Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1865-12-02
WORD ABOUT CHOLERA
appprrIrNSIOysO OF ITyANISHTNG.

lie apprehenSi"e' II SAN 49, -
the pestilence is rarely alluded to, or II at all
rs something past and vanished. Few realize
that tbe terrible invader only slumbers tor
season. and viii almost certainly revive with
the summer days of 1866. We become
STRANGELY familiar with disease and death when
~ o,, immediate ueighborhood, In 1892 the
o,,,aorapce of the cholera in Canada sent a
thrill Of dread through the Shole land When
i reached New York we of Baltimore could
talk il over with strange calmness and when
once settled in Philadelphia its approach was
no longer dreaded, but the daily advent OF the
fearful visitor in our streets looked for as a
matter of course and spoken of with compare
tive Indifference This absence OF apprehen
sion is TO be deplored, SO far as it inerteres
with the proper sanitary precautions against
the inroads of disease
Nothing is more demonstrate than that dis
regard of cleanliness, personal and municipal,
If it does not originate the epidemic certainly
seriously aggravates its type, extends its raw
ages among greater number, and renders
less durable the appalling symptoms which
make up case of genuine cholera. It is
true q becoming promptness seems to have
animated the authorities of New York in ar
resting the progress Of the infected ship to-
ward the city, but had it succeeded in reach.
ing the wharves would it have found the proper
precautions arrayed TO resist the spread of the
malady? Had the oft repeated cautions been
needed was the voice Of sanitary science,
calling upon civil functionaries and individual
citizens to remove all foci OF disease and sub
stitute the safeguard Of cleanliