RURAL AMERICA 



are defective, get in touch with the parents of these pupils, 

 that their defects, as far as possible, may be corrected, and 

 give talks and illustrated lectures for the benefit of both 

 pupils and parents. He also designates certain places in the 

 county where, at given times, he will meet all persons who 

 may desire to be vaccinated against small-pox or typhoid 

 fever or consult him privately either about their own health 

 or about any matter having to do with the sanitary welfare 

 of the county. In these interviews he is able to discover 

 incipient diseases that in many cases would prove fatal if 

 neglected. Of course all other work in the field of sanitation 

 in the county would represent part of the duties of the county 

 agent. 



It is estimated that 20 per cent of all school children have 

 defective vision, 5 per cent defective hearing and 5 per cent 

 adenoids. It is further found that, in the average county of 

 30,000 inhabitants, there are 540 annual deaths, 200 of which 

 are preventable, and that, on an average, one person out of 

 ten is sick every day in the year. Now, if the average human 

 life is worth to the community $1,700 (the estimate of ex- 

 perts) then the loss per annum to a county of 30,000 in pre- 

 ventable death is the astounding sum of $340,000. And this 

 sum can be greatly increased if there be added to it the loss 

 due to sickness, doctors' bills and undertakers' fees. If the 

 health officer is able to reduce the death rate only one per 

 thousand, he saves his community the large sum of $51,000, 

 giving only the value of the individuals saved and considering 

 none of the many items that would greatly increase the sum. 

 This work is initiated by the state, but executed through 

 the county machinery. The average county has one murder 

 a year, and in many cases thousands of dollars are spent in 

 bringing the criminal to justice. Nor can a county be blamed 

 for keeping court procedure on a high plane. But an in- 

 finitely greater work is that of conserving human life through 

 preventive measures and thus saving the county untold wealth 

 that through carelessness and neglect is forever lost. 



The importance of a health agent for a county may be seen 



85 



