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MAGAZIMEiSECTIOri THREE
PORTLAND OREGON SUNDAY MORNla SEPTEMBER J5, t907
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LARM and . amaze
ment have been
widespread during
the last few years
because of the un-
necessarily high in
fant mortality.
"Save the ba
bies! I find from
consulting cold and
reliable statistics
that of each IOOO
babies fed in any
way other than the
natural onejio
fewer than 2 K2 die
before they reach the age of I year. We
have made provisions for saving the lives
of human beings over the age of but
for infants less than I year old we have
given little thought."
Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief of the Bureau
of Chemistry of the Department of Agri
culture, recently uttered this stirring call to
save the babies. The babies the helpless,
voiceless, suffering little ones of the great
cities who perish from poor milk and the
heat of summer.
Within the last several years the pure
milk crusades of Chicago, New York, Phil
adelphia, Baltimore, Rochester and other
cities have resulted in a wonderful saving
of life.
In New York one organization gave
fresh-air outings to 23,051 little ones dur
ing the sumjner of 1906; on a floating hos
pital of a single society there were cared for
from 1881 to 1906 more than 308,000 pa
tients. But still the death record is a terrible
one during the first week of August there
died in New York city 1653 children under '
the age of 5 years; during the correspond
ing week of the previous year the number
reached 1 156. And the cause, according to
Dr. Guilfoy, of the Board of Health, was
in almost every Case improper feeding.
During the same week of the present year
in Philadelphia 227 children less than a
year old perished, 'and the deaths in nearly
all the cases were duex to digestive troubles
induced by bad milk and improper feeding.
Do ye bear the' children, O my brotheril
Em the aorrow cornea with yeareT
They are leaning- their youn(t heads against their mother.
And that cannot atop yielr teara.
The youtut lambs arc bloating In the meadows.
The young blrda are chirping In the neet. ,
The yonng fawns arc playing- In the shadows.
The young flowers are blowing toward the w.et
JStit the young(, yonng: children, O my brothers!
They are weeping bitterly)
They .are weeping In the playtime of the others.
In the country of the free.
KUiaoetn Barren crowning.
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TN THE great cities, because of the helping three-fourths of the children of the British
and united aands of science and charity, metropolis reached the age of 5.
JL the mortality of children is heing steadily The death rate of children under the age 1L r j t r -
decreased. Les than one-fourth of the of 1 year had fallen in 1903 to 144 per 1000 '5' W n?3 A '
children born in London 200 years ago reached birth- for the seventy-six great cities and towns J J)TEach QiJLrieJJXlir
the fifth year of life. Within recent years fully of the country. In France the battle for the l fa "" I
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lives of the little ones has been successfully
waged in the early years of thu past century '
only 45 per cent, of the males lived to the ago
of co icription, but in 1825 the percentage had
risen to 31 per cent. Beforo 1850, 27 per cent,
of the infants born in New York city died Ix-foro
the age of 1 ydar, but in Uostort tho niortulity
was less than 20 per ct-.nt. Acoonliug to bta
tistics, the death rate of children in the Tnited
States fell from 205 per 1000 births, in 1890,
to 165 in 1900.
From 1881 to 1800 statistics nhowei a vary
ing death rate in Massachusetts from 111 to J39
per 1000 births. According to John Spargo
there was a difference in Boston of 94.4 deaths
per 1000 births in the Back Bay district against
252.1 for one of the poorer sections.
It is in those sections, the tenement dis
tricts, the pltrgue spots of the cities, that the
battle for infant life is the fiercest. In tha
United States the battle has been carried on for
more than thirty years, but only within compar
atively recent years have the militant forces be
come successful in their fight.
Before telling the romantic and stirring
story of the work of tho good-hearted savior!
of the children, an interesting and tragio tale
can be gleaned from figures.
