One nuisance was removed. We have had two cases of typhoid fever, one fatal. Pneumonia and cerebro-spinal meningitis have been unusually prevalent. Pneumonia prevailed especially along the cold, flat localities.

WELLINGTON.

Members of the board: Reuben Whitehouse, Secretary; A. C. Curtis, Chairman; Joseph Libbey.

We have had no cases of the infectious diseases.

WESLEY.

Members of the board: H. F. Day, Secretary; J. Driscoll, Chairman; J. W. Day.

We had one case of diphtheria and perhaps more, not fully developed. Rheumatic troubles were so prevalent that they almost seemed to be contagious and epidemic. Whooping-cough was also prevalent.

WESTBROOK.

Members of the board: H. K. Griggs, Secretary; Dr. A. H. Burroughs, Chairman; H. T. Clark.

Our water supply is from Sebago lake. Eighteen nuisances have been reported, twelve of which have been removed. Our town villages have been built up so rapidly that the building of public sewers has not kept pace with the wants of the people. We have had five cases of diphtheria, nine of scarlet fever, and twenty-nine of typhoid fever.

All through this section there was a disease among cows resembling cow-pox which terminated in the closing of the teats, and the consequent loss of the animal. I lost one myself.

WEST GARDiner.

Members of the board: S. M. Pinkham, Secretary; D. E. Merrill, Chairman; W. P. Haskell.

We have not known of any cases of infectious diseases.

WESTON.

Members of the board: G. W. Brannen, Secretary; George Moody; Frank Gilpatrick.

We had two cases of typhoid fever, one of which proved fatal.

WESTPORT.

Members of the board: S. P. Webber, Secretary; Jas. Thomas, Chairman; W. M. Pierce.

We had one fatal case of typhoid fever.

WHITEFIELD.

Members of the board: Dr. W. Johnson, Secretary and Health Officer; C. J. Skehan, Chairman; E. C. Jewett.

We had thirteen cases of diphtheria with three deaths. The cause of the cases of diphtheria was contagion.

WHITING.

Members of the board: W. J. Crane, Secretary; A. N. Crane, Chairman; Judson Hall.

We have had one case of diphtheria, but no deaths from this disease.

WHITNEYVILLE.

Members of the board: Jas. Pope, Secretary; D. W. Rollins, Jr., Chairman; W. M. Flynn.

We have had four cases of scarlet fever and one of typhoid fever, but no deaths from these diseases.

WILLIAMSBURG.

Members of the board: R. J. Williams, Secretary; J. R. Faulkes, Chairman; J. R. Hughes.

We had two cases of diphtheria, but no deaths resulted.

WILLIMANTIC.

Members of the board: Frank Hart, Secretary; W. A. Mills, Chairman; Irving Floyd.

One nuisance has been removed. We have had no cases of the infectious diseases.

WILTON.

Members of the board: Dr. A. B. Adams, Secretary; Joel T. Wilkins, Chairman; Frank F. Noyes.

Four nuisances have been reported, three of which have been removed. We have had three cases of typhoid fever. For the

improvement of the town, from a sanitary point of view, the waterclosets and privies should be moved from over the stream and canal.

WINDHAM.

Members of the board: Dr. I. D. Harper, Secretary; Dr. C. W. Bailey, Chairman; Dr. A. N. Witham.

Four nuisances have been removed. We have had four cases of diphtheria and four of typhoid fever, with one death from the latter disease. Two cases of measles occurred and one school was closed for one week.

WINSLOW.

Members of the board: G. S. Paine, Secretary; J. W. Bassett, Chairman; B. F. Towne.

We have bad two cases of diphtheria with one death, and one case of scarlet fever. We have sought to confine the cases of infectious diseases to the house where they originate.

WINTHROP.

Members of the board: Dr. C. A. Cochrane, Secretary and Health Officer; C. A. Wing, Chairman; G. A. Smith.

Several minor nuisances have been reported all of which have been removed. We had two cases of diphtheria and six of scarlet fever, but with no deaths from either cause. Our policy has been action at once, isolation, guards stationed to maintain the quarantine if necessary. Better drainage is needed in some parts of the village.

WISCASSET.

Members of the board: Dr. C. A. Peaslee, Secretary and Health Officer; Llewellyn Nute, Chairman; W. F. Merrill.

We had one case of scarlet fever and two of typhoid fever, with one death from the latter disease. The sanitary condition of the town could be improved by the removal of accumulative privies and filthy sink drainage.

WOODLAND.

Members of the board: D. A. Snowman, Secretary; A. W. Stover, Chairman; Andrew Johnson.

We have had no cases of the infectious diseases, excepting an epidemic of measles resulting in one death from consecutive pneumonia.

WOODSTOCK.

Members of the board: Dr. C. B. Rankin, Secretary; A. P. Bowker, Chairman; I. W. Andrews.

One nuisance was removed. We have had three cases of diphtheria, four of scarlet fever and three of typhoid fever, but with no deaths resulting. The cases of scarlet fever in a mild form, occurred in a family of eight children. Four of them had it, and the other four have escaped thus far. The disease also appeared in a family in Milton Plantation about a mile from the above-mentioned family. It was said there had been no communication between the two families, but there is some doubt about that. We think that the poison was communicated from the first family before the nature of the disease was known.

WOOLWICH.

Members of the board: H. O. Thayer, Secretary; Howard Corliss, Chairman; Dr. S. P. Buck.

YARMOUTH.

Members of the board: R. Harding, Secretary; Dr. W. W. Thomas, Chairman; C. T. Grant.

Four nuisances have been removed. We had one case of typhoid fever, ending in recovery. A water supply is needed in the village.

YORK.

Members of the board: Dr. W. L. Hawkes, Secretary; G. W. S. Putnam, Chairman; F. H. Ellis.

Healthy Homes for the Working Classes.*

BY VICTOR C. VAUGHAN, M. D., PH. D.

LOCATION.

If

The location of the home of the working-man is often determined by considerations over which he has no control. Cost of land and distance from place of labor must influence the selection. possible, however, the house should not be located in a low, damp place, nor on made earth. In cities, many low tracts, and even the beds of small streams, marshes and lakes, are filled in with general refuse, such as street sweepings, back-yard rubbish, ashes and garbage. Such soil, unless thoroughly under-drained, must be unfit for the location of habitations. It is damp, and will for years be filled with the products of decomposition arising from the putrefaction of the garbage deposited there. Houses built in such locations must be damp, musty and unhealthful. The inmates of a house built in such a place are likely to suffer from malaria, bilious fever, and rheumatism, even if they do not fall victims to the more dreaded diseases, typhoid fever and consumption. The house should also be far from marshes and other low lands, whose surface is covered with water in the spring and early summer, and then exposed later. Such situations are likely to be malarious. Neither should the home be located near manufacturing establishments which usually have much garbage about them, such as breweries, tanneries, glucose factories, rendering houses, and oil refineries.

The site should be one which is naturally well drained; and whether this be the case or not often cannot be decided in cities without consulting maps which show the original lay of the land before any grading had been resorted to, though the position and

*This is the first part of "Healthy Homes and Foods for the Working Classes", one of the Lomb Prize Essays, published by the American Public Health Association.