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Show CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. Last night Dr. Beattie, secretary of the State Board of Health, addressed the Senate of Utah j upon preventable diseases. The topic is timely, to say the least. Open any daily paper and read the official record! Smallpox, diphtheria, measles are rife in our midst. The same story comes from the neighboring towns. Smallpox has existed in this city for three years. The cases are as numerous today as ever. Wait a few months until the heat gets in its deadly work of fermentation, and typhoid ty-phoid fever will become a regular addition to the list. All these diseases can and should be prevented. pre-vented. Their presence in our midst is proof positive posi-tive of neglect or ignorance. Day in and day out, I mouth after month, they invade our homes, bringing bring-ing in their train financial loss, suffering and death. ' And yet wc do nothing! We do not even sound the alarm at the approach of these "captains of the men of death." The achievements of American sanitarians in Cuba has shown to the world what can be done by educated, active, brave men. We will never again see the day when yellow fever or cholera will decimate our population or paralyze our commerce. The bubonic plague has been brought to several European and American cities, but it has not been able to gain a foothold. The health authorities knew their business and did their duty, and there was no epidemic. More than a century ago Jenner proved that vaccination and revaccination are absolute ab-solute preventatives of smallpox. Smallpox cannot exist in a well-vaccinated community. In anti-toxin we have not only a cure but a sure preventative of diphtheria. The cause of typhoid fever is always swallowed in water, milk or other food. The source of the infection can always bo located and destroyed. These diseases always come from a previous case. Proper measures of sanitation sanita-tion can always prevent their recurrence and their spread. They can be stamped out easily. In the name of humanity we ask: "Why are they allowed to exist in our midst?" The laws of the state, if properly enforced, are ample for the protection of the citizens from these ills. Who nullifies these laws by not enforcing them? Upon whom rests the awful responsibility for the existence of this carnival of sickness and death? Upon on incompetent or cowardly Board of Health and its agents. |