USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > Town annual report of Braintree, Massachusetts for the year 1909 > Part 8
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Milton Shirley Butler
Helen Marguerite King
Edward Dallas Hughes Frances Margaret McCarthy
Edward Theodore Jordling Mary McMillian Mitchell
William Bowditch Morgan
Emily Susan Porter
Ina Marie Condon
Amelia Pauline Raasch
Ethel Lillian Dill
Lillian Mary Stocker
Theresa Mary Harrigan
Alice Gage Willson
Gertrude Viola Horsman
147
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Braintree, Jan. 11, 1910. To the Board of Selectmen :
Gentlemen :- Your Board appointed on Jan. 1, 1909, C. V. Cottrell, J. S. Hill and F. O. Whitmarsh as Engineers of the Fire Department, to serve from Jan. 1st, 1909, to Dec. 31st, 1909.
They met at the Town Hall and organized as follows : F. O. Whitmarsh, chief; C. V. Cottrell, clerk; J. S. Hill, assistant.
The Engineers organized the company as follows :
Hose 1, 12 members, Peter Smith, captain.
Hose 2, 12 members, John Kelly, captain.
Hose 3, 12 members, Daniel Gallivan, captain.
Hook and Ladder 1, 12 members, Walter Skinner, captain.
Hook and Ladder 2, 12 members, Fred Carmichael, captain.
Hook and Ladder 3, 12 members, John Kirby, captain.
There were 15 alarms in Precinct 1.
There were 17 alarms in Precinct 2.
There were 5 alarms in Precinct 3.
There were 4 still alarms and one false alarm.
Value of buildings, $41,238 00; loss on buildings, $4,153 25.
Value of contents, $19,624 00; loss on contents, $3,394 74.
THE APPARATUS.
The apparatus consists of 3 hose wagons, 3 hook and ladder trucks, and 16 fire extinguishers, which are all in good con- dition.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
We would recommend that the town appropriate the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the purchase of new hose; $1,575 for the pay of Engineers, Firemen and Stewarts; $1,000 for general expenses ; and $300 for pay of firemen at fires.
We wish to call the attention of the citizens of the town to the necessity of purchasing a life net for the south part of the Town. We have now in our midst four large shoe factories
148
and two hotels, and we can never tell when we may be called upon, not only to battle with fire, but also to save human life. If anything of this kind should occur we would be entirely helpless without the life net.
We therefore ask that the sum of $100 be appropiated for the purchase of the same.
FRANK O. WHITMARSH, C. V. COTTRELL, J. S. HILL.
Engineers Braintree Fire Department.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF HEALTH
OF THE
TOWN OF BRAINTREE
FOR THE
YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1909
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TOWN
SE
M
$ 1640.
SSA
SETTS.
BEE PRINT PRATT & PRATT, PUBLISHERS BRAINTREE, MASS. 1910
150
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEAR 1909.
Henry L. Dearing, M. D., Chairman.
C. A. Sullivan, M. D., Secretary. F. Herbert Gile, M. D., Bacteriologist. W. H. Martin, Agent.
-----
The Board of Health have the honor to submit the following report for the year ending December 31, 1909 :
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.
Contagious diseases reported :
Measles 238
Scarlet Fever
11
Diphtheria
9
Tuberculosis
9
Pertussis
2
Cerebro Spinal Men.
1
Gen. Ophthalia
1
Infantile Paralyn
1
Typhoid
4
Total 276
CULTURES EXAMINED.
Examinations for Diphtheria.
28
For diagnosis 11
For release from quarantine
17
Examination for Tuberculosis .
19
Examinations for Gonococci ..
4
Examinations for Pneumococci.
2
All others
6
Total 59
Culture tubes made.
200
For Diphtheria.
50
General purpose tubes. 200
The Board has arranged a booklet on regulations including matter pertaining to contagious diseases, and plumbing laws, which will be distributed on application to the Secretary.
151
VITAL STATISTICS.
Total number of deaths, 110; male, 47; female, 63.
EXPENDITURES.
Pratt & Pratt, printing $128 00
Prescott Pub. Co., printing 19 50
Hobbs & Warren, printing 12 25
F. A. Smith, fumigating 125 63
W. A. Torrey, fumigating. 40 70
W. H. Martin (labor) . 37 50
H. W. Delory, quarantine fee 10 31
0. W. Hollis, quarantine fee 9 00
Care of Consumptives.
Dr. H. L. Dearing 51 68
Dr. C. H. Gould. 50 00
H. A. Penniman, nursing and services 112 00
C. H. Batchelder, tents.
15 30
O. H. Rogers, stove pipe 5 05
C. H. Borden, glass. 3 65
Cleaning Dumps and Removing Dead Horse.
