into the river, so that pollution of the river water would not be increased. We take it for granted that your water supply is of sufficient volume to thoroughly flush such a system as is here urged. A live, growing village cannot afford to delay such an improvement. Until a sewer system is built, each house holder should provide a sub-soil, or downward filtration on his own land, for the disposal of his sewage. In behalf of the State Board of Health, HENRY D. HOLTON, Secretary and Executive Officer. BRATTLEBORO, VT., August 2, 1907. School Directors of Williamstown, GEORGE EDSON, Secretary. Having made an inspection of your school house, we would suggest the following changes be made to render it sanitary : The cellar bottom should be cemented. The water closets of modern type should be installed. They should be in a room under the porch (not under the school rooms) having a separate vent shaft; this might necessitate an enlargement of the porch. The approaches to them should be entirely separate. Apparatus should be put in the basement to warm the building, either by hot air or indirect steam. The rooms should be ventilated by introducing pure warm air up six and onehalf to seven feet from the floor, taking out the foul air from near the floor through tubes conveying it to a central shaft or shafts, these shafts to be warmed either by a central smoke flue or tube, or, if steam is used for heating, a steam pipe or coil, which would make a sufficient draft. On no account should the ventilating shafts from the water closets have any connection with those from the school rooms. The windows should be equal in square feet to one-fourth of the floor space. The drinking water should be in basement, but not in water closets. The stairways should be made to correspond to requirements as described in the rules. From the second story, a fire escape should be provided. Attached to and a part of this report are the rules and regulations relative to the construction of school buildings and the plumbing regulations. Respectfully submitted in behalf of the State Board of Health, HENRY D. HOLTON, Secretary and Executive Officer. BRATTLEBORO, Vт., August 2, 1907. GEORGE E. WILBER, School Director. DEAR SIR:-Your letter is just received. You ask what could be done in your village school house temporarily until it could be put in proper sanitary condition." This means until another year when the summer vacation comes. We recognize that it would be impossible to make the changes required within less than two months, possibly it might take three. You might ventilate by the use of the Jacketed Stove." The windows could readily be enlarged to give the required amount of light. The seats to the closets could be hung on hinges so that they could be raised up, then by having a janitor all the time, he could flush them at least six times per day, using a broom to scrape them out, and the same with the urinals, using after each flushing a sufficient amount of the following disinfectants: One pound of chloride of lime, dissolved in five gallons of water, one pound of sulphate of copper, dissolved in five gallons of water (wooden vessels being used). The copper dissolves quicker if put into the water in a gunny sack. When these are dissolved, turn them together, and stir well. A quart or two used in each trough at a time would, with the scrubbing, disinfect them. If this is done, it should be with the understanding that another summer, the changes recommended in our report should be made. Yours truly, HENRY D. HOLTON, Secretary and Executive Officer. BRATTLEBORO, VT., August 28, 1907. To the Local Board of Health, FREDERICK FLETCHER, M. D., Health Officer and Secretary, Bradford, Vt. GENTLEMEN :-Having recently inspected the watershed from which your village receives its water supply we believe the source of the pollution which an analysis shows to be present in this water comes from the farm of H. W. Carlton. The buildings on this farm, consisting of house, shed, and barn, are situated 65 feet from the small brook which runs north of them and a short distance below discharges into a larger brook which, in turn, empties into the pond from which the water is conveyed to the distributing reservoir. These buildings are on a side hill; whenever there is a rain, or shower, the water from above must run down under the barn and shed and make its way to this little brook, taking with it more or less of the wastes from the stable and sink drain, which discharges under the shed. Everything likely to pollute the water of this brook should be removed and, in the future, such precautions taken as will prevent anything being washed into this stream. Some