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May Day—National Child Health Day, 1932
706
T he Journal of the American D ental Association
sick or injured, there is little or no provision for the rehabilitation of the physically handi capped so that they w ill be better equipped for earning an honest living after their dis charge to civilian life. Just one typical example: On the day that Dr. Rector visited the Ohio State Penitentiary, there were 4,475 prisoners within its w alls, of which 156 were hospitalized. There w as but one physician on the staff, all other attendants at the hospital being prisoners. W hile the physician w as nominally on a full-tim e basis, he w as carrying on an outside private prac tice as his salary from the state w as insuffi cient to meet his living expenses. W hat can one part-time physician accomplish w ith so many patients, a large percentage of whom are physically handicapped, mentally abnor mal and emotionally maladjusted? Ohio is a fa ir example of prevailing conditions. In most of the other penitentiaries and in the federal prisons, conditions are no better, and in some are even worse. Now let us investigate some of the legis lative problems. W hile nearly every legis lative body contains some men of outstand ing ability, the great majority of legislators have not the slightest conception of what is required of one in their position and blindly follow their party bosses, who are not gen erally known for their altruism, their patrio tism or their burning desire to promote the public welfare. One of the w orst features of our legislative activities is the fact that a small w ell-organized and insistent minority can usually get its measures enacted into law unless some other group is adversely affected by the proposed legislation and makes a coun terattack. Another bad method of securing legisla tion is the system of trading. There was an interesting occurrence of this sort in the state of Illinois in 1923. About that time, a Chicago mayor was disgracing not only his city and state but also the nation by the slogan, “H it K ing George on the snoot.” A free citizen from the corn lands of the state decided that he would like to be sent to the state legis lature, took up the battle cry, had just one plank in his platform, namely, to make the American language the official language of the state, and w as elected. By use of exten sive vote trading, he secured the passage of the follow ing:
“ o f f ic ia l
state
language
“A n act establishing the American language as the official language of the State of Illinois. (Approved June 19, 1923. L. 1923. p. 7 ). Pre amble. 177. (American language). 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: “T he official language of the State of Illinois shall be known hereafter as the ‘American’ language.” (So much for administrative and legisla tive inefficiency. The next article w ill take up the judiciary). M A Y D A Y — N A T I O N A L C H IL D H E A L T H D A Y , 1932 T he lowest infant mortality rate ever attained by the cities of this country was that of 1930, according to the statistical report on infant mortality, based on the records of 860 cities in the birth registration area of the United States, just issued by the American Child H ealth Association. The 1930 rate— 62.2 deaths for every thousand live births— is four points lower than that of the preceding year, when it w as 66.2. Inclusion in the birth registration area de pends on registration laws accepted as satis factory by the United States Census Bureau and on assurance that at least 90 per cent of the births are registered. A ll but two states are within this area. T he 860 cities reporting from this area had a population of 10,000 or over in 1930. The report gives also infant mortality rates for fourteen cities outside the birth registration area, eight of them in Texas and six in South Dakota. Seattle, with an infant mortality rate of 37, heads the list of cities with a population of over 250,000. San Francisco ranks next, with 40, and Portland, Ore., is third, with a figure of 41. In the preceding year, 1929, Portland led, Seattle w as second and M in neapolis, third. Among the ten largest cities in the country in 1930, two are tied for first place, Chicago and St. Louis, each w ith an infant mortality rate of 54. Cleveland stands next w ith 55, and N ew York follow s with 57. Boston and Pittsburgh foot this group with 69 as their figure. Nine of these ten cities show lower rates in 1930 than in 1929. Long Beach, Calif., with a rate of 43, leads the cities in the 100,000-250,000 class. Oak
707
Announcements Park, 111., stands at the top of the 50,000100,000 class with a rate of 28. Alameda, Calif., with 21 as its figure, ranks first in the 25,000-50,000 class. Among the smallest cities, with populations of 10,000-25,000, Shorewood, Wise., is at the top w ith an infant mortality rate of 0. As in other years, the states on the Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Mountains offer babies the best chance for survival. The low est urban infant mortality rate is in the State of Washington, where the figure is 41. Idaho comes second with a rate of 44, Oregon third w ith 48, and then three states each with 50, Utah, Nebraska and Montana. It has been customary to publish this re port in the middle of the year, Samuel J. Crumbine, general executive of the American Child Health Association announces, but a delay was necessary this time because of the work involved in the decennial census of 1930, which prevented the Census Bureau from issuing as early as in previous years its summary of provisional birth, death and infant mortality figures. The purpose of this statistical report, prepared under the direc tion of George Truman Palmer, director of the association’s division of research, is to stimulate public opinion to support the work being done by the health officials and volun teer health agencies of the country in endeav oring to reduce the number of infant deaths.
