during germs often found in the
mouth, through breaks in the gums
always present when the teeth are
diseased, and unkept. Another serious
defect, but little noticed in our reports
j which we have tried to impress on the
: children as a serious matter, is had
posture. Here again the children have
b.'en taught that by the correction of
this (19 ect not the securing of better
looks, but the avoiding of most seri
i mw cijpsequenees, is the object sought.
By counting the pulse rate at the
wrist when in bad posture and again
when in good posture, that is with
the head and shoulders up and the
lungs fully inflated around the heart,
thus giving it freer action and noting
the less rapid rate in the latter pos
ture, they have been made to see how
that vital organ by imposition may be
worn out perhaps years before nature
intended that its life should cease.
Also it has been explained how bad
j 9 l 'stu: I results in constipation with
I I if* attendnat evils, all of which can
1 easily be avoided and life undoubted
ly prolonged and general health and
efficiency increased by correction of
this exhausting defect by means of
proper breathing which has been ex
plained to them.
The above synopsis, though not com
1 plete, affords some idea of what has
been attempted in the schools along
educational lines.
Three hundred and seventy five bul
letins have been distributed to riti
zens and thirty six newspaper articles
published.
Walker County Messenger, January 11, 1924.
During the year the commissioner
has made ninety nine visits to com
municable diseases.
Immunizations:
Complete typhoid 1376
(Three injections each)
Complete diphtheria 663
(Three injections each)
Protective antitoxin cases 7
Antismallpox vaccinations 121
In addition to the above completed
immunizations a considerable number
have received either one or two in
jections, discontinuing before the third
treatment was reached.
Births and Deaths Reported
Births 474
Deaths 184
laboratory
Specimens examined 117
Specimens State Laboratory . 3
Water samples examined 362
Water samples to state laboratory 35
Our local laboratory is very limited,
only a good microscope and a few ac
cessories, sufficient, however, to en
able us to make a number of the most
important examinations, as those for
tuberculosis and diphtheria and a few
others. Water examinations in the lo
cal laboratory are only chemical tests
of chlorinated water, all bacteriologi
cal examinations being made for us
by the State Board of Health.
The principal advantages of the
home laboratory are convenience and
quick service to the county doctors
and the facility with which we can
keep up with the quarantined cases,
knowing just when to release them
without being a menace to the coun
try. Due to this cause—too early re
lease—no doubt many epidemics of
diphtheria have been disastrous
which with our present day manage
ment would have been mild.
Sanitation
Inspections of dairies 49
Inspections of stores 512
Inspections of eating places 92
Examination of food handlers ... 31
Ponds drained 3
Homes screened 185
Inspections of private premises 2980
Inspections of schools and other
public buildings *. 137
Inspections of camps 8
Inspections of swmiming pools 9
Complaints investigated 57
Sanitary Privies Installed
Rural 104
Urban 329
Privies Restored To Sanitary Type
Rural 13
Urban, 70
Septic Tanks Installed
Rural 10
Urban 33
New Water and Sewer Connections
Water 177
Sewer 192
Wells improved 7
Springs improved 4
Dairies Improved 49
Stores improved 19
Eating places improved 17
Premises improved 376
Schools improved 16
Camps improved 4
Swimming pools 3
Nuisances abated 248
The four incorporated towns in the
county, LaFayette, Lanwood, Chicka-1
mauga and Rcssville, all have sanita
ry ordinances but with the exception
of 1-a Fayette they do not own their
sewer systems nor are these com- j
plete, the mills in the different places
having installed partial systems. Sani- j
tation is improving in all these towns,
LaFayette, though possessing a good
sewer system, still allowing the exist
ence of a larger number of open pri-j
vies perhaps, than any of the others.!
The prospects seem good for a tho-!
rough sanitation of all these places
during 1924.
It happens occasionally that a citi
zen installs a Kentucky type of closet,
very rarely that one considers raising
I water into his house and putting in a
j septic tank but the dirt pit, on account
!°f it* efficency, the satsfaction it is
generally giving and its cheapness, is
the type of privy we have been push
ing for the rural districts and the un
sewered parts of the towns. Senti
ment in favor of sanitation through
out the country is constantly gaining
ground.