rods south of this building the larger brook passes on its way to the pond above mentioned. It appears that the family are doing a laundry business; that clothes are washed or rinsed near this brook, and at the time of our inspection, two barrels were standing there containing dirty, soapy water, which we were informed was emptied on the ground back from the brook. This washing or rinsing of the clothes and disposition of the water used in these operations must positively cease. The danger of the water of the brook being polluted from this source is very great. The radical remedy for most effectually preventing the danger of pollution from these premises would be the entire removal of the buildings. In behalf of the State Board of Health, HENRY D. HOLTON, Secretary and Executive Officer. BRATTLEBORO, VT., November 20, 1907. C. W. PECK, M. D., Health Officer, Brandon, Vt. DEAR DOCTOR :-An inspection of the brook into which the sewage from the buildings of Dr. Gee discharges was recently made. There is no doubt that this sewage must pollute the water of this stream to the extent that it would be unsafe and dangerous for domestic use by persons living along the course of the stream. We are informed that at times several families have to depend on the water of this brook for daily use in their households. We would therefore advise that Dr. Gee find some other way of disposing of his sewage. This he might do by the sub-soil method, which is inexpensive and efficient. This is in use in several places in the state and is giving very satisfactory results. In behalf of the State Board of Health, HENRY D. HOLTON, Secretary and Executive Officer. Program of Eighth Annual School of Instruction for Health Officers July 9th to 12th, inclusive, 1906 MONDAY EVENING, JULY NINE 8:00 O'CLOCK. Introductory remarks by the President of the State Board of Health, Charles S. Caverly, M. D. Address, Governor Charles J. Bell. Address, Hon. Frederick Fleetwood, Secretary of State. TUESDAY MORNING, JULY TEN 9:30 O'CLOCK. Paper, Hygiene of the Schoolhouse, by Hon. Mason S. Stone, Superintendent of Education. Discussion, Henry Tucker, M. D., Brattleboro; C. W. Noyes, M. D., Burke. Paper, Contagious Diseases in the School, by J. W. Copeland, M. D., Lyndonville. Discussion, H. A. Elliott, M. D., Barnet; Joseph Breitling, M. D., Lunenburg. TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY TEN 2:00 O'CLOCK. Paper, Venereal Diseases a Peril to the State, by Ferd C. Valentine, M. D., New York. Discussion, W. W. Townsend, M. D., Rutland; Lyman Allen, M. D., Burlington; Maj. Charles E. Woodruff, M. D., U. S. Army. Paper, Public Opinion and Preventative Medicine, by H. L. Stillson, Bennington. Discussion, W. T. Slayton, M. D., Morrisville; C. W. Peck, M. D., Brandon. TUESDAY EVENING, JULY TEN 8:00 O'CLOCK. Paper, Sewage Disposal, by George C. Whipple, C. E., Consulting Professor to the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. Discussion, Edward R. Clark, M. D., Castleton; C. H. Hazen, M. D., Corinth. WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY ELEVEN 9:30 O'CLOCK. Paper, Advisability of Notification in Tonsilitis, Pneumonia, and Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis, by R. H. Miner, M. D., Rutland. Discussion, William Lindsley, M. D., Montpelier; D. C. Noble, M. D., Middlebury. Paper, Sanitary Laws, by Robert Lawrence, Esq., Rutland. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY ELEVEN 2:00 O'CLOCK. The Vermont Society for the prevention of Tuberculosis will hold a Symposium on Tuberculosis. The Directors of the Vermont Sanatorium, Carroll S. Page, Olin Merrill, William N. Bryant, George Aitken, D. D. Burditt, F. G. Butterfield, Daniel C. Noble, Emily Dutton Proctor, Redfield Proctor, Jr., Frank C. Partridge, Charles S. Caverly, Frank H. Brooks, P. J. Barrett, and H. C. Tinkham, will be present at both afternoon and evening sessions and will participate in the discussion of different phases of the subject. The members of the Vermont State Tuberculosis Commission will also be present. Paper, Prevention of Tuberculosis, by W. N. Bryant, M. D., Ludlow, Secretary of the Board of Directors, Vermont Sanatorium. Paper, Compulsory Notification in Tuberculosis by all Physicians, by Thomas Darlington, M. D., Health Commissioner, New York City. WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY ELEVEN 8:00 O'CLOCK. Paper, Relative Merits of Sanatorium and Home Treatment of Tuberculosis, by Herbert N. King, M. D., Physician in Chief at the Loomis Sanatorium. Discussion by gentlemen of Board of Directors and others, followed by election of officers of the Vermont Society, and other business. |