WESTINGHOUSE ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT FOR READING X-RAY FILMS An improvement in the equipment used by physicians for illum inating x-ray films when they are reading them to make their diagnosis has just been announced by the Westinghouse X-Ray Company, Inc. Physicians who have examined x-ray films w ith this new equip ment have commented on the ease with which the many fine shadows in the films which mean much in diagnosis can be detected, not only in doubtful cases, but even in routine cases as well. T he improvement is said to be the result of three new developments. The first of these is a radically different type of incandescent lamp, giving a far more intense light than the lamps heretofore available for this pur pose. This greater intensity is obtained through the use of a newly discovered type of lamp filament construction. The second development is a new type of diffusing glass, technically known as blue daylight glass. The third development is a new type of “view ing box.” The new lamp is mounted in the rear of the inside of this box, it is explained, and the new glass on the front. The intense light from the lamp is evenly distributed over the glass and shines through, giving a very strongly illuminated field. The x-ray films are clipped on the front of the glass for examination.
ANNO U N CEM ENTS* CALENDAR OF MEETINGS American Dental Association, Buffalo, N. Y., September 12-16. Am erican Board of Orthodontia, Toronto, Canada, M ay 16-17. American Dental Society of Europe, BadenBaden, Germany, August 9-11. American Society of Orthodontists, Toronto, Canada, M ay 18-20. Fédération Dentaire Internationale, Zurich, Switzerland, August 2-9. Interstate Dental Association, Bordentown, N. J., July 11-13. *Announcements must be received by the fifth day of the month in order to be pub lished in the forthcoming issue of T h e J ournal.
Italian Stomatologic Congress, Rome, Sep tember. National Association of Dental Examiners, Buffalo, N. Y., September 10. Northern Ohio Dental Association, Cleve land, June 6-9. Society for Advancement of General Anes thesia in Dentistry, N ew York City, third Monday in February, April, October and December. Southern Society of Orthodontists, K nox ville, Tenn., October 31-November 2. ST A T E SOCIETIES District of Columbia, at George W ashing ton University, W ashington, D. C., second and fourth Tuesdays in each month from October to June, inclusive.
T he Journal of the American D ental Association
sick or injured, there is little or no provision for the rehabilitation of the physically handi capped so that they w ill be better equipped for earning an honest living after their dis charge to civilian life. Just one typical example: On the day that Dr. Rector visited the Ohio State Penitentiary, there were 4,475 prisoners within its w alls, of which 156 were hospitalized. There w as but one physician on the staff, all other attendants at the hospital being prisoners. W hile the physician w as nominally on a full-tim e basis, he w as carrying on an outside private prac tice as his salary from the state w as insuffi cient to meet his living expenses. W hat can one part-time physician accomplish w ith so many patients, a large percentage of whom are physically handicapped, mentally abnor mal and emotionally maladjusted? Ohio is a fa ir example of prevailing conditions. In most of the other penitentiaries and in the federal prisons, conditions are no better, and in some are even worse. Now let us investigate some of the legis lative problems. W hile nearly every legis lative body contains some men of outstand ing ability, the great majority of legislators have not the slightest conception of what is required of one in their position and blindly follow their party bosses, who are not gen erally known for their altruism, their patrio tism or their burning desire to promote the public welfare. One of the w orst features of our legislative activities is the fact that a small w ell-organized and insistent minority can usually get its measures enacted into law unless some other group is adversely affected by the proposed legislation and makes a coun terattack. Another bad method of securing legisla tion is the system of trading. There was an interesting occurrence of this sort in the state of Illinois in 1923. About that time, a Chicago mayor was disgracing not only his city and state but also the nation by the slogan, “H it K ing George on the snoot.” A free citizen from the corn lands of the state decided that he would like to be sent to the state legis lature, took up the battle cry, had just one plank in his platform, namely, to make the American language the official language of the state, and w as elected. By use of exten sive vote trading, he secured the passage of the follow ing:
“ o f f ic ia l
state
language
