USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1945 > Part 3
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It is the duty of local milk inspectors to inspect all local producers and processing plants. All vehicles and cabinets used in the distribution and sale of milk and ice cream are also subject to inspection.
The total number of inspections re- ported by the Quincy Milk Inspector for 1946 was 2720.
Cows in local dairies are checked for health by a veterinarian employed by the city as Animal Inspector.
There are in Quincy 52 distributors of milk, cream, ice cream, and dairy products. To give some idea of the volume of bus- iness transacted : During the past year, 131/2 million quarts of milk and cream were sold in Quincy, and nearly a mil- lion quarts of ice cream.
Approximately 2100 milk samples are analyzed each year. The city employs the services of a bacteriologist for this purpose.
A milk sample being taken for analysis
There are three types of tests: a test for fats and solids, a test for bacterial count, and a phosphatase test for thoroughness of pasteurization.
Carcasses being inspected for government stamp
The stamp, which is put on at the slaughter house, indicates govern- ment approval, and gives the grade of the meat : Choice, AA, A, Good, Commercial, or Utility.
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Meats and Provisions
The Inspector of Meats and Provisions in Quincy conducts an extensive educational program.
Illustrated lectures on food sanitation are given before community organizations in an effort to make the public more con- scious of dangers resulting from the im- proper handling of food, and more demand- ing of proper practice in public eating places. Such lectures stimulate complaints. All complaints are investigated.
Instruction in buying is given to groups of housewives to enable them to recognize unfit food.
In the spring of 1946 a course for com- mercial food handlers was attended by over 500 persons. Instruction was given in the proper methods of handling food and dishes, both in food preparation and in serving.
Routine inspections are made of local restaurants, taps, soda fountains, bakeries, meat markets, fish markets, bottling estab- lishments, and wholesale groceries. Some bakeries outside the city are also inspected.
On the rating card used in such inspec- tions, 24 items are listed, including meth- ods of cleaning and sterilizing ; protection
of foods ; sinks and drains ; personnel ; flies and vermin.
In cases where conditions remain un- sanitary, the Health Department may prose- cute or, if the establishment is licensed, may request the Board of License Commission- ers to suspend or revoke the license.
All meats and provisions offered for sale in the city are subject to inspection. During the past year the following amounts were condemned : meat, 1274 pounds *; fish, 1924 pounds; fruit and vegetables, 86 bushels ; dry groceries and canned goods, 146 cases; miscellaneous goods, 310 units.
Bakery and vegetable trucks are also subject to inspection.
Inspections pertaining to meats and pro- visions total over 3000 annually.
The prescriptions for meat which were issued during the acute shortage last fall to persons with dietary deficiencies were cleared through the Health Department.
The Health Department is calling at- tention to the menace of rats. Damage done annually in Quincy to food and prop- erty is estimated to be over $10,000.
* The corresponding amount for 1945 was 3134 pounds.
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Resident Deaths and Births in 1946
Statistics relative to deaths and births are compiled annually by the Health Department.
The resident death rate in Quincy for 1946 was 8.7 per 1000 population. This was the lowest death rate ever recorded in the city.
Of the 737 resident deaths during the past year, 51% were males.
The principal causes of death were heart disease and cancer. Deaths due to heart disease represented considerably more than one-third of the total number.
Of the 39 accidental deaths among Quincy residents, 10 were due to auto- mobile accidents.
Of the 42 deaths from reportable dis- eases, 30 were from tuberculosis. In 1945 there were 40. The large number of deaths from tuberculosis during the past few years is attributed in part to the fact that many patients, even in sanitoriums, left their beds to take advantage of war- time high wages.
The number of deaths occurring during the first year of life, though gradually de- creasing, is almost as great as the total number occurring between the ages of one and forty.
The infant mortality rate in Quincy for 1946, which was 18.2 per 1000 live births, was the lowest in the history of the city. The maternal mortality rate was 1.7 per 1000 total births.
