The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-03 00:00:00

SANITARY STATE OF BATH.

It cannot but he a theme of congratulation to the
citizens of Bath, as well as a subject of devout thank-
fulness to the Giver of all good, that the civic com-
munity in which their lot has been cast stands out in
almost isolated exemption from the mortality so fear-
fully prevalent in other cities of the empire. Bath,
at the present time, may not unaptly be termed, the
Goshen of England. It would seem as though the
destroying angel, while commissioned in other less-
favoured localities to deal out pestilence and death
with no sparing hand, had in mercy passed by this
little spot of earth, his bow unbent and his ar-
rows unsped, as of old he passed over the abodes of
Israel, while in the rest of the land there was not a
house where there was not one dead.

Bath, we believe, is now the most healthy city is
England. As yet, not a single case of cholera bas
appeared amongst us ; the public health is even above
the average. This we gather from the united testi-
mony of all classes ; the medical men are especially
unanimous in testifying to the fact. It is substan-
tiated by the reports of the various institutions
for the relief of the sick poor, which so happily
abound in our city, and this is a testimony that we
take to be conclusive in the matter. Epidemics break
out most virulently among the poor, and from them
ascend to the middle and higher classes. This well-
known fact is easily explained by another, which,
until of late, has not been AO well understcod, namely,
that the human frame, by insufficient and unwhole-
some food, inadequate clothing, bad ventilation and
sewerage, and intemperate habits, becomes especially
susceptible of contagious maladies. When, therefore,
the poor are found to be in a healthy state, it is evi-
dent that the sanitary condition of the more opulent
must be highly satisfactory. The result of our in-
quiries at the various charitable institutions to which
we have alluded proves that Bath has not enjoyed a
higher state of health for years past than at this time
of almost universal disease.

This is a state of things to which we would direct
the attention of the valetudinarian, and, indeed, of all
who value a residence fraught with health-bestowing
influences. Bath presents a locality at once adorned
with the charms of nature and the allurements of art,
ever visited by salubrious skies, shielded by situation,
and preserved by a genial climate from contagion and
oafsththise present
Tide-spread mortality, even in a time of unusual
sicTknheescs,aususecsh
exemption* may easily be traced.
A healthy site, wide and well built streets, a popula-
tion not over crowded—these are adva
nt a
have been made the most of by an adeciugsetss
supply
h
of water, good drainage, and a scrupulous
to cleanliness. To these may be added the absence
of manufactures, with their concomitant smoke and
stench, tainting the air and rendering it the medium
of conveying disease. In connexion with the clean-
liness and improved drainage of our city the labours
of the Bath Sanitary Association deserve honourable
mention. To their efforts are owing not only a direct
and positive benefit, the result of actual interposition
where needed, but a more efficient because moral
result, in convincing the people that health depends
on their own cleanliness. And to the labouring man
we know that his health is his all. How vast, then,
the amount of physical as well as mental suffering
prevented by the efforts of this one association l Its
members are assuredly entitled to the gratitude of
their fellow-citizens. Through their labours, it is a
doctrine now beginning to be understood by the very
humblest classes, that cleanliness is health ; and this
opinion, firmly fixed in the minds of the masses which
form the bulk of every city, will present the best of all
bulwarks against disease, inasmuch as "prevention is
better than cure."

Still, we cannot close our eyes to the fact, that
without the intervention of a higher Power all human
efforts would have failed to avert the dreaded visita-
tion. Our singular exemption from the scourge
must be attributed by all as an act of Heaven's
sovereign mercy. Ingratitude under these circum-
stances would be alike impious and absurd.—Bath
and Cheltenham Gazette.

HINTS TO GROUSE SHOOTERS.—Grouse shooters
should separate and range singly—they should have no
noisy attendants, nor any dogs that require rating.
The sport cannot be carried on too quietly. If the
shooter throws off before eight o'clock, which it is not
prudent to do unless there are many guns on the moors,
or foul weather is expected in the afternoon, he should
run only one dog as long as the heather is wet, after-
wards two, and in the afternoon three dogs. In wet
weather one dog is quite sufficient. If hot weather, we
advise rest from eleven to two. If the shooter have not
exhausted himself during the middle of the day, he will
best fill his bag in the afternoon; he may not, indeed,
then find so many, but those he does find will be dis-
persed birds that will almost lie to be trodden on. An
oH shooter thus, on a dry afternoon following a wet
morning, will sometimes load himself or his attendant,
after the less experienced have left the moor disgusted,
with scarcely a bird in thcir possession.—From the .Rod
and the Gun; by Wilson and Oahleigh.

Bad taste is a phrase generallly used, but by no
means generally understood, for every class and section
of society put their construction upon its signification;
and what is bad taste in one order of people, is the sum-
mit of becoming beauty in another. The red bandana
for the neck is exquisitely chaste in the eyes of a coal-
heaver's mistress; while the same glaring appendage
round the throat of a gentleman would be denominated
by other society as the acme of slang and vulgarity.—
kiza Cook's Journal.
NOVEL FISHING.—On Friday week a gentleman
from Yorkshire had a day's fishing with the aid of cor-
morants at the foot of Windermere Lake. The birds
captured a salmon snort, weighing three pounds, and
several eels of various E;Z:I3. It appears that the cor-
morant has a strong predilection for eels, and will not
take any other fish while they are to be hcd.
A vessel arrived at Wick, on Friday, from the west
coast, having on board the large quantity of fifteen
tons of saithe, not a single cod being on board. It is
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John o'Groa Cs Journal. - aellb(dinreca'ltuiognhst.—a