Drs. G. B. Thornton of Tennessee, Thaddeus M. Stevens of Indiana, L. F. Salomon of Louisiana, and R. J. Farquharson of Iowa, were appointed such committee. The following were present at the meeting: STATE BOARDS OF HEALTH-Arkansas: J. A. Dibbrell, jr., M. D., secretary. Illinois: John H. Rauch, M. D., secretary. Iowa: R. J. Farquharson, M. D., secretary. Kentucky: John J. Speed, M. D., secretary. Michigan: Henry B. Baker, M. D., secretary. Tennessee: G. B. Thornton, M. D., member. LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS.-Keokuk, Iowa, city board of health: D. B. Hillis, M. D., president. Memphis, Tennessee, city board of health: G. B. Thornton, M.D., president; Hon. David P. Hadden, president legislative council, ex-officio member. New Orleans, Louisiana, auxiliary sanitary association: Gustavus Devron, M. D. sanitary director. New Orleans, Louisiana, medical and surgical association: L. F. Salomon, M. D., member. NATIONAL BOARD OF HEALTH.-Hosmer A. Johnson, M. D., resident member, Chicago, Illinois. Robert W. Mitchell, M. D., resident member, Memphis, Tennessee. Officers of the council present: John J. Speed, M. D., Louisville, Kentucky, president; John H. Rauch, M. D., Chicago, Ill., secretary and treasurer. For the ensuing year the following officers were elected: President, Dr. Gustavus Devron of New Orleans; Vice-President, Dr. D. B. Hillis of Iowa; Secretary and Treasurer, Dr. J. H. Rauch, of Illinois. Board adjourned to 1 P. M. AFTERNOON SESSION. Board met at 1 o'clock P. M. Present-Drs. Robertson, Dickinson, Hull, Reynolds and Lewellen. Board proceeding to an election of officers for the ensuing year, the following were elected: Dr. W. S. Robertson, President; Dr. R. J. Farquharson, Secretary. On motion it was ordered that the salary of Mr. Andrews, as Assistant Secretary, be raised by $50 for the next six months. The following list of the expenses of the members attending the meeting was approved: PROCEEDINGS OF NOVEMBER MEETING. MORNING SESSION. DES MOINES, Wednesday, November 1, 1882. The Board met pursuant to call of the President, at 10 o'clock, A. M. Present-Drs. Robertson, Lewellen, Olney, Clark, Dickinson, Reynolds and Hull, and Loring, C. E. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. Reports of standing committees being called, Dr. Hull, from the Committee on Ventilation, read a report which was received and ordered printed in the biennial report. The report of the Committee on Education and Construction of School-Houses was continued; also the report of the Committee on Epidemic Diseases. The report of the Special Committee on Scarlet Fever in Southwestern Iowa was continued. The Secretary presented the following report, which was read and approved: SECRETARY'S REPORT. Gentlemen-Since the May meeting I have, at the request of the President, attended two sanitary meetings. The first was held at Port Huron, Michigan, on May 18th. The following report, sent to the President of the Board on May 23d, will give some idea of the purpose and action of the meeting: DES MOINES, May 23, 1882. DR. W. S. ROBERTSON, President State Board of Health meeting: Dear Doctor-Arriving in Chicago on the morning of the 17th, I remained there until evening. Visiting the office of the Health Commissioner, Dr. DeWolf, I learned much from him in regard to the prevention of small-pox and its treatment in that city. Chicago has done and is doing a noble work, for the protection, not only of her own people, but of all those States to the west which are reached by the great tide of immigration which flows through that city. An inspection of the record book of the small-pox hospital showed a total of eight hundred and thirty cases admitted, of which eightytwo now remain in that institution; of these but twelve can speak or understand English, this fact proving that the great majority of the inmates are recently arrived immigrants; the most of them having been less than a month in this city. I was disappointed to learn that neither Dr. Rauch, Secretary of the Illinois State Board of Health, nor Dr. De Wolf, Health Commissioner of Chicago, could attend the conference at Port Huron. This meeting was held at 2 P. M. on the 18th instant, in the United States court room, and had a very