R. A. Gage. 18 50
J. O. Sypher 17 50
P. Fernter 9 75
P. Rafferty.
4 75
J. P. Shay (police)
2 00
J. J. Kennelly (plumbing inspector) 6 00
N. Y. & B. Express 25
$679 74
Appropriation
$725 00
Balance
45 26
Credits from State.
75 00
$120 26
Antonio Johnson's, Account approved and submitted for payment. 100 00
Balance $20 26
152
RECOMMENDATIONS AND ESTIMATES FOR 1910.
Estimates for 1910.
Printing
$75 00
Fumigating material
300 00
Garbage
100 00
Repairs on Pest House
300 00
Dumps
50 00
Quarantine
300 00
Plumbing Inspector
25 00
Milk Inspector
200 00
$1,350 00
INSPECTION OF MILK. Report of Milk Inspector, F. H. Gile, M. D.
Number of licenses granted.
Analyses of milk (Jan. 1) .
12
(Exclusive of State Inspector.)
Local dealers convicted .
3
Fined
2
Guilty and placed on file
1
During 1909 all dealers were supplied with a partial list of the statutes in relation to the milk business. The inspector works with the state inspector for the enforcement of the laws governing the producing and distributing of milk. Any citi- zen who knows of a dealer violating the law, will confer a favor upon the inspector and benefit all consumers if they will notify the inspector in writing.
MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
The Board has continued to act at all times in an advisory way in this connection and have made occasional visits to the school buildings from time to time. Our efforts during the past few months, however, have been directed to the matter of requir- ing all children to be vaccinated or furnish a certificate from
37
153
their family physician when unfit, that we may be in a position to act at once in case of an Epidemic of Small Pox.
The great need in every school building is to organize and seggregate a class by itself made up of all children in a condition to be carefully watched as to their own health and well being as well as for the benefit and added advantage of the well. This health class should be presided over by a nurse teacher that she may become acquainted and in touch with the condition in the home. The cost for such a nurse teacher would be from $60 to $70 monthly.
The condition of the Union School Building is far from ideal, and it will be absolutely necessary for the town to consider larger accommodations in the near future to relieve congestion in the. High School Building. Nevertheless, as far as sanitary arrangements are concerned we believe it possible to continue along present lines for two or possibly three years.
PLUMBING INSPECTOR'S REPORT-UNION SCHOOL BUILDING.
I have examined the sanitaries in the Union School Building on Washington Street and make the following report: I find upon testing the draft to the closets in both toilets that it is very good in the right direction, thereby removing all odors from the closets to the ventilating shaft which carries it to the outer air. This is positive proof that it is impossible for any odor to escape into the building as the ventilating shaft for the closets and urinal has no connection with any other air shaft which sup- plies air to the rooms, or removes the same from the rooms.
I think that it would be an improvement on the urinal stall if there was a perforated water pipe run along the back of the same to properly cleanse it while in use. I would also recom- mend that the covers to the closets be kept closed when they are not in use. This will have a tendency to make the draft still better than it now is. When this is done and proper care taken of the system I fail to see where there is anything wrong.
Yours truly,
J. J. KINILEY,
Inspector of Plumbing.
154
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF TUBERCULOSIS.
1. A stage of civilization is marked by rejection of the divine origin of disease doctrine and by attributing death from preventable disease to a failure of government.
2. "Are you in the habit of estimating the happiness and misery of your community by the decrease or increase in its death rate from preventable causes ?"
3. Doctors and Health officers should be retained to exer- cise eternal vigilance in preserving the health that is natural and le active in avoiding danger rather than in encountering it. The ways of avoiding sickness are positive and clear, those of over- coming it are devious and elusive.
THE ORGANIZATION OF A CAMPAIGN AGAINST
TUBERCULOSIS.
The facts regarding the nature of tuberculosis and its mode of dissemination are now too well known to merit discussion. We recognize it as an infectious, communicable disease affecting all ages, but especially prone to attack those in early adult life. It causes more deaths than any other disease except pneumonia, and a far greater proportion of invalidity than any. In its early stages it is curable. It is preventable.
The application of these facts to the organization of a system of administrative control of the disease has not been widely made, and it is only within very recent years that an intel- ligent, comprehensive, sanitary surveillance on the part of the state has been inaugurated.
Our object in the present day crusade is the eradification of the disease, and experience, as well as the facts dependent upon Koch's discovery of the tubercle bacillus, and his demonstration of its communicability and preventable nature, have shown that our only hope lies in the adoption of adequate prophylactic measures.