In 1946 there were 2361 resident births. The birth rate of 28.1 represents a new high for Quincy. The tidal wave of babies, which started to rise during 1940, is already threatening to overflow the schools.
In the chart below, the figures at the left indicate the number of resident births per 1000 population.
QUINCY BIRTH RATE, 1937 - 1946
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
9
18
17
16
15
14
1937 1938
1939 1940
1941
1942 1943
1944 1945 1946
Drawings for chart by Amy Adams and the Office of the City Engineer
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Control of Communicable Disease
Tuberculosis
There are at present on record in the Health Department 101 cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis, including 40 new cases reported during the past year.
The tuberculosis nurse annually reports approximately 1200 visits "to and in be- half of" tuberculosis patients.
An effort is being made to re-open the Norfolk County summer camp for under- nourished children and contact cases. An appropriation for the coming summer has been made from Christmas seal funds.
Because of lack of personnel, the Norfolk County Hospital is utilizing only two- thirds of its facilities. During the past year, 38 Quincy patients were obliged to wait a total of 2430 days for admission.
Other Communicable Diseases
In addition to tuberculosis, a total of 1562 cases of communicable disease were reported during the past year. Of these, 1020 were measles. In 1946 there was only one case of infantile paralysis as opposed to 17 in 1945.
The communicable disease nurse reports having made over 2000 home visits during the past year for purposes of giving in- structions, placarding, releasing from quar- antine, etc. Such visits frequently provide an opportunity for further service. Clinics may be recommended, or other advice given for the welfare of the family.
Quarantined for 21 days!
The Health Department annually pro- vides free clinics for diphtheria immuniza- tion. Due to the prevalence of diphtheria in Greater Boston in the fall of 1946, the local program was extended to include school children through grade 6, with booster doses for those already immunized. In cooperation with the School Depart- ment, approximately 10,000 treatments have been given.
Attention is called to Quincy's diphtheria record: During the past ten years there have been only 4 cases. For the two pre- ceding ten-year periods the totals were 225 and 1112. During 1946 there were no cases of diptheria in Quincy .*
A total of 297 dogs were reported by the Animal Inspector as having been quarantined during 1946 under suspicion of rabies. There were no positive cases.
* The immunization program started in 1926.
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Public Health Clinics
Under the direction of the Health De- partment, a number of public health clinics are maintained in Quincy. For the most part these clinics serve children.
Six well-baby clinics are held weekly in different sections of the city. During the past year a total of 899 babies were reg- istered.
In the well-baby clinics, children up to two years of age are examined, and feeding advice and help in child training given.
For children over two years of age there is a pre-school clinic. This clinic meets once a month.
Child welfare nurses make follow-up visits to the homes of the babies and chil- dren who are brought to these clinics. Over 1200 such visits are reported annually.
Dental clinics are maintained for pre- school children and for school children in grades 1 through 3. Appointments for school children are made by the School De- partment nurses.
An extension of dental service to include all needy school pupils is being recom- mended by both the Health Department and the School Department.
During the past year there were 1939 teeth filled, and 591 extracted. A total of 926 children were given prophylactic treat- ments. These treatments are available to children in all grades.
The Quincy infantile paralysis clinic is supported jointly by the city and the Nor- folk County Chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.
All infantile paralysis cases attending the Quincy clinic go through the Children's Hospital, and are under the supervision of the Children's Hospital doctors.
The infantile paralysis clinic meets weekly. Physiotherapists give the chil- dren treatments at the clinic, and instruct parents in regard to home exercises and treatments.
There are at present 38 cases attending the Quincy infantile paralysis clinic. Of these, 27 are Quincy children.
An orthopedic clinic is held once a month. The types of cases reported include pro- nated feet, knock-knees, bowlegs, flatfeet. Treatments are given, and exercises pre- scribed.
Tuberculosis clinics are held for both children and adults. These are diagnostic clinics. All cases are given a skin test and are taken to the Norfolk County Hospital for X-ray.
Approximately 50 new cases are ad- mitted annually both to the adult tubercu- losis clinic and to the children's clinic.
