95. Food and Drink. We have already spoken of the problem of water for the city. In the country, wells and springs are constantly in danger from germs brought into them through surface drainage. The water of a city can be kept perfectly pure. It is brought from a distant place where no germs can drain into it, and it is inspected every day by trained scientists. Or it is brought from some lake or river and thoroughly filtered. Therefore, city drinking-water is generally safe. Milk is also likely to be pure if the city is well governed. Inspectors may meet the milk wagon at any place and take a sample for inspection. If it is not as good as it should be the city may take action against the company which supplies it. All food for the city is brought from a distance. One of the advantages of having well-planned markets is that in such places foods may be carefully inspected and merchants may be prevented from selling fruits, vegetables, or meats which are not wholesome. It is impossible for every buyer to know whether such food is good or not. Therefore if we do not work together in providing trained inspectors and in supporting their rules we are in constant danger.

96. Pure Food Laws. Much of our food is of a kind which can be kept a long time. This is shipped directly from the wholesale producer to the retail grocer. Such things as flour, canned goods, cheese, and the like, may be sent from a distant State to our retail shops and there sold directly to us with but little inspection. Meat is in particular danger of being unwholesome, as are all cold-storage foods. We shall see that the State government and even the government of the United States must assist the city in watching such food. One means of protecting the buyer is to enact severe laws, placing a penalty on any firm which

sells or ships foods that contain any unwholesome chemical or other substance. An inspection of the goods from any factory helps to protect the honest manufacturer by punishing the dishonest one. Much candy, for example, is not at all fit to eat; but our laws are not yet sufficiently severe to prevent its manufacture and sale. Cakes are frequently made from eggs which are spoiled or stale. Flour may contain substances that are injurious if not actually poisonous. Canned goods often contain chemicals to preserve them which weaken the power of digestion. But it is impossible

depoor the consumer to discover these things. We must

depend upon pure-food laws with inspectors and other officers to administer them.

97. Prevention of Diseases. Scientists have discovered many means of preventing such diseases as smallpox, typhoid fever, diphtheria, and the like. By injecting into the body substances which help it to resist the disease the doctors make us nearly immune. But many of us are not willing to submit to these remedies, and it is necessary for the government to enact laws which compel us to adopt them. These laws are not so much to protect the person

takes the cure as to prevent him from being a center from which the disease spreads to others. In some cities children may not go to school unless they have been vaccinated against smallpox. Consequently, this terrible disease has been practically eliminated. Another step which the government takes to prevent disease from spreading is to quarantine the person who is ill. This means to shut him up and allow no one to enter or leave the house in which he is except physicians, nurses, and others who are careful enough not to carry away germs.

98. Children's Health. The government does many

other things for the health of children. In some cities dentists go to the school and examine the teeth of every pupil. If the teeth are not cared for they decay and cause poison in the body which prepares the way for the health to break down. The eyes of pupils are examined to see whether glasses are needed. Food is provided in some places so that children will not become weak from hunger and so fall victims to disease germs. All of these things are done for

the purpose of making the people of the city healthy and able to do their part of the work of the world, and to make the city a better place in which to live.

99. The Health Department. Now, who has charge of all this work? It is clear that those who do have charge of it must be trained experts and that they must make their

plans years in advance for the work they are to do. Later on in this book you will find a discussion of the question whether such officers should be elected or appointed in order to secure the best management. The custom is to appoint the head of the health department and to pay him a good salary. He is then permitted to appoint those who work under him-the chemists, the bacteriologists, the doctors, dentists, and oculists. But even with the most careful appointment by the best mayor we can elect, mistakes are often made in the selection of health officers. As an additional precaution it is customary to permit the State Board of Health to have some supervision over the city department. The State Board can send an inspector to see what the city department is doing, and to give warning if the work is not being well done.

100. Hospitals. Most cities maintain hospitals at the public expense. Some of these are so managed that the rich may use them if they wish, and pay for the use. But they are also for the poor, who may use them without cost. To these institutions persons with contagious diseases may be taken and quarantined so that the home may not suffer too much inconvenience and so that the officers of health may be sure that the quarantine is enforced. In such hospitals many ills besides ordinary diseases are cured. Children with deformed feet are treated so that they will be better able to care for themselves. Those who have suffered from accidents undergo operations to restore them to usefulness; and everything possible is done to relieve distress.

SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS

1. On what does the health of your city depend? That is, how can you yourself keep healthy?

2. Is the air of your city pure? Is there much smoke in it? 3. Are there swamps near that breed mosquitoes? If so, is the city government doing all it can to dry them up?

4. Has your city a department of health?

5. Who appoints the head of it, and what kind of a man is appointed?

6. Is the milk which comes to your city inspected? By whom and where is it inspected?

7. Is the meat and other food inspected?

8. What efforts are made to fight the flies and to protect the food in shops and markets from flies?

9. Are persons quarantined in your city when they have diseases which are easily taken by other people?

10. Are the children in the schools advised by city officers to have their teeth and eyes attended to?

11. Does your city have building inspectors who see that buildings are light and not crowded?

12. Are you sure that the water you drink is pure and wholesome?

13. What officers do you depend on to see to this? Who appoints them, and who holds them to their duty?

14. Make a small map of your city showing the location of parks and play-grounds.

15. What have these to do with the health of the people?

16. Your city may not have many of the advantages mentioned above; few cities have all of them. But how many of them could you have if you had no government?

17. If you vote carefully when you grow up would this have anything to do with making your city more healthful?

18. What do you do to care for your health and that of your neighbors!