THE PUBLIC WATER, MILK, AND FOOD SUPPLY 353 



have been due to the fact that the milk cans were washed 

 in water containing the disease germs, which grew and 

 multiplied in the milk. An epidemic of diphtheria in one 

 city was traced to a man with a light case of diphtheria, 

 who was working in the dairy. In another city an epidemic 

 of typhoid fever was found to be due to the fact that three 

 people living in the house connected with the dairy had the 

 fever, and the dairy utensils were washed in the house and 

 wiped on towels used by the people there. In some cases 

 after people have recov- 

 ered from typhoid they 

 may continue for years to 

 give off the bacteria caus- 

 ing the disease, and if they 

 work in a dairy they may 

 contaminate the milk. 



Milk inspection. In 

 cities and towns where 

 many people get their 

 milk from a few sources, 

 inspectors should be ap- 

 pointed by the town to 

 see that only clean milk 

 is sold the people. The 

 chief food of babies is 

 milk, and many thousands die every year on account of im- 

 pure milk. In* the city of Rochester, N. Y., nearly 1000 

 children under five years of age died in 1892. The city 

 began an inspection of its milk supply, and as a result the 

 number of deaths of young children decreased to less than 

 500 during 1896, although the city had increased in popu- 

 lation. Clean milk reduced the number of deaths one half 

 and saved each year the lives of 500 children in this city alone. 



Now let us see just what a city should do in order to get 

 pure milk for its people. The best way to answer this is 



2 A 



FIG. 146. Pasteurizing milk. 

 (See page 381.) 