DEATH RATE DECREASED
In New York city the number of deaths of
children under the age of 1 year in 1900 waft
10,008, ot a rate of 191.7 per 1000, and under
5 years, 15,648, a rate of 66.4. In 1906 the num
ber of deaths under 1 year was 10,502, or a rate
of 167.8, and of children under 5 years 15,534, or
a rate of 55.0. During the year 1906 there died
in Baltimore 2418 children under the age of 1
year. This was a marked decrease from previous
years. In Louisville, Ky., where a vigorous
campaign against impure milk has been waged,
the number of deaths of children under the ag
of 7 years decreased frcrc 945 in 1892 to 885
in 1906, notwithstanding tht increase in popula
tion. In Rochester, New York, one of the
banner cities in the fight for pure milk, the
number of deaths under 5 years decreased from
6629 in a period from 1888 to 1896, to 4403 be
tween 1897 and 1905. The total number of deaths
under 5 years during the months of July and
August in the first per iod before the inaugura
tion of municipal milk stations, was 2005; the
total number during the same months in the
second period of nine years, with municipal
milk stations, was 1000.
Startling and eloquent figures.
According to statistics compiled several years
ago by Oesterlein, the death rate of children
under the age of 1 year per 1000 births in the
various cities range as follows: Paris, 290;
New York, 277; Brooklyn, 276; Baltimore, 268;
Boston, 201; Washington, 256, and Philadelphia,
230.
Most important of the phases of work done
for the liftle ones of the big cities is the cam-
paign for pure milk. It is from milk that tha
bddy must obtain nourishment, and it is milk
tainted, teeming with germs and adulterated
which in the hot days of summer causes the
stomach complaints from which thousands of
children perish.
The pioneer of the movement for good milk
is Dr. Henry L. Coit, of Essex county, New
Jersey, who began a pure milk campaign in
1893. A milk commission was founded, and
since then twenty -two ha.u followed in various
cities of the country. These milk commissions,
composed of the foremost physicians, aim to
induce dealers to supply certified milk. This,
they aflirm is the only safe milk to feed to the
little ones. Milk commissions have been in
augurated in twenty other cities.
To unite in a conoerted effort to secure the
supply of pure milk to the cities these various
organizations united in the National American
Association Milk Commission, at Atlantio Oity
last June. The aim, as formulated, is to provide
good milk to all the cities, to supply certified
milk through dealers and secure absolutely pure
milk in the hospitals.
This movement, which is in its infancy, has
begun a crusade of most momentous import. It
shows in a splendid way the interest of the mea
who are ciliated in the cause.
WORK WITH MILK DEALERS
"In each of the various cities where the
commissions work," declared an officer of the
national association recently, "the commission
will enter into an agreement with any dealer and
producer to certify his milk. We will appoint
three experts to examine all milk a veterina
rian, a chemist and a bacteriologist. The veter
inary will work at the farm where the milk is
applied; he will visit the dairy at least once
a month, examine the cows, observe .ha method
of milking, see that the utensils are kept clean,
that the milk is properly handled, that all bottles
are cleansed and sterilized, and that the cows
pasture on good land, that they are healthy and
free from tubercular diseases.
"The chemist will examino the milk, deter
mine the amount of fats and proteids, the ab
sence of preservatives, dilutants and coloring
matters, and see that the milk is not heated or
vitiated in any way.
"The bacteriologist will count the bacteria
in milk. If he finds more than 10,000 to a cubio
centimeter, or finds any bacteria of disease, the
milk will not be certified. Only after the most
complete and thorough testing will milk be cer
tified. The certified milk usually sells for from 14
to 16 cents a quart, nd can be obtained in all
cities where a commission works. It ia too . ;,
earlj to find the percentage of decrease in infant
mortality because of the use of certified milk, ,
but we are making .. -aderful progress."
At the recent session of tho Legislature of ,
New York a bill was passed to protoct certified
milk, asking it a misdemeanor to sell milk at -certified
which does not conform to the regula- v
tions, or bearing the certificate of a milk com
mission appointed by a medinatTSOcletyT""
The work done in Rochester, N.' YV calls
for especial mention, since it shows what tfiia
active and alert people of. a city can do. Millc J
stations were opened early; Jn-1897,- and -the)
work of the first season ost $300, ' In 1900 par
ticular attention was paid to the condition of
cows and the sterilisation of bottles.' The hdj
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