North Dakota's moderate temperature and dry air came in for early prominence in the advertisements of promoters, who assured prospective settlers that this was one of the most healthful States in the Union. It was a fortunate circumstance that they were correct, for lack of transportation facilities and the limited number of doctors often made it impossible for settlers to obtain medical aid. Today the number of doctors is adequate for the population, but their tendency to concentrate in the larger towns leaves many western rural communities, and a few in the east, with no medical aid within many miles. Despite this uneven distribution of doctors, North Dakota has always had a good health record. Since there are no large cities, contagious diseases do not spread rapidly and epidemics are comparatively rare. In 1935 the State had a record of 8.0 deaths per thousand of population, while the figure for the United States as a whole was 10.7. The highest death rate is among the Indians, tuberculosis being the most prevalent cause. Largely through the efforts of Dean H. E. French of the university school of medicine, a State health department was established in 1923, and has set up a health program and secured passage of laws providing for medical inspection in public schools, creation of a board of examiners for nurses, registration of nurses, and employment of county nurses. The work of State agencies for the care of children and aged or physically handicapped persons is coordinated through the State welfare board. Under the provisions of revised legislation enacted in 1935, the board distributed 7,431 old age pensions, and in 1936 inaugurated a program for the aid of the blind which, within a single year, provided vocational education and other assistance for 150 people not enrolled in the State school at Bathgate. In conjunction with the Children's Bureau, created in 1923, and local lodge groups throughout the State, the welfare board holds clinics for physically handicapped children, provides them with medical care whenever possible, and helps them learn trades. Similar work with adults is carried on by the State department of vocational education and rehabilitation organized in 1921. Of the 124 handicapped individuals who received training through the facilities of the department in 1935-36, 45 were placed in employment. Stringent pure food and drug acts were drafted for the State by the late Dr. Edwin F. Ladd, an outstanding figure in the field of public health, who as United States Senator from North Dakota drew up some of the Federal pure food laws. A regulatory department maintains a laboratory where foodstuffs and other products are tested for compliance with State laws. The department of public health also has laboratories throughout the State, and several cities have their own facilities for testing water supplies. TRANSPORTATION