full attendance of the members of the Michigan State Board of Health, and others interested in sanitary matters. The discussion, which was general and spirited, was not confined to the medical men, but was participated in by lawyers, clergymen, business and railroad men, this fact showing not only the general intelligence of the people of Michigan, but also the educating effect of the efficient officers and admirable personel of the Michigan State Board. You will learn the general proceedings of the meeting from reading the published account, a copy of which I will send as soon as it reaches me. Suffice it to say here, that the system of inspection and vaccination of immigrants, which had already been started at the sea-ports, under the auspices of the National Board of Health, was extended to Port Huron and Detroit, ports at which it was greatly needed; for I found, much to my astonishment, that there was absolutely no inspection or examination of immigrants whatever, whole trains transferred by ferry-boat from Canada, being brought directly from ships at Quebec and Montreal. The following incident, narrated by Dr. Barker, Secretary of the Michigan State Board of Health, aptly reveals the true nature and great danger of this state of affairs, which is particularly interesting to us, as these new immigrants are transferred from Chicago to Manitoba, through the State of Iowa, by the C., R. I. & P. R. R., along the "Round Robin Hood's barn" route, through West Liberty, Cedar Rapids and Albert Lea. Dr. Baker was informed by a conductor of the Grand Trunk railroad that on the 15th instant he found a man with small-pox, and upon a refusal of the health officer at Battle Creek to remove the case from the cars he was carried on to Chicago. Upon inquiry, upon my return to Chicago, it was found that a Canadian, afflicted with small-pox, was arrested on the evening of the 18th, at the Grand Trunk depot, and transported to the hospital; another Canadian, similarly afflicted, was also arrested at this depot, upon the arrival of another and later train upon the same road. In regard to Chicago, it was determined, in consequence of the absence of both Drs. Rauch and De Wolf, and of the supposed existence of an efficient system of inspection of incoming trains by the health authorities of that city, to postpone action for the present. It was also determined, in regard to points west of Chicago, that no inspectors were needed now. Upon my return to Chicago, on the 20th instant, it was discovered, much to my surprise, that no inspectors were sent out to meet the incoming immigrants, that such had never been the custom, and that the health authorities depended solely upon the sanitary and ordinary police to pick out small-pox cases at the depots, upon the arrival of the trains. On this account, upon my arrival here, I immediately wrote to Dr. Stephen Smith, member of the National Board of Health, at New York, informing him of this state of affairs, and urging upon him the imperative necessity of the organization of a system of inspection at that point, under the National Board, for the protection of the States to the west. The following gentlemen attended the conference at Port Huron : Dr. Stephen Smith, of New York, member of the National Board of Health. Hon. Leroy Parker, of Flint, President of the Michigan State Board of Health. Dr. Henry B. Baker, of Lansing, Secretary Michigan State Board of Health. Dr. H. F. Lyster, of Detroit, member of the Michigan State Board of Health. Dr. John Avery, of Greenville, member of the Michigan State Board of Health. Rev. D. C. Jacokes, of Pontiac, member of the Michigan State Board of Health. Dr. Rae, of Oshawa, Ont., member of the Ontario Board of Health. Dr. J. M. Partridge, of South Bend, member of the Indiana State Board of Health. Dr. G. C. Ashmun, health officer of Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. R. J. Farquharson, Des Moines, Secretary of the Iowa State Board of Health. Dr. A. A. Thompson, health officer of Flint, Michigan. Dr. S. S. French, health officer of Battle Creek, Michigan. Dr. H. R. Mills, Marine Hospital Service, Port Huron. Dr. D. M. Bennett, city physician, Port Huron. Dr. C. E. Spencer, health officer, Port Gratiot, Michigan. |