The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-17 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 17, 1853.

throe& various chinks and drainainto private houses. And
when heavy rains come, the soil itself Is washed out over
the surfeits in many places and back into the cellars.
lactation • portion of it is every boor finding en out-
let, with all its putrid accompaniments, into the Thames.
There its odours poison 10,000 human beings every day, be-
aides sending forth its steam over the whole city—breathed
Into the lungs, absorbed into the bread and provisions,
tainting the meat, polluting the beverages of the people.
Nothing but strength of constitution resists this influence;
the strong escape, the weak fall beneath its power. This
offensive matter in the river is now carried backward and
forward, stirred up by the steamers, a little every tide per-
haps being let off into the sea, and • fresh supply hourly
received from the mouths of tho sewers. This system,
therefore, is but one remove from the Newcastle plan. That
plan, however, costs the public nothing, while this we have
large rates to pay for. The old plan was infinitely better,
and the cholera has increased in ♦irulence, in the rapidity
of its return, and the number of its victims since the new
method was adopted.

Hero, again, every one of the evils alluded to has
been denounced in almost every publication which
boa had Sanitary Science for the subject of elucida-
tion or exposition. Every Sanitary Commission,
every Officer of Health, every Sanitary Local Com-
mittee, has exposed these things; and yet here day
are. And here is the Cholera. The two things stand
in relation of cause and effect ; and yet those whose
blood curdle at the very mention of the effect, are
too lazy, until it is too late, to meddle with the
cause.

It is not too ato yet, however, let us trust ;
and analogy will help us to some grounds for

our confidence that the

under which

Cholera makes its appearance now are not very different
from those which signalised its appearance in 1848.
In that year the waves of the great Cholera flood
which had been surging through Europe struck
Hamburg in full force. They even made a slight
impression on the shores on the other side of the
German Ocean. Scotland felt the spray, as it were,
of the inundation, and London was alarmed at the
end of the year by the Tooting cases. It seemed
but a spent wave, and we lapped ourselves in fond
security. We refused to listen to the voice of those
who bid us beware, and the following year
delivered us up to the tender mercies of the pesti-
lence in its full force. England, in 1863, stands
towards the Cholera in precisely the same relation as
it did in 1848. The disease comes u a spent wave.
It visits us towards the close of the year. Its attacks
may be mitigated by the cold weather. We have
breathing time given us to prepare for its next
attack, which in all probability will be made with
energy next year, just u the great attack of 1849 fol-
lowed the mild infliction of 1848. Let this be some con-
solation to the authorities of Newcastle, Darlington,
London, and other places, which, although late, are
beginning to awake to a sense of danger. They have
allowed the enemy to enter the gates of the city for
a moment, but he need not be permitted to hold his
ground. Let them take advantage of his departure
to make each preparations as will infallibly ensure
his defeat should he return, and which, had they
been previously adopted, would have preserved them
from the fear and anxiety under which they are at
present suffering. 1). D.

NEWCASTLE, SEPT. 15.—Cholera. 97; Diarrhoea,
4-101. In Newcastle the epidemic is spreading fast.
The type of the epidemic is much more severe than
that of 1831-2, as a comparison of the first fifteen
days of the two visitations gives 61 deaths in the
former to 219 in the latter. The increase in the
deaths of the last 24 hours is, as will be observed,
very large, almost double that of the 14th. The
medical officers have been authorised to call in the
assistance of private practitioners, and nearly thirty
of such assistants are employed. Great activity pre-
vails on the part of all the local authorities.

GATEBIIEAD.—Dcaths since last report, 20.
Ifextum.—The cholera has extended to Hexham,
from which 3 cases are reported, 2 deaths and 1 re.
covers. The medical officer has 17 eases of choleraic
diarrhms, and 1 of cholera, under treatment. Mr.
Grainger has visited Hexham to advise the authori-
ties, and his suggestions have been agreed to by the
board of guardians and at a public meeting.