1. Tuberculosis is a disease usually chronic in nature, existing for months, years, or even a lifetime.
2. In tuberculosis the dangers of contagion are less evident.
3. The source of contagion are frequently uncertain or impossible to determine.
155
4. There is continued danger of contagion during the en- tire life of the infected individual if the disease remains active,. thereby necessitating continual surveillance for months or years ..
5 It often shows a long latent period.
6. There is usually an entire absence of characteristic- acute symptoms.
7. Tuberculosis has a more direct dependence upon poverty, previous diseases, debility, etc.
8. Tuberculosis does not necessarily completely incapaci -- tate the individual affected.
From these facts it is evident that this is the most difficult of all so-called "contagious" or communicable diseases to eradi -- cate, and requires far more comprehensive sanitary precedures. We must treat the early case to prevent it from becoming ad -- vanced and relatively more dangerous, and to protect the well by caring for the advanced case in such a manner as to make it innocuous.
It seems incerdible that, with the above facts regarding the disease so clearly shown by the discovery of the tubercle bacillus,. and the methods of combating it so emphatically laid down by Koch twenty-five years ago, the world should have been so slow- in adopting adequate measures for its control. The great sana- torium movement, to which unfortunately so many have blindly looked for the solution of the problem, has failed utterly in stamping out the disease. The results in curing the incipient are indeed most gratifying, but by this means only a small per- centage of a class which, according to reliable statistics, repre- sents only ten to fifteen per cent, of all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, and the least important from the point of view of danger to the community, is cared for. Sanatarium treatment does not touch the root of the evil, namely, the chronic case, or infectious focus. In curing the early cases it must be admitted that a few are thus prevented from becoming advanced, and therefore centres of dissemination, but the number is too small' to be considered of great importance in our plans to annihilate- the disease. If it were possible to recognize every case in the early stage and to thoroughly treat it, the number of advanced® cases would be small, but unfortunately the greater number are-
156
not recognized until they have passed to the advanced stage. The keynote of our crusade is "Prevention."
A careful consideration of these facts inevitably leads us to the conclusion that the combat against this scourage can be effec- tively carried out only by each community facing its own prob- lem through preventive means. Even the state is powerless to assume such responsibility. A small percentage of those most dangerous to the community may be segregated in the state hospitals for the advanced, but so great is the total number of all stages that only an insignificant proportion can thus be con- trolled.
1. FACTORS DIRECTLY UNDER CONTROL OF THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES.
1. Compulsory notification and registration of all cases of tuberculosis.
2. Medical inspection of the home conditions of all cases reported.
3. Obligatory free disinfection after removal or death of a ·consumptive.
1. The maintenance of a laboratory for free bacteriologic ·examinations.
5. Enforcement of laws against promiscuous spitting in public places.
2. INSTITUTIONS FOR THE CARE OF TUBERCULOSIS.
1. Dispensaries.
2. Provisions for the great class of middle-stage consump- tives, i. e., sanatoria camps, cottage hospitals, etc.
3. Special institutions for children, i. e., sanatoria camps, hospitals, out-of-door schools.
3. GENERAL. PROVISIONS.
1. The adoption of measures for the improvement of work- shops and the dwellings of the poor.
2. Efforts directed to the dissemination among the people of knowledge concerning the nature and means of prevention of the disease.
157
3. Provisions for relief among the tuberculous poor.
4. Special provisions for scientific work and the investiga- tion of the conditions existing in the community.
5. Nurses.
The Board of Health are extremely grateful for the expres- sions of desire on the part of our Women's Club to assist in this worthy object by means of its Health officers and its Health Dept .. Fund, under the direction of an able committee. Such assist- ance will do away with the present necessity of organizing an- Anti-Tuberculosis Association in our community. Two patients occupying tents under our direction have died during the year, but were far advanced with the disease when turned over to us. The families and children were examined and fumigation in- stituted from time to time. The third case, a worthy young man has occupied an improvised shack nights and a tent during the- day on elevated land at the Poor Farm since last February, and made a steady gain under these conditions. He is now at a small private sanitarium in Akin, So. Carolina through the kind offices: of a lady who has long been afflicted, but now much improved in health. This opportunity is of the greatest assistance to one. afflicted in an educational way; and it is our intention to im- prove the now dilapidated condition of the shack which is: seperated from our Pest House. on the premises ; so that added' advantages may be given nim upon his return to us in April or May. The cost of repairing ceilings, floors, setting glass and putting in skylights and sliding windows on the southern ex- posure will be about $300 and figures for the contract are now under consideration by the Board of Health ..
THE URGENT NECESSITY OF A SYSTEM OF SEWERAGE.
