THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 23 



$1,500 per annum is suggested by him. He strongly urges, in this 

 connection, the provision of a competent officer of the health depart- 

 ment to devote his entire time to the supervision of the food-inspec- 

 tion service, the salary of $1,200 per annum available at present for 

 this purpose being quite inadequate, in his judgment, to command the 

 services of a properly qualified official- 



With regard to the number of additional inspectors that could be 

 utilized to advantage by the health department in connection with 

 the proposed new regulations for the improvement of the local milk 

 supply, Health Officer Woodward suggests that two additional em- 

 ployees would suffice to supervise from a bacteriological standpoint 

 the milk supply. If all tuberculin testing is to be done by employees 

 of the District government, three additional veterinary inspectors 

 should, in his judgment, be provided, for the present at least. The 

 number of inspectors required to supervise properly the pasteuriza- 

 tion of milk would depend largely upon the number of pasteurizing 

 plants to be established. The insistence upon all the requirements 

 proposed in this report would necessitate from 6 to 10 additional 

 inspectors to properly supervise the work. 



The present force of inspectors of the health department assignable 

 to dairy-farm and milk inspection is not adequate, according to 

 Health Office Woodward, to compel proper compliance with existing 

 regulations, and should the tuberculin test be mandatorily applied to 

 dairy herds outside the District furnishing milk for local consump- 

 tion, the capacity of the present force to effectually compel observ- 

 ance of the regulations would be still further diminished. It is 

 understood that, with the present force of inspectors, each local dairy 

 (not dairy, farm) is subjected to official examination on an average of 

 once in two weeks, the inspections being made purposely at irregular 

 intervals. To be exact, the dairies in the District of Columbia (in- 

 dependently of those located on dairy farms) were inspected on an 

 average 23.6 times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910. The 

 dairy farms supplying milk to the District were, during the same 

 period, inspected on an average 3.79 times each. The committee 

 heartily recommends, therefore, that Congress provide a suitable in- 

 crease in the number of inspectors to fully answer the requirements 

 of this important public service. 



FAILURE TO PROSECUTE CONSUMERS RETURNING UNRINSED BOTTLES. 



It was further offered in evidence that the department has not pros- 

 ecuted consumers returning bottles to milk dealers unrinsed, the bot- 

 tles in many cases giving absolute evidence of having been employed 

 for retaining coffee, tea, molasses, vinegar, paint, coal oil, gasoline, 

 preserves, and other articles. In Appendix K to this report Dr. 

 Woodward explains clearly and satisfactorily the reason why the 

 health department has failed to prosecute persons other than dealers 

 who have not rinsed receptacles for milk or cream before returning 

 them to the dairymen. The regulations of the commissioners, dated 

 \pril 21 1903, expressly restrict their operation in this particular to 

 persons who receive milk or cream for sale. The further circum- 

 stance is related by him that milk dealers having knowledge of such 

 offenses have never appeared before the department to enter com- 

 plaint against their customers. The department states that every 



