water supply? Compare the purity of the water from private wells and from the public supply. II. Do you know of any epidemic (such as typhoid fever) that has appeared in your community, and that was directly traceable to impure drinking water? 12. Report on means of keeping the atmosphere pure in your community. 13. What means are employed in your community to secure pure food? 14. Report on the park system of your community. How is it managed? Is anything being done to establish public playgrounds? 15. Is the ventilation of your school building good? Can you do anything yourself to improve it? 16. Write an essay on the subject, "The Relation of Athletics in the School to the Health of the Community." 17. Is there any kind of medical inspection in your school? If so, explain its working. Find out if there are any well-established cases where epidemics have been prevented or checked by school medical inspection in your community, or in other cities. 18. What are some of the ordinances in your community for the protection of health? Are any of these ordinances commonly violated? If so, why? Can you do anything to help secure the enforcement of such ordinances? 19. Report on the work of your state board of health. (So far as possible printed reports should be secured directly from the proper offices.) 20. What other state health officers are there? What is their work?. 21. Look up the story of how our government waged war on disease in Cuba. What have been the results? Why should our national government interest itself in the matter? (The same may be done with reference to the Philippines or the Panama Canal Zone.) 22. Look up the story of the most recent war against yellow fever in our own Southern states. Was it carried on by the local, state, or national government? Why? REFERENCES On the subject of garbage and refuse disposal: Waring, "Street Cleaning and the Disposal of a City's Wastes." New York, 1897. Goodrich, "The Economic Disposal of a Town's Refuse." New York, 1901. "Street Cleansing in New York," Municipal Affairs, 4: 721. On yellow fever in the South: "Work of the Citizens in New Orleans," Charities, 14: 1041. On health in the Panama Canal Zone : "Health Conditions in Canal Zone," Harper's Weekly, 49: 750 (1905). 'Preparing the Isthmus for Canal Construction Work,' Engineering Magazine, 31:17. 46 'The Panama Canal - The Work of the Sanitary Force," Outlook, 83: 69. CHAPTER X HOW THE COMMUNITY AIDS THE CITIZEN TO PROTECT HIS LIFE AND PROPERTY ONE of the chief sources of danger to property, and often to life, is fire. The loss from fire in the United States every year amounts to about $150,000,000. Much of Danger this might be avoided if each citizen were more from fire careful; but fire is too powerful an enemy to be left to the individual or to the family to cope with, especially in cities. If a farmer's house or barn is burned, he himself, or some member of his family, is usually to blame for it, and he must depend on his own efforts to prevent the loss. In the city the safety of a citizen's home depends largely on his neighbors. Fire is an enemy that endangers the whole community; the whole community must unite for defense against it. methods of fire fighting In Philadelphia, in Benjamin Franklin's time, "each householder kept in his shop or his pantry a bucket and fourteen-foot swab; while the city provided hooks, Early ladders, and three rude engines of English make. At the first cry of fire the whole town was in excitement; the laborer quit his work, the apprentice dropped his tools, buyers and sellers swarmed from the market, and the shopkeeper, calling his wife to watch his goods, seized his bucket and hurried away. About the burning building all was confusion and disorder. Each man did as he pleased. to pass the full buckets from No man was in authority. Some fell into line and helped the pump to the engine, or the empty buckets from the engine to the pump; some caught up the hooks and pulled down blazing boards and shingles; some rushed into the building with their bags, and came out laden with household stuff." Franklin, who was always on the lookout for opportunities to improve the condition of his community, thought that "if so much could be done in a way so bad, a hundredfold more could be done if a little order were introduced." He aided in the organization of several fire companies equipped with the best apparatus of the times and working together under discipline, which greatly reduced the losses from fire in Philadelphia. Volunteer fire companies Modern firefighting arrangements Until recently the fire companies of cities were volunteer organizations, whose efficiency was kept up largely through the spirit of rivalry. Frequent tournaments were held in which the companies of the community, or of the neighboring towns, contested with each other in running, climbing ladders, and other feats. Such organizations may still be found in small communities. In modern cities the fire-fighting arrangements are much more complicated and effective. Steam fire engines and elaborate apparatus of all kinds have been invented. Horses, trained until they show almost human intelligence, draw the engines and trucks to the fire at a run. A system of electric signals is in operation in every city, so that a fire can be announced instantly to the nearest fire station, and within a minute after the receipt of the signal the horses are going down the street at a gallop, with men and apparatus. The firemen are organized into permanent companies with perfect discipline, and are paid by the community. The whole department is under the direction of a chief, who is appointed by the mayor or by a board. The New York City fire department is the largest in the world and com prises about 2500 firemen, 1000 horses, 200 fire engines, more than 100 hook and ladder trucks, and several fire boats for the protection of property along the water front. An important part of the means of protection against fire is a reliable water supply. At first private wells and cisterns supplied water for fires; then public The water cisterns were built at convenient points. Now supply every large city is supplied with water from some unfailing source. Cities on the Great Lakes, like Chicago, draw their water from them. Cincinnati and St. Louis receive theirs from the rivers on which they are situated. Inland cities sometimes get their water from deep wells. It is often necessary to provide storage reservoirs. The water is forced to every part of the city through pipes, and hydrants at the street corners or other convenient points serve for the attachment of hose. Waterworks are sometimes owned and operated by cities themselves, but usually by private companies which receive a franchise from the city. Efficiency No department of the public service in cities is better organized or more efficient than the fire department. It has upon it a great responsibility, and the community will not be satisfied with anything but the greatest of city fire efficiency possible. The service requires men of departintelligence, sobriety, courage, and endurance; men who are willing constantly to risk their lives for the good of all. ments It has been said that seven eighths of the fires that occur are the result of a lack of proper precautions in building. That this is true is due, in part, to a lack of intelligence on the part of builders; in part to the willingness of men to take chances for the sake of cheapness. In either case the person responsible for poor construction of buildings is a Faulty construction of buildings as a cause of loss from fires |