Show TYPHOID FEVER AND THE FARM WELL typhoid fever infant mortality gastrointestinal gastro intestinal disturbances and many other intestinal diseases that are prevalent in the fall especially in rural communities muni ties can be greatly reduced in in number and severity of cases if proper precaution is taken with water supply according to dr J E greaves bacteriologist of the utah agricultural college dr greaves offers the following very interesting information coupled with many practical suggestions gest ions we are rapidly nearing the he season of the year when many of the inhabitants of rural districts will be suffering from various intentional disturbances and it becomes very pertinent to inquire why is it that in so many rural districts various intestinal tes diseases are more prevalent than they are in large cities when the reverse should be true we find at least a partial answer to this question in the difference in water supplies of the two districts in the cities the water supplies are 1 ally carefully guarded against contamination while in the coun try districts the supply of water is usually obtained from wells and these in many places are e shallow and what hats is worse than that not protected from the filth which may be carried in from the top eminent authorities on this subject have found that where one de death ath from typhoid could be prevented by improving in the water supply two or three deaths from other causes could be prevented by the improvement pro an improved water supply not only reduces the ber of deaths from typhoid fever but decreases infant mortality morality and the death rate from gastrointestinal gastro intestinal disturbances this chis is due not only to the removal of disease producing organisms from the water but there here are many other substances and organisms in impure water which greatly reduce the bodily vigor of the individual using it and anything or condition which in any way reduces the e bodily vitality makes the individual an easy mark for disease many wells are only loosely covered with planks between which grasshoppers toads or leaves eaves make their way it is easy to see adb how the filth from the he boots of working men or from children playing an on the or from poultry walking about and carry infection on their heir feet may get into the water and pollution may easily take place one need not go far into this his country to find places where the out houses are freely open at the back so that fowls can walk under and from there here onto lanka covering the WI well all the he filth left by them on the bove of the well is later washed nto into ahe he well this could do litie harm if the diseff disease S e germs were not present but one never knows when they may be present it is not enough to know that no case of typhoid has been upon the premises for it is often the case that apparently healthy individuals are carrying within or excreting from their bodies the disease germs for these reasons the old planks which cover so many wells should be replaced by a tight fitting cement platform covering not only the surface of but several feet surrounding the well and passing into the ground three or four feet so that all the water which finds its way into the well must pass through several feet of firm soil under these conditions the well is fairly deep can be depended upon for water where water is known to be or strongly suspected of being contaminated the only remedy is to boil the water before use the many filters which are being offered to the public cannot be depended upon unless they are so constructed that they can be taken apart every day and thoroughly cleaned by heating to a red heat |