The need and importance of adopting immediate measures to acquire a system of sewerage disposal has long been evident to the members of this Department and it is our desire to at least do all in our power to do our full duty to ourselves, to the. town and to humanity. It becomes more and more apparent that the only method of disposing of sewerage when the town is
158
ready to construct its system is to obtain the right from the Legislature to have the Town of Braintree added to the So. Metropolitan Sewerage District.
The Board has given its best efforts in assisting and direct- ing the sanitary arrangements at the new Rice & Hutchins fac- tory to take care of the matter for a time at least. A large cess- pool was built with an overflow and a long and wide latrine filled with stone and dry boughs for filtering purposes on a large tract of land recently acquired by that firm. We have a population here of 1,000 and later 2,000 people. This large cesspool is cleaned out once in two weeks and the overflow from the latrine mostly water is carried off into the river by means of a long gal- vanized iron pipe. We have averted law suits against the town .during the year in adopting similar methods in certain localities.
This will suffice for a time, but cannot be expected to be. of lasting benefit, when as we all know the law absolutely prohibits pollution of our rivers and streams. That it is impossible to direct such material into other channels is evident also, by the report of our engineer in referring to the matter of under drains.
Out-houses in congested localities have been ordered re- moved and cesspools have been built. The town at the Annual Meeting voted as follows : That a Committee be appointed by the moderator to look into the whole matter of sewerage. To obtain · a right from the Legislature to enter the South Metropolitan 'high sewer district and report at the next Annual Town Meet- ing. The Committee appointed was made up of the Board of Health and Messrs. Avery, Willis, and Maybury. This Com- mittee the same in personnel as appointed two years ago acting in entire accord, have presented a petition signed by many of our prominent citizens; also a bill to the Legislature through our representative in General Court, Mr. Mellen, the result of which will be submitted. A letter relating to the subject from the State Board of Health has been received. As shown by the con- sulting engineers' report as a part of the report, it can be readily "seen that we are getting diluted sewerage material in our drink- ing water and this to with the added fact that a very much greater amount of chlorine constantly exists in our filter gallery `than in the pond itself ; prima facie evidence of the beginning of a pollution which should be and is preventable. The full cost
159
as estimated for present requirements and for a term of years will be under $100,000.
This much needed undertaking can in our opinion be han- dled by a town as any individual handles and surmounts ob- stacles in view of improvement; of lasting betterment in the physical well being of our people.
MR. JOHNSON'S REPORT AS CONSULTING
ENGINEER.
Boston, March 6, 1909.
TO THE SEWERAGE COMMITTEE OF THE
TOWN OF BRAINTREE, MASS.
Gentlemen :-
In accordance with your request, I submit the following re- port upon the sewerage of the town of Braintree, together with estimates of cost. In preparing the report and estimates I have not made surveys of the town such as will be necessary before · detailed plans are prepared, but have used such information as was already available. Much valuable information in this con- nection has been secured from the State Board of Health and the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board. In the estimates of cost liberal allowances have been made for unforeseen con- tingencies, so that I am satisfied that the work as a whole can be done for the prices given.
There are many conditions at Braintree which make it especially important that sewerage facilities be provided. Many parts of the town are low, and the water level in the soil is near the surface so that it is almost impossible to dispose of any con- siderable quantity of sewerage by means of cesspools. The fac- tories in the town produce considerable quantities of sewage which must be disposed of in some way, and the discharge of such wastes into the river cannot be permitted.
Although the natural conditions are such as to make sewerage especially desirable, Braintree is one of the last towns of its size in Massachusetts to undertake this work. There are only four places in Massachussetts having a population as large as that of Braintree which are entirely unprovided with sewers. These places are Weymouth, with a population in 1905 of 11,585; Danvers, population 9,063; Marblehead, population
160
7,209, and North Attleboro*, population 7,878. In two of these four towns complete plans of sewerage and sewage disposal have already been prepared, but the systems have not been constructed.
It is needless to point out the advantages of a sewerage system in a town like Braintree, since these must be perfectly obvious to any one. Neither is it necessary in these days to call attention to the danger to health in having the soil under and around the houses saturated with filth and the streams polluted by sewage. There are, however, other important reasons why a sewerage system is especially needed at Braintree which are per- haps not so obvious.
