New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-04-21
. TEsa TsEJEsLIc HEALTH.

There are no duties devovin upon municipal
corp5ration as important as those which tend to the
security and pros rvaton Of the public health This
Is aproposton ceara and ntrovertble. 1t admits
Of neither argument nor dspntation for II is an
Obvious natural fact which itselto the
Iunderst landing 5$t sssss *
1T is true, municipal authorities in this country
have much TO attend To- Especially is this thescase
in New Orleans. We are not aware Of any city On /
the continent where SO large an amount Of industry
capacity and intelligence are required to bring COR
poration out Of trouble to place everything fectas
~ c,sisae before The world -as in our own ialr ana
glorious Crescent. Much has been done yet more
remains ID do. And; while tile Common Councils
redeeInng the credit Of the city; reducing We taSes
upon real estate stopping Tea rs u tie treasury
combining estimates Of expenditure the
Of the city to meet prompt thus opening 70 the
d bright vista Of future IN add
ton 10 what we now most important OF
all their functions, tile public health, should not be
/ neglected. " II
8 M city on earth has suffered 80 muehsrom me
effects of epidemics as New Orleans. No city on T
earth has as much to gain BY immunity from cpl I
denies as New Orleans. These are patent this
sWeI known to every intelligent eitizen--to every
man who has the capacity TIE brshtest
sunlight from the dunnest Zimmerman gloom. AS an
evidence were evidence necessary, we have only 70
% back to the period when the epidemic OF 1868
began to display its unparalleled nlagnity Fer i've
years the city had been nee Of disease,
and We began to- claim crit the character OF one OF
the Ieathiest cities on the contin Our citizens
ill rejoced and we all, editorial individually and
Collectively came the conclusion that an lmpnta-
ton upon the health of n eW Orleans was personal
8afront lis well as SANDER, which could not be
regarded in any other light than as unendurable
what was the consequence of this freedom from
disease for half of decade? Why, population had
increased real estate had advanced; unwonted5
progress was apparent or every hands business was
profitable the returns Of labor were ren,uneratve
large numbers of residences We're being continually
tsbuilt-gi assurance Of permanent population;
without which no city can hope TO arrive at the
summit of commercial and industrial superiority
/ and on every side, without exception the tokens
+ were Of the most cheering order,
I'VE all remember the epidemic Of that season,
Il and two years there is no necessity
for referring to them or to the illomened Influences
they exercised oyersthe fortunes of9New Orleans.
Suffice say, they proved disastrous to "a great
derree, the traces Of which unprecedentely
prosperous season now towards its close has
4 not entirely oblterated zs, s8S
simple reference to the past and to the results Of
epidemics, without regard to- the future, is suffi
Gent To show that all measures which can come be
fore the Common Council pale into nsignifeance be-
fore that one which contempates tile preservation Of
u the pnblich health.
n How! ID this great object. to beSaccomp shed
Il, WHAT'S to be the fnods operandi This is subject
for the consideration Of those in authority. We can
only and if thereby ghtenedand thorough
Investigation is supernduced we shall be more thar
I gratifed. That great good can be doneeyen if per
feet health cannot be securedWe are entirely per
\ suaded
II We have beeniled into these remarks by per1sing
4 communication which appeared III the Mobile Tri
81 bune Of the 18TH written by that distinguished ply
stefan and learned gentleman, Dr. ). G. Mott. The
letter was called forth by some editorial comments
il on q comnuni which had appeared in another
Il paper afew days before We regret we cannot give
\ tie document entire. We1sha quote literally from
4 it, however.
a After stating that g maarial diseases prevailed
more OF less every year inthe suburbs of the city
that these Influences must act more less on the
whole etytat the poorer classes particularly AROUND
the town, suffered annually to an enormous extent
and that both humanity and the prosperity of the cit
demand that these evils should be abated' DR.. Mott
who il President Of the Board of Health of Mobile
Y proceeds to say:
:. certainly had no intention conveying the idea that fiji
fertile diseases Of various kinds while asse
n ls 5 a on a Se a
keeping the streets and yards free from because this is
ag Ito
the Board Of Health 70 inform him on that point @
M Tie Doctor then gives the following reasons show
: ing that filth is not the cause ofyellow fever:
Yelow fever Mobile has frequently
oftsn ecaped when sanitary condition a
sPdsss ~ s
such s se ss s. ry nd baa2 oss ng m
al fs ss t!sse1
M HF a ss t aad most a'a
q in tho flealtiest and clennest places
nj course we cannot talk earnedly about the orig
IL or cause of disease. But thing is very certain
is demonstrated by experience cleanliness will Ii
e prevent the spread of yellow fevereither will tt
is profuse employment of disinfecting agents For
stance, the city of Natchez affords an example qui
q to the point. As all know, that city is situated
" ahigh and healthy loaality-that it is thorough
w drained-and that predisposing causes for dsea
al exist. Add to this the most cautious and thorouG
te cleansing continual of lime and other dsnfet
lis ants in large quantities. and the mostrigd qlarant
III ever enforced in the United States What was the
Ter suit All these precautions failed to exclude yellc
fever as the moalnul history of last too sad
demonstrates In proportion to population, the fey
was more fatal in Natchez than it was in N
Orleans, while Natchez as Clearly as it was
nd sble for a town to be- and New Orleans about
mt filthy as a city could be.
It'll These are remarkable facts. In some respects ii
in are inexplicabe. They constitute a problem VIII
ON never yet has been solved. And the only reasona