The New York herald., 1849-05-31

FILTH VERSUS CHoLERA.-Itis is strange that, while
we often disquiet ourselves about small and even
imaginary dangers, we overlook real perils staring
us in the face The filthy condition of our Streets
in which, we rejoice to say, there is a considerable
improvement, though mech remains yet to be done,
never appeared inspire any fear in the hearts Of
thousands who are now panic-striken at the bare
idea of cholera. YetI canbe demonstrated by facts
and figures, as we shall presently show, that the
mortality attendant upon filth far outstrips the
ravages of this "king of terrors." Men and
women are scared at fatal disease but not at the
agents which propagate and render it more malig-
nant. While they shudder at the cholera, they
are as calm in the contemplation of dirty Streets as
sleeping infant in the Shiny embrace of serpent
Cholera has slain its thousands; filth, Its tens Of
thousands. People "lve, move, and have their
being" in a poisoned atmosphere, and yet do not
perceive the existence of the miasma, SO familiar
with it do their vtiated senses become. Its terri
BILE effects are not the less palpable, though we
rarely think of tracing them to their cause. Let
us give some incontrovertible statistics of filth,
from another great city. Macaulay, in his history
of England, Observes
The term of human life has been engthened over the
whole kingdom. and especially in the towns The year
1856 was not accounted sckiy yet 1t the year 1885
more in twenty three Of the inhabitants of the
capital died. AT present only inhabitant Of the
capital In forty dies annually The dGerence IN salu
Lrity tfw.e e London Of the nineteenth century and the
London o. the Seventeenth century, pery JGr greater than
The difference bewten London in ordinary and
London an Me chote1a.
The population of London, in 1876, was about
what the population of New York now is-haf
million. The present population of London is four
times greater, or about two millions. 1t is well
known, and indeed obvious to every understand
ing, that, all other things equal, the mortality in
large cities is greater in the proportion to numbers
than in small ones that the tendency Of the in
crease of population is towards the increase of
mortality in greater ratio. Yet we find the NOR
tality in London has vastly diminished, as CON-
pared with the population Had the number Of
inhabitants in that city been as great in 1856 It
is now, the mortality, instead of one in twenty
three, would have been perhaps one In sixteen.
And were the population of New York, with its
present imperfect sanitary regulations, as great as
that of London now is, the mortality would be
fearful Notwithstanding the crowded state of the
British metropolis, its average mortality is but half
as great, in proportion to its population, it Was
two centuries ago. Why2 Because then, as we
are told by Macauay, cabbage stalks and rotten
apples accumulated IN heaps, even at the thresh-
holds of the nobility; and Saint James Square was
a receptacle for all the offal and cinders, for all the
dead dogs and cats of Westminster; while of the
city generally, the historian writes:-
"The pavement detestable all foreigners cried
shame upon it, The drainage was so bad that In rainy
weather the cutters soon became torrents. Several
faceous poets have the fury with which
gate Hill bearing to Fleet ditch vast tribute Of snms
and vegetable tlth from tho stalls Of butchers aud
green grocers. This food vas profusely thr.wn to
right and left by coaches and carts To keep far from
the carriage road as possible was therefore, the wish
Of every pedestrian"
One almost imagnes, as he reads this vivid de-
scliption, that the writer had New York in his
eye, if not in his nose. The spirit Of improvement
has banished these denominations from London /;
when will they become mere history In New
York? When will our Getty fathers" an! our
police do all in this matter that tn: interests of the
community require at their hands 1t is generally
admitted that foul state of the air we breathe,
predsposes the human body to the reception of the
cholera poison, and aggravates Its viruence when
it takes effect. The present crisis, therefore,
loudly calls for public and Individual cleanliness,
and it ought to be most rigdy enforced. Let a
few examples be made, and the salutary conse-
auences will soon be visible
But, independent Of any considerations arising
out of the existence of cholera in city-whether
the Asanc type has yet visited US or not-as long
as filth exists, there is a more destructive agent at
work than the plague or the sword. To say
nothing of fever, the poisonous gases with which
the atmosphere is impregnated, when taken into
the lungs, corrupt the blood, pale the cheek, i'm
pair digestion, destroy appetite, The air, deprived
of its due proportion of oxygen by the euvia from
putrid matter, is rendered unfit for the sustanment
ofhuman life in health and vigor. The consequence
is, that consumption and train OF other diseases,
make fatal havoc among our ranks. 1t is in vain
that the sick are quacked with medicine no
medicine can effect cure, while the causes that
produce the disease permitted to exist, and are
far more potent in their action than the skill of the
hyscian, or the efficacy of his drugs They lam
gush and die, in spite of every effort to save. Aad
Then, how many pay the penalty of filth in the
feeble frames and premature decay of their miser-
able offspring, who,
The moment of their breath,
Receive the lurking principle Of death
he young disease, which must subdue at length,
Grows with their growth, aud strengthens with their
strength.