Information in regard to other public health clinics may be obtained from the Health Department.
A routine physical examination
in a well-baby clinic
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Giving the Mantoux test Tuberculosis clinic
Getting under the "baker" before massage
< Hill
"Open wide!"
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Contagious smiles !
During 1946 a total of 1658 children were treated at the Quincy City Hospital.
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Hospital Service
The Quincy City Hospital serves an average of approximately 260 patients per day. The largest number in the hospital on any one day during the past year was 310.
Some of the records are cumulative, dating back to 1890, the year in which the hospital was incorporated. * At the time of our interview case # 160,416 was being admitted !
The number of surgical operations per- formed, including both major and minor, averages approximately 325 per month.
To give some further indication of the amount of service rendered : During the past year there were 1628 babies born at the Quincy City Hospital. A total of 1472 ambulance calls were responded to, 14,746 physiotherapy treatments given, and 7202 X-rays taken.
Within the past few months, it has been possible to obtain considerable new X-ray equipment. It is pointed out that improved methods of diagnosis are necessitating the increased use of X-ray.
An out-patient department at the Quincy City Hospital promises to become a reality. The expectations are that plans will be crystallized early in 1947, and that the de- partment will start functioning in the spring. It is envisioned that there will be ten to twelve clinics revolving around the surgical, medical. and specialty fields.
It is hoped that before long, additional bed facilities may be made available. Due to lack of personnel, one ward has been closed.
Although not as acute as elsewhere, the shortage of graduate nurses is still a prob- lem in Quincy.
The nursing shortage at this time is attributed in part to the great demand for nurses in the veterans' hospitals-also to the fact that many married nurses who served during the war have returned to their homes.
At present a total of 131 young women are enrolled in the local training school. It is hoped that when the next class starts in the fall, it will be possible to increase the number to 150.
Attention is being called to the fact that unless additional trainees enroll throughout the country, the situation with respect to civilian hospitals will become critical.
The Quincy City Hospital has been ap- proved for veterans' training. Opportuni- ties include residencies and internships, also training in laboratory and medical technology.
The annual cost to the city for the Quincy City Hospital-that is, the differ- ence between the annual receipts and ex- penses of the hospital ranges from $200,000 to $300,000.
* The hospital was incorporated as the City Hospital of Quincy. It was a private hospital, supported by gifts. In 1919 it was purchased by the city for $1.00, and the name changed to the Quincy City Hospital.
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"The whirlpool bath"- a form of physiotherapy
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A laboratory period in the training school
A routine skull X-ray following an accident
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Public Welfare
There are three divisions of public welfare: old age assistance, aid to depen- dent children, and general relief. The divisions are administered through separate offices.
The city receives state and federal reim- bursement for old age assistance and for aid to dependent children. General relief is largely a local responsibility.
Some persons receiving general relief from Quincy are living outside the city. Responsibility for this type of relief rests upon the community in which the person has a "settlement." In general, a person has a settlement in a community if he has lived there for five consecutive years and has not received relief. This means that the Department of Public Welfare must check on Quincy cases living outside Quincy, also on outside cases living in Quincy. Where there is no settlement, the financial responsibility rests with the state.
During 1946 the Quincy Department of Public Welfare received from other cities and towns and from the state 138 "legal notices," of which it acknowledged 66. These legal notices represent requests for reimbursement for general relief and hos- ital services. The department sent out 371 such notices, of which 244 were acknowl- edged.
To avoid improper expenditure by the city, much work has to be done in hospital cases to get insurance companies and others
to recognize Workmen's Compensation and automobile claims-also, in the cases of de- pendents of servicemen, to place responsi- bility where it properly belongs.
The Department of Public Welfare normally has one of the largest budgets in the city. Expenditures during the past two years have markedly increased.
The increased expenditures are due to increase both in the number of cases and in the cost per case.
The present outlook with respect to public welfare is not encouraging.
Many persons who were receiving un- employment benefits have now applied for relief.
Social problems sooner or later find their way to the Department of Public Welfare. The undue number of social problems created in Quincy by the war boom have greatly increased the local burden.
There have been recent changes in the laws and regulations relating to public welfare which contribute to increased costs. For example, children of needy persons have been further exempted from contrib- uting to their parents' support ; dependent children up to the age of twenty-one are now included in family grants, also dis- abled fathers; allowances for hospitaliza- tion in all branches of relief have been increased 20%.
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During the past year, the old age case load in Quincy increased from 883 to 1089. The case load of dependent children de- creased from 110 to 106. For general re- lief there was an increase in terms of ex- penditure of 39 % .
To give some idea of the amount of money involved : For the fiscal year ending last June, the total expenditures in the state for old age assistance, aid to depen- dent children, and general relief approxi- mated 55 million dollars. During October 1946, the amount expended for old age assistance alone was 4 million. *
A bill introduced during the last session of Congress provides for an extension of welfare services, and for federal grants to the states in amounts ranging from 50-75 % of their total expenditures.
Another bill provides for the elevation of the Federal Security Agency to the sta- tus of a government department, encom- passing all phases of public welfare in com- bination with health and education .*
The Quincy Department of Public Wel- fare maintains a clinic and dispensary. The staff consists of the City Physician, a nurse provided by the Visiting Nurse Association, and a pharmacist. The clinic is open to any person-adult or child, and has been considered a necessity because of the lack of out-patient facilities at the Quincy City Hospital. The number of patients re- ported as attending the clinic during 1946 was 342.
The City Physician makes house visits to welfare patients when necessary. Over 600 such visits were reported during the past year.
The City Home is maintained under the direction of the Department of Public Wel- fare. It serves as a haven for elderly per- sons and for persons who are temporarily homeless. There are approximately 100 admissions per year, the number of persons cared for at a time being normally around 25. Some of the work of the home is done by those who live there. A vegetable gar- den is also maintained.
During the past year the City Home was opened to evicted families. It has housed as many as nine at one time, with a total of twelve children. They have not all been welfare families.
For reasons of safety, it is being recom- mended that a sprinkler system be installed in the City Home.
The Department of Public Welfare works closely with the Social Service De- partment of the Quincy City Hospital, and with various state offices, including the Massachusetts Department of Public Wel- fare, Division of Child Guardianship.
The department is called upon in all kinds of disasters. It furnishes food and fuel, and renders whatever additional assistance may be required.
A little family consisting of a mother and two children had been burned out the morning of our interview. Workers from the Department of Public Welfare, noti- fied by the police, found temporary hous- ing in a nearby town, transported the fam- ily, and furnished clothes, blankets, and supplies. In such cases the department may have to carry a family for a period of time. Their job, they say, is rehabilitation.
· Information obtained from the Massachusetts State Planning Board
** The two bills referred to are H.R. 5686 and S. 2503
Operating an ironer at the City Home
Social worker interviewing an applicant
Examining a young patient
44
Public Schools
. the beginning of their school experience
their Commencement year
In September 1946, at the opening of the school year, 11,213 boys and girls en- rolled in the Quincy Public Schools. For 1117 it was the beginning of their school experience. For 596 it was the beginning of their Commencement year.
The present trend with respect to school enrollment is an increase at the elemen- tary level and a slight decrease at the sec- ondary level. Reflected here is the low birth rate of the late depression years, and the high birth rate of the early war years.
Fluctuations in enrollment create ad- ministrative problems and make long-term planning both difficult and essential. A comprehensive study of school buildings which has been under way during the past
two years represents an effort to provide equally good facilities for children in all parts of the city.
It is pointed out that a modern school plant is essential to a full realization of the modern school program which Quincy has been striving to maintain.
Curriculum content for all grades is constantly being studied and revised. Com- mittees of teachers participate in this work.
Emphasis is still placed upon mastery of the 3 R's along with art and music and social studies and science, with provision for as many vital experiences as possible.
Quincy offers its high school pupils a wide variety of cultural and vocational courses from which to choose In fact, if a
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pupil were to take all of the courses of- fered, it would require approximately thir- teen years instead of three!