The water supply of the town is taken in part from a filter gallery and wells located on the shore of Little Pond in South Braintree, this supply being supplemented by water taken from Great Pond in the westerly part of the town. The supply ob- tained from the shore of Little Pond has been in the past of ex- cellent quality, being much better than the water obtained from Great Pond, since the water is clear and practically colorless, tasteless and odorless. Since the works were put in for taking this water, the territory back and east of the pumping station has become thickly built up, and all liquid wastes from the houses are discharged into the ground. These wastes find their way eventually into the filter gallery or wells, and an ever increas- ing amount of sewage is being pumped from the ground and delivered to the water consumers. A portion of the water which enters the filter gallery comes from the pond which receives the drainage from much of South Braintree and is becoming more and more polluted. The State Board of Health has made fre- quent analyses of the water supply of Braintree, and the increas- ing pollution of the supply is very apparent from these analyses. The following table gives the average yearly analyses of the water obtained from the filter gallery, the averages being made up of several analyses made at different times during each year.
*During the summer of 1909 a complete system of sewerage was begun in North Attleboro.
Chemical Examination of Water of Filter Gallery, Braintree W. W. From State Board of Health Reports - Averages by Years. [Parts per 100,000.]
NUMBER
YEAR.
TURBID-
ITY.
SED-
IMENT.
COLOR.
COLD.
Нот.
Total.
Loss on Ignition
FREE.
Total.
Dis- solved.
Sus- pended.
Nitrates
Nitrites
CONSUMED.
HARDNESS.
IRON.
SOURCE.
1887
.09
7.24
.0005 .0007
0042 .0049
0.85
.0897 .1020
.0003
1889
1890
1891
1892
.02
4.69
0002
.0030
0.75
.0192
.0001
1.8
1893
.03
4.72
.0002
.0049
0.83
.0363
.0001
.1029
1.8
.0037
1894
.04
5.19
0004
.0048
0,86
.0338
.0001
.1000
1.7
.0135
1895
.12
5.32
.0004
.0060
0.89
.0369
.0002
13
2.0
.0417
1896
.08
5.55
0006
.0051
0.86
.0329
.0000
.12
1.7
.0095
1897
.04
5.20
.0010
.0058
0.90
.0287
.0001
.10
2.0
.0059
1898
.07
5.22
.0013
.0049
0.88
.0482
.0000
.12
2.0
.0059
1899
.04
5.20
.0020
.0044
0.81
0363
.0000
.09
1.9
.0051
1900
.10
4.89
.0014
.0120
0.76
.0431
.0001
.23
1.4
.0112
1901
.09
5.40
.0015
0109
0.78
.0501
.0001
.21
1.7
.0104
1902
.04
4.99
0022
.0047
0.79
.0337
.0000
12
1.8
.0059
1903
.03
4.93
.0015
.0056
0.83
.0405
.0000
.12
1.8
.0056
1904
04
5.24
.0018
.0059
0.91
.0358
.0000
.15
1.9
.0083
1905
.08
5.42
.0018
.0069
0.98
.0302
.0001
.15
1.8
.0122
1906
.04
6.07
.0028
0062
1.02
.0460
.0001
.10
1.9
.0095
1907
.07
6 08
.0028
.0063
1.00
.0345
.0000
.13
1.9
.0102
1908
.05
· 6.19
.0023
.0052
1.03
.0503
.0000
2.0
.0087
1909
.00
6.50
.0072
.0042
1.06
.0400
.0000
-
2.2
.0030
APPEARANCE.
ODOR.
· RESIDUE ON EVAPORATION.
AMMONIA.
ALBUMINOID.
SEWAGE.
NITROGEN AS
OXYGEN
1888
.03
7.00
0.85
162
It is perfectly clear that this source of water supply must soon be abondoned unless means are taken to prevent the in- creasing pollution of the water by the sewage which is now dis- charged into the ground in the vicinity of the pumping station. As before stated, the filter gallery furnishes a much more satis- factory water than does Great Pond, the water of which is highly colored, has more or less objectionable tastes and odors, and fur- thermore receives considerable direct sewage pollution. It is of course perfectly possible to take the entire supply of water from Great Pond and purify it by filtration and thus secure a water of excellent quality for domestic purposes, but this would be ex- pensive and will not be necessary for some time, at least, if the sewage can be kept out of the water entering the filter gallery.
The State Board of Health, in a communication to the Water Supply Committee of the town of Braintree, in 1903, made the following statement in regard to the quality of the sources of supply :
"The Board has already, in previous communications, called attention to the serious pollution of Little Pond from the large population on its watershed, and to the danger of using this pond as a source of domestic water supply without purifying the water. The water of the filter gallery and tubular wells is also affected by the large quantity of sewage discharged into the ground from the population adjacent to the pond on the side upon which these works are located, and by imperfectly filtered pond water; and, as you have already been advised, while this water may not at present be unsafe for drinking, the circum- stances attending its pollution are such that it is liable to become unsafe at any time.
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