Walker is a limestone county, which
though it has 434 square miles of
surface has no streams entering it
from the surrounding counties. This
means that its, whole water supply is
| from springs and wells that consist of
I rain that has fallen within its boun-'
! dam* which, after washing clean the
1 ground, gathering up much of the
I bacteria which has grown or been de-
I posited thereon, harmless and harm
ful alike, and bearing these w.th it
disappears beneath the surface, enters
the numerous channels in the lime
rock Mow and in a very* short time
reappears at one of our springs, clear
and sparkling, but laden wi.h the
bacteria which it tenaciously ri ains
Unless the surface is kept free ;-om
deposits containing disease-produL ng
germs, the danger of distribution of
them and consequently of extensi e
epidemics of sickness, is much grea.”
er than the same condition would pre
sent in a sandy country. A deposit of
typhoid containing excreta on one of
our mountain tops can possibly reach
a valley spring within a few days.
Samples of water from public
springs are sent regularly to the
state laboratory in Atlanta for ex
amination. Always these samples con
tain bacteria, occasionally hundreds
of them to the teaspoonful, and these
do not gat into Che water at the place
where it issues from the surface but
have been brought there often from
some distant point. Everyone who
drinks water from a spring or well,
especially in this limestone country,
is especially interested in sanitation
for miles around him. '
To encourage still more the instal
lation of sanitary closets, Mr. Leigh
has fitted up at his own expense, a 1
small shop in the heating room of the '
courthouse where on rainy days he is
making seats for dirt pits and fur
nishing them to citizens, so far as he
can supply them, at cost of material,
work not included.
Personnel
The budget provided for only two
employees, a Commissioner of Health
who is appointed also Field Agent by 1
the United States Public Health Ser
vice and is in part compensated by
that Service, and an Inspector U. S.
P. H. S. whose salary, but not trav
eling expenses, is paid direct from
Washington. The Health office re
quires such constant attention, copy
ing and filing reports, keeping rec
ords, answering inquiries, keeping in
date, preserving from deterioation bi
ologicals, receiving specimens for ex
amination, being ready at any time
to deliver antitoxin and other prepa
rations, besides looking after many
other details, that the present Com
• missioner realized at once that he
jcould not achieve satisfactory results
in the field, where the work is unlim
; ited, and exceedingly important, if he
were hampered with the office duties
and therefore the budget was so ad
justed as to meet the deme/Js for a
statistician who is at all times in the
! office.
Satisfactory results, either to the
people or to those who are employed
in the work, could not be realized '
without the co-operation of the medi
cal profession. We are glad to say
the fear of Lady Montague that no
physicians could be found “who had
virtue enough to destroy such a con
siderable branch of their revenue for
the good of mankind” was a false
fear so far as this county is concern
ed. A few doctors, we regret to say,
are rather careless about reporting,
but the majority are prompt and all
are generousjgn giving encourage
ment to the work, even lending as
sistance when help is needed.
Financial Statement
County Budget $5000.00
United States Public Health
Service 1740.00
Total appropriated $6740.00
Expenses
Salaries of the three employees,
cost of constantly running two auto- !
mobiles, toxin-antitoxin and smailp ix
virus ($200), ice, postage, telephone, )
printing, stationery and all other ma- 1
terial $6081.00:
Balance left in county treasury not
used 659 CO
It will be noticed that the whole
cost to the dainty for the year is
$4341.00. It is not possible to put in i
figures the value of the work as a
whole. Taking a part of it, however, j
that of typhoid and diphtheria inocu
lation, including smallpox vaccina
tions, and comparing this with the I
.price for the same service established ;
by the doctors, we find 6238 treat
ments at one dollar per, treatment,'
the regular price, would have cost the
people $6238.00 or $1897.00 more for
this part of the service alone than the '
whole work of every character has
cost the county for a year.
In connection with this report of
results accomplished for the year, the
health department would like to call
the attention of citizens especially to
the importance of sanitation through
out the county. Bearing in mind that
a large class of diseases, including
typhoid fever, dysentery and other
infectious diarrheas, which are the
cause of a great part of our sickness,
experise and loss of life, have their
origin only in human excreta and |
therefore might immediately and com
pletely be prevented by universally
depositing these discharges only in
sanitary closets; and also remember
■:ng that the peculiar formation of
Walker county is such as to favor
quick and wide-spread distribution of
this material, is it not obvious that :
■each ones interest demands that he
and his neighbors for miles around
should guard against this constant
menace, a condition that has slain its
thousads in the past and, uncorrected,
will continue its destruction in the fu
ture.