A program of educational and voca- tional counseling is maintained in the junior high and the high schools. There is also a centralized placement service.
A special testing service has recently been established. It provides aptitude and other diagnostic testing for individual cases. Many veterans have taken advantage of this service.
An adjustment service provides atten- tion to all school cases presenting special problems. The various agencies within the community furnish excellent cooperation, and make possible a working program whereby all available resources may be used effectively in behalf of an individual child.
A sight-conservation class was organized in the fall of 1946 to provide optimum learning conditions for children with de- fective vision. Other provisions for the physically handicapped include home teach- ing, an ungraded class to which children are transported, and instruction in lip reading.
In the fall of 1945, the Quincy Trade School became part of the Quincy High School. This permits participation in more school activities, and the obtaining of a regular high school diploma.
The teaching aids service. temporarily suspended, during the war, has been re- sumed, and new equipment and materials obtained. This service makes possible the enrichment of classroom experience for all children. Films, filmslides, public address systems, and other visual and audio aids
are distributed to the different schools as needed. Plans for a school museum are under way.
Instruction for veterans is being pro- vided through an evening program which makes possible individual progress, and a late afternoon and summer program of class instruction. Over 300 are enrolled.
During the past two years a special effort has been made to get the school buildings n good repair. The 1946 expenditures for this purpose were over $116,000.
Plans have been made whereby Quincy children may take advantage of the school lunch program being subsidized by the fed- eral government.
The health of children is a matter of constant concern in the schools. Physical examinations are given, and notices of de- fects sent home. Pupils are checked rou- tinely for symptoms of illness.
Attention is being called to the fact that an effective program of health education requires healthful conditions and adequate facilities within the schools, also provision within the community for the correction of defects in all children.
Stimulated by the new salary schedule, teachers are taking professional courses in increasing numbers. A total of 98 have been enrolled in schools of education dur- ing the current semester.
During the past two years a number of consultants and guest speakers have been brought to Quincy to meet with members of the school personnel in connection with various school problems. The objective is improvement in the quality of educational service rendered to Quincy boys and girls.
Free expression
VİMAY
"Write the 2 and carry the 1."
. THE INDIAN RESERVATION
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A quiz program following a unit on Indians
Looking it up デタート
Reading is fun.
-- 1
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Getting first-hand information on city finance
Removing the cylinder head
< !!! "O beautiful for patriot dream .. "
Never too many cooks!
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Service to Veterans
The Department of Veterans' Services as an institution is not new-in fact, it dates back to 1861 at which time the Massachusetts Legislature determined that something should be done for veterans and for the dependents of the men who were fighting the Civil War. The ensuing legis- lation made mandatory the appointment in local communities of an officer to adminis- ter "state aid" to veterans and their de- pendents.
The present Department of Veterans' Services in Quincy was organized early in 1944. From an average of 250, the number of requests received monthly for information and assistance reached a peak approximating 3000.
The services rendered have varied to some extent with war and post-war needs. At present, veterans come to the Depart- ment of Veterans' Services to get informa- tion regarding their rights under the G. I. Bill. They come for assistance in connec- tion with pensions and compensation claims, hospitalization, and other benefits avail- able to them and their dependents. They also come for financial assistance. Many, we were told, bring with them their per- sonal and family problems.
More than 1200 World War II veter- ans, men and women, have been advised re- garding employment. Over 300 have been placed in positions under the government- sponsored apprentice training program.
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Some of the veterans coming to the De- partment of Veterans' Services are referred to the Guidance and Research Department of the Quincy Public Schools for aptitude testing, and for educational and vocational counseling.
To give some idea of the educational problems of these veterans: Some of them want information regarding colleges giving specialized training along certain lines. Some want to know whether or not they can do college work. Some have no voca- tional intention, and want to know what they are equipped to do. Others have a definite vocational intention which they want to check. Some want to know how they can complete high school or get a state high school equivalency certificate. Some want to know in what civilian jobs they can use the specialized skills which they acquired in service.
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