192 MILK SURVEY OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER 



and the point at which it was used. It might be possible to prevent the 

 spread of contagion of milk in a community where milk was produced 

 on the same premises where it was consumed, or in close proximity 

 thereto; but in market conditions where the producer was out of range 

 of the consumer, no other way of preventing the spread of contagion by 

 milk was feasible. That was my conclusion of 1908 when the ordinance 

 was introduced, and I am more firmly of my opinion now than I was. 



Q. Did you have any reason to believe at that time that the milk 

 supply was any worse than the milk supply of other cities ? 



A. No, I had rather thought that we had a better average milk 

 supply than the milk supply of other cities. Since 1892, the city of 

 Chicago has always had milk inspectors and laboratory control of the 

 milk supply. In 1904 the city inspection service was supplemented by a 

 country, or farm inspection service. Since 1904, Chicago has had for 

 the control of its milk supply, an inspection service within the city limits, 

 laboratory control, and a country or farm inspection service. All three 

 of these services were in operation in 1907 and 1908, the period in which 

 I was investigating the question and arrived at the conclusion as to the 

 proper remedy. 



Q. Then you did not consider that the control of the milk supply 

 by the use of city inspectors and country inspectors and laboratory was 

 sufficient to safeguard the milk supply for Chicago? 



A. I did not then, and I do not now. I am very emphatic in my 

 opinion on that point. 



Q. Had Chicago any time before or since the period you mention, 

 suffered from epidemics of disease traceable to milk? 



A. It had periodically. Before 1907, and from 1907 to about 1915, 

 we would uncover some epidemic of some kind or other, in which it was 

 possible to positively demonstrate that the disease, the epidemic, had been 

 spread by milk. In addition, there were reports of other instances in 

 which we believed milk to be responsible for these diseases, in which we 

 were not able to furnish convincing proof. It was our belief, but we 

 could not demonstrate it. Confirmation of the validity of that opinion 

 is had in the fact that since pasteurization became universal in 1917, 

 there has been no milk-borne epidemic in that city. Furthermore, the 

 general rate amongst certain diseases that are frequently milk-borne, has 

 continuously declined. The death rate in Chicago since 1915 from 

 typhoid fever has been at no time higher than 1.07 per 100,000. 



^Q. Is that a very low rate compared with the rate in other cities? 



A. It is the lowest American rate, and the indications are, unless 

 something very inopportune should happen in the remaining months of 

 1919, that the rate of 1919 will be much the lowest rate in the world. 

 Not all of that is due to the pasteurization of the milk. The water supply 