Has the time arrived for county
-1 wide law to be applied ?
Respectfully submitted,
J. H. HAMMOND,
Commissioner of Health and Field
Agent, U. S. P. H. S.
ATTENTION
! SHIP YOUR HIDES AND TALLOW
Direct To The
ROBERT SCHOLZE TANNERY
Established 1873
In Business For Fifty Years
4-4-24
No Worms in a Healthy Child
Ali ... . ■’•'l •"iri* Ww, have an uo
! healthy c :.ir, * x.. . i, and as a
rule, *her" is ir a or Y's- » . listurbence.
C»RO\ j. b t AS*'. 1 ' £S3 -hI X>; ,?a regularly
for tv jcr t ir.-* v. ieka aLI e r.rit , Vr blood, im
prove the : el SfcDgth
! *~ J| h - t. o will then
i throw off or diapei *.ne „u, 111!,, ,>.!>. V.nilil will he
in perfect health. Pleasant to take. 60c oer bottle.
Dr. HESS’S Poultry Panacea will
help your hens through the moult
ing season land put them to laying
quicker. If results do not warrant
the expense of feeding it, your money
will be refunded upon return of the
empty container.—Kirby-Herndon
Hardware Co.
A. TONIC
Orove’s Tasteless chill Tonic restores
j Energy and Vitality by Purifying and
Enriching the Blood. When you feel its
strengthening, invigorating effect see how
it brings color to the cheeks and how
it improves the appetite, you will then
appreciate its true tonic value.
Grove’s Tasteless chiU Tonic is simply
I Iron and Quinine suspended in syrup. So
pleasant even children like it The blood
needs QUININE to Purify it and IRON to
Enrich it Destroys Malarial germs and
Grip germs by its Strengthening. Invigor
ating Effect 60c.
Dr. HESS’S Poultry Panacea will
help your hens through the moult
ing season and put them to laying
quicker. If results do not warrant
the expense of feeding it, your money
will be refunded upon return of the
empty container.—Kirby-Herndon
Hardware Co. •
GET YOUR FEED SUPPLIES—Of
all kinds from Dan C. Wheeler and
Co. Chattanooga. They make a spec
ialty of Cotton Seed Meal and Hulls.
Farmers, get the Dest results and most money
from your cows by using a McCormick-Deering
Primrose Cream Separator.
Why lose 10 per cent of your cream by hand
skimming, when you can have one of these Sepa
rators on terms that will allow it to pay for it
in? With a small payment down and the balance
in small installments you can have a year in
which to pay for the Separator.
The McCormick-Deering Separator has many
exclusive features, is easy to turn, has the most
efficient and best oiling system and is the easiest
cleaned. One will be placed in your home for trial
if you are skeptical. No obligations.
To anyone really interested in Cows, we will
give or mail the booklet, “The Cow, the Mother
of Prosperity.” This book contains much valu
able information and is too expensive to distri
bute promiscously, but you can have one for the
asking, as long as they last.
The Dairy Products in this country in 1922
were worth more mohey than the entire wheat
crop. There’s money in the cow; the Separator is
the way to get it out.
GET A BOOK. THEN GET A SEPARATOR
Kirby-Herndon Hardware Co.
LaFayptte, Georgia
Lafayette Service Station
Is The Plane To Get
That Good Gulf Gasoline
And Supreme Auto Oil
Large Stock of Tires and Tubes
We repair Tires, fix Punctures etc.
Let us get you up again.
We make a Specialty of Draining
and Washing Motors.
Drive up and Fill up with the Best,
and Sample our Prompt and Cour
teous Service.
Tom Rich, Mgr.
On the Corner
AND
On The Dixie Highway
LaFayette, Ga.
•, : V
\
WANTED TO BUT—Crossties. Best
market price paid for same. Can
use white oak, mixed oak and hickory.
Delivered at Hawkins switch on the
T. A. G. railroad.—B. F. Logan, Cen-.
ter Post, Ga. ts
Habitual Constipation Cured
in 14 to 21 Days
“LAX-FOS WITH PEPSIN" is a specially
prepared Syrup Tonic-Laxative for Habitual
Constipation. It relieves promptly and
should be taken regularly for 14 to 21 days
to induce regular action. It Stimulates and
Regulates. _ Very Pleasant to Take. _ 60c
per bottle.