“A n act establishing the American language as the official language of the State of Illinois. (Approved June 19, 1923. L. 1923. p. 7 ). Pre amble. 177. (American language). 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: “T he official language of the State of Illinois shall be known hereafter as the ‘American’ language.” (So much for administrative and legisla tive inefficiency. The next article w ill take up the judiciary). M A Y D A Y — N A T I O N A L C H IL D H E A L T H D A Y , 1932 T he lowest infant mortality rate ever attained by the cities of this country was that of 1930, according to the statistical report on infant mortality, based on the records of 860 cities in the birth registration area of the United States, just issued by the American Child H ealth Association. The 1930 rate— 62.2 deaths for every thousand live births— is four points lower than that of the preceding year, when it w as 66.2. Inclusion in the birth registration area de pends on registration laws accepted as satis factory by the United States Census Bureau and on assurance that at least 90 per cent of the births are registered. A ll but two states are within this area. T he 860 cities reporting from this area had a population of 10,000 or over in 1930. The report gives also infant mortality rates for fourteen cities outside the birth registration area, eight of them in Texas and six in South Dakota. Seattle, with an infant mortality rate of 37, heads the list of cities with a population of over 250,000. San Francisco ranks next, with 40, and Portland, Ore., is third, with a figure of 41. In the preceding year, 1929, Portland led, Seattle w as second and M in neapolis, third. Among the ten largest cities in the country in 1930, two are tied for first place, Chicago and St. Louis, each w ith an infant mortality rate of 54. Cleveland stands next w ith 55, and N ew York follow s with 57. Boston and Pittsburgh foot this group with 69 as their figure. Nine of these ten cities show lower rates in 1930 than in 1929. Long Beach, Calif., with a rate of 43, leads the cities in the 100,000-250,000 class. Oak
707
Announcements Park, 111., stands at the top of the 50,000100,000 class with a rate of 28. Alameda, Calif., with 21 as its figure, ranks first in the 25,000-50,000 class. Among the smallest cities, with populations of 10,000-25,000, Shorewood, Wise., is at the top w ith an infant mortality rate of 0. As in other years, the states on the Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Mountains offer babies the best chance for survival. The low est urban infant mortality rate is in the State of Washington, where the figure is 41. Idaho comes second with a rate of 44, Oregon third w ith 48, and then three states each with 50, Utah, Nebraska and Montana. It has been customary to publish this re port in the middle of the year, Samuel J. Crumbine, general executive of the American Child Health Association announces, but a delay was necessary this time because of the work involved in the decennial census of 1930, which prevented the Census Bureau from issuing as early as in previous years its summary of provisional birth, death and infant mortality figures. The purpose of this statistical report, prepared under the direc tion of George Truman Palmer, director of the association’s division of research, is to stimulate public opinion to support the work being done by the health officials and volun teer health agencies of the country in endeav oring to reduce the number of infant deaths.
WESTINGHOUSE ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT FOR READING X-RAY FILMS An improvement in the equipment used by physicians for illum inating x-ray films when they are reading them to make their diagnosis has just been announced by the Westinghouse X-Ray Company, Inc. Physicians who have examined x-ray films w ith this new equip ment have commented on the ease with which the many fine shadows in the films which mean much in diagnosis can be detected, not only in doubtful cases, but even in routine cases as well. T he improvement is said to be the result of three new developments. The first of these is a radically different type of incandescent lamp, giving a far more intense light than the lamps heretofore available for this pur pose. This greater intensity is obtained through the use of a newly discovered type of lamp filament construction. The second development is a new type of diffusing glass, technically known as blue daylight glass. The third development is a new type of “view ing box.” The new lamp is mounted in the rear of the inside of this box, it is explained, and the new glass on the front. The intense light from the lamp is evenly distributed over the glass and shines through, giving a very strongly illuminated field. The x-ray films are clipped on the front of the glass for examination.
ANNO U N CEM ENTS* CALENDAR OF MEETINGS American Dental Association, Buffalo, N. Y., September 12-16. Am erican Board of Orthodontia, Toronto, Canada, M ay 16-17. American Dental Society of Europe, BadenBaden, Germany, August 9-11. American Society of Orthodontists, Toronto, Canada, M ay 18-20. Fédération Dentaire Internationale, Zurich, Switzerland, August 2-9. Interstate Dental Association, Bordentown, N. J., July 11-13. *Announcements must be received by the fifth day of the month in order to be pub lished in the forthcoming issue of T h e J ournal.
Italian Stomatologic Congress, Rome, Sep tember. National Association of Dental Examiners, Buffalo, N. Y., September 10. Northern Ohio Dental Association, Cleve land, June 6-9. Society for Advancement of General Anes thesia in Dentistry, N ew York City, third Monday in February, April, October and December. Southern Society of Orthodontists, K nox ville, Tenn., October 31-November 2. ST A T E SOCIETIES District of Columbia, at George W ashing ton University, W ashington, D. C., second and fourth Tuesdays in each month from October to June, inclusive.