PAPERS ON MEDICINE -\ND PUBLIC HEALTH 277 



During the same time the city's birth rate, 20.9 per 1000 

 population, shows a fairly healthy and normal increase. In 

 the U. S. registration area in 1917, it was 24.6 per 1000 

 population. 



The annual report of the Commissioner of Public Health 

 and Safety of the City of Decatur for the year ending Ap- 

 ril 30, 1920, gives even a lower mortality rate for chil- 

 dren under one year of age, as follows: Total number of 

 births reported 888. Total number of deaths 31 — which 

 gives a mortality of 34.9 per 1000 babies born. This in- 

 cludes only the corporate city and will not tally with the 

 report of the State Bureau of Vital Statistics which report 

 is not confined strictly to the corporate boundaries of the 

 city. 



Anticipating your first inquiry, "How did you do it?", I 

 will state to begin with that personally I have nothing new 

 or startling to offer. In the ten minutes allotted to me I 

 only hope to review as of a landscape in an aeroplane 

 flight, a few of the things Decatur did in establishing this 

 record on a mere 18 cents per capital allotted to it for 

 health, a record which I am sure you will grant is wor- 

 thy of the title of this paper, "Practical Infant Conserva- 

 tion." 



In order to analyze all the factors entering into the 

 health of any community, one will necessarily have to go 

 back a generation or two. I can only mention some of 

 these factors at this time. 



1 — Our people have inherited the rugged health of the 

 pioneer, which is an asset not to be overlooked. 



2 — Our varied climate tends to raise the resistance of the 

 body against outside influences. (I do not accept the pop- 

 ular impression that we have a bad climate.) 



3 — We have converted our once germ breeding swamps 

 and stagnant pools, by means of the dredge and tile, into 

 running streams, flanked by verdant pastures, and fields 

 of fragrant clover and waving grain. 



4 — Thus we have made it possible to raise agriculture, 

 horticulture and animal industry to the highest possible 

 standard, which in turn is an important factor in our milk 



