New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-03-09
hnlf Thc nln,nonin Of Acwagc i. a yolatilc flui.


the deconposed impurities, and. rising on the
atmosphere, conveys putrciaction to great dis
tanccs. 1t is dangerously subtitle, entering the
lungs liquofying the blood, and inducing a re-
captivity Of the system for typhoid AMI other
forms Of fever. Ammonia" remark Dr.
Letherby, ais the puryeyor Of the milsma Of
infected districts" The "organic vapor' Of
sewer gases is described by this chemist As
"mattcr in state Of active decomposition;
and he tells US that, when acting on living
animal body" It's productive of the most
terrible consequences" Even when mI,h d.
luted by atmospheric air, the sewer gases
arc yiruent poisons 20 the human economy;
and when the habitan.s Of cellars are con '1niiy
exposed to them they sink rapidly, undo, sue
ccssiyc symptoms of their presence. "'lie ap'
petite fails. the bowels become disturbed, ana
the sufferer, "worn out by exhaustion, ialls
into low fever. and soon succunbs to raw
ages. "Eyen when not directly poisoned bT
IN. continued inhalation of corrupt Amos
phc,c. always charged with these gaseous
forces" says Dr. John Bell OF Philadelphia'
"the people thus exposed have thor vital ener'
cic. 50 much reduced that a slight change ia
ordinary conditions of the atnosp here, or a
diminu,ion of accustomed food, serves a. a
spark to ignite into isbrile fire Their |eakoned
and susceptible frames
Such atmospheric peTil is the eyer'preNeh'
concomitant of cellar-life. Our troGiody'es'
continually iAbreathing anl absorbing Inc to1i-
cal PARTICLES Of diseased matter when p'F'aF
their dwellings, become themselves depoSitoTie'
of infections venom, that may at any niOnelA
be liberated on the wings Of ammonia, to tax
substance in some local pestiiencc. Inc three
sold monster. of filth, malaria ana disease
which lies colcd in every den beneath our pave
nents- is worse than any fablsd dragon; more
yoracious than any Aiinetaur OF claSsc story
waich was satisfied with stated yearly tribute
of humau lives. Our slcrltlces 10 II are rech'
onednot bv hundreds but by thousands. Inc
waste of infant life in taseiscnts and cellars II
enormous, There the still aye m'it.pnen'
Cellars are the very holes in our Molod statue
into shich we thrust the children OF Tn poor
But perhnps death ia mercy to offspring
which. when born into life, must be Torn into
an Inheritance of misery. Tic Children OF our
cavc.dwellcrs. fnhaline with thelr earliest breath
the zymoiic virus enaendgcd by underground
cmana ions BECOME almost certain victims OF
Group, cholera inianturn, erysipeas, hopping
cough. scarlatina thrush, or measle. one
quarter Of these wretC he'd little on's mere
70 sch the SECOND year 'of their poisoied exs''
ence; more han third die before he fith
vear; less than half arrive at twenty year OF
age. Al army of deadly enemies ecamcd
about tho mothers womb, IN the forms Of
malaria, starvation, intcmPranee aud NE |
huIsorS, attacks each child gt II brh, |
and assaults thereafter every hour OF
its icing till death or SONS Humanitarian ma
Gle releases il from thraldon. The :ynofie-
those Infinite shapes ofdsaase insepnrable firm
the cellar in which the child opens is eyes-,ill
asstrrcdlv torture it's infancy. If they do not at
once cut short the brittle thread OF LIE. And
even If manhood be reached, ~ term cnnot
prove q healthy one. Cachexy and sco'ula
will generally cling TO system vitiatd by
early disorders; abscess and ulcer viii Oiten3
lurk latentls in ears and nasal organs an, thatl
dreadful affection, ophthalma, invading iel.,
will become manifest soon in IT, too c)nnonf
and rspulsve features. Amid sunleS. niysesi
of the Mammoth Cave, in kentrcky, II
naturalist discovers fishes without eyes, hol
darkyess of those subteTrene dceps fordng be
visual organs, if they ever exist, 70 ooIiormto-
the results Of disuse and become euiro.. becase
unnecessary. Troglodytes, in past aes. hNo
alwags been feeble in sight. PoNons dwelling |
habitagly in dark chambers, mines accls
tomed tn toll at the bottom OF .hais in he |
eartlr and prisoners confined for years III
gloomy dungeons, grow incapable ID distinguish
ing objects at mid day and, like rats and NOES,
require shadow or darkness for tlie ,xercs, of
vision. In like manner our cella:dwdl'rs, |
living IN obscure, abodes, become subject 10
diseases nj the eye, ard transmit a susCcpti-
bility 10 blindness. What Other result canwc
look for, when hundreds Of our dwelling Ca es
aresimilart TO ore reported by Health Inspector,
as located iii sixtoenth-st., where at mid-ia, it
is 20 dark that type can hardly be read: vherc
two families of thirteen persons occupy onsI
basement; and where sickness is ever
PRESENT. What can we hope for, in saIitay
improvement, so long as the deaths Of 1'3
children in one liOnth-where9f ! ,626 were ihe
offspring Of foreign -borI, pareats-can be MALAY
traced to ihe fatal influence that bcset ,ncir
lives in cellars, Easements, and pent-up closes,
dominated by darkness and atmosphered with
minsmn.a1 Not until know ledye and nlilln-