Typhoid Fears in the West End
Tacoma health officials move to contain a potential outbreak linked to a local milk provider.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Although we are practically certain that the milk supplied to the West End by a certain dairy contained typhoid germs, said Dr. Love, health commissioner, today, we have not gone far enough to make a public statement. We have visited the suspected dairy and have ordered that the water used there be boiled. If the result of our investigation turns out as we expect, we will have to put this dairy out of business for a while. No new typhoid cases have developed during the past few days, and the physicians hope that an epidemic may be averted. The dairy in question is still supplying milk.
“Although we are practically certain that the milk supplied to the West End by a certain dairy contained typhoid germs, we have not gone far enough to make a public statement.”
Food safety and municipal health regulation remain a direct concern for urban dwellers. This early 20th-century report highlights the precarious nature of public health before standardized pasteurization and oversight became the city norm.
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