Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898.
- Michigan. State Board of Health
- Date:
- 1898
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![Morning Session, Tuesday, August 9, at 9:30. The morning session was called to order by the chairman of the meeting, Hon. Frank Wells, President of the State Board of Health, and. after prayer by Rev. John McCarroU, M. D., Mr. Wells read the following address:— OPENING ADDRESS. BY HON. FRANK WELLS, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, LANSING, MICHIGAN. The Michigan State Board of Health greets most cordially today all who are here to celebrate the twenty-lifth anniversary of its birth, and to rejoice with it over the achievements of Sanitary Science during the period of its existence. You have come from near and from far, at the invitation of the State, which, twenty-five years ago called into existence this Board and whose people have since that time sustained it in its etforts to save human life and prevent human suffering. Engaged, as nearl}’ all of you are in labors similar to these, the Michigan State Board of Health feels assured of your sympathy, and that you will today re- joice with it at any success which maj’ have crowned its efforts during the quarter of a Century which has witnessed its activities. Nature divides time into days and }'ears. We order our lives to accord with these divisions in the ordinary routine of their progress, while recognizing that it is the events with which they are filled, instead of the number of days and years which mark their existence, that exhibit what these lives have been, and what they express. This is not alone true of individuals. It is equally true of socieW and of every organiza- tion of human beings, for whatever purpose it may have been created, ^lankiud does not estimate the value of a j)eriod by the number of its years, but by the importance of the events with which these years have been filled. Measured by this standard, the century just closing must be regarded as of more value than any equal number of years within the experience of the race. It is a Century which has revealed to man- kind secrets concerning nature and her laws, of the greatest interest and importance. The Centuries immediately ])receding this witnessed the growth of new political ideas and theories of government, and the emanci- pation of mankind from conditions of vassalage and ])riestly thraldom, to independence and civil and religious liberty. Im])ortant and far reach- ing in their practical effects as were these steps in human progress, yet it is doubtful if their imfiuence in the promotion of the happiness and well being of the race, can equal the achievements of our own Century. It is a Century which has enlightened mankind concerning myster- ies which previous ages have vainly sought to solve. It is a Century during which inventive skill has most wonderfully utilized the forces of nature for man’s convenience and comfort, and has perfected those marvelous instruments which have enabled us not only to contemplate the myriads of worlds which surround us, but have revealed to us a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22335213_0017.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
