256 
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
be kept pure, both in transportation and after they reach 
the community. This includes the policing of all reser- 
voirs and the filtering of the water; the refrigerating of 
meat and milk; the condemning of rotten fruit and vege- 
tables; the collecting and disposal of all garbage and 
waste. 
It is the business of the state to prevent spitting in 
public places, (one of the greatest sources of public 
infection) ; to prevent the use of common drinking 
utensils, towels, etc. ; to insist on the isolation of con- 
tagious diseases and the placarding of the houses where 
they occur. 
In order to carry on these great wise policies the state 
should offer free clinics where citizens can find out what 
is the matter with them and how to prevent it, and trained 
community nurses for the sick. 
Do you see what a wonderful power an intelligent 
woman can be in the community she lives in? Women 
ought to be much better, really, in this public house- 
keeping than men, because most of them have had to 
learn to do it on a small scale, and know how necessary 
light, air, rest, exercise and cleanliness are. 
But, you may say, in my state women have no vote, as 
yet, and I am too young for it, anyway; what can I do? 
The answer is very simple: every citizen, whether she 
is young or old, whether* she has a vote or not, can find 
out the laws of the town she lives in and help to enforce 
them ! 
And the most important of these laws are those which 
affect the public safety and the public health. Whether 
there is a Public Health Commissioner or a Town Board 
or a Village Superintendent or only a District Nurse to 
appeal to, there is sure to be somebody whose business 
it is to listen to violation of the law. 
If every troop of Girl Scouts knew the health laws of 
