The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-08-10
The Public Health.

The sudden appearance Of malignant form
Of cholera in several Of the towns and cities of
northern New York and Ohio, and its con-
tinued presence in other districts with an ap-
parently strong tendency to advance eastward
are circumstances on which many of our con-
temporaries dilats as reasons for more vigiant
watchfulness in relation to the public health.
The subject is urged with earnestness by the
journalists Of our crowded cities, who seem dis
posed to indoctrinate their readers with proper
ideas Of the duties of municipal rulers, of the
necessity of individual attention to cleanliness,
diet, and the maintenance of good conscience,
and of mans ability to control the symptoms
which ordinarily indicate the approach of
cholera.
From many of the sources of disease that
abound in other cities, Washington is happily
exempt. The progress Of improvement in
every direction, more particularly in localities
which have in times past been fruitful of MAS
ma, has PROFESSIONALLY contributed much to its
present fortunate state Of salubrity. The great
heat of summer has produced neither epidemics
nor endemics amongst the citizens or their
guests; and the result has been a diminished
ratio of sickness and mortality as compared
with those Of other summers.
But let not our civic fathers or our citizens
fold their arms with the conviction that all has
been done that can or ought to be done. Our
good fortune. though largely attributable to ju-
dicious public and private Improvements, is in
some measure accidental, and to that extent is
not to be relied upon in the presence of raw
ages like those Of Buffalo and Rochester. We
do not propose to pen an essay on the causes
of disease that still linger amongst US, or
70 point out the exact measures of prevention
that are called for by the circumstances. Our
object is to remind those having authority in
municipal and family affairs that much re-
mains to be accomplished before we can feel
that our whole duty in the premises has been
done. An observant stroll through the ave-
nues, streets, and by-places, will satisfy any
man of the necessity of a more rigid enforce
ment Of the sanitary regulations already in
existence, as well as of the necessity Of changes
that can be effectively undertaken only by
corporate authorities. As embraced in the lat
ter category we may point to the condition of
the sewers in Pennsylvania avenue. Their
imperfect construction renders good drainage
impossible while their open threats vomit
effluvia on every passer-by. From Third
street to Twelfth street a series of these
openings have been made, emitting always
pestilential smells, and at periods-as after
rain-literally sickening those who walk in
their vicinity. To these nuisances attention
cannot be paid TOO soon. If it be improbable
at present to amend the construction so far as
to provide the needful fall, then let their mouths
be closed with stench-traps, which carry of
water without permitting the effluvia to escape.
While these improvements are being debated
or prepared, let lime-or, better still, chloride
Of lime-be freely used as dsinfecting agent;
and having thus arrested the most noisome and
perhaps the most potential evil, we may take
courage. and grapple with stouter will with
others that beset us.
Having spoken Of stench-traps as available
means of preventing the escape Of ef1luvia, we
may explain that within the last few years
they have been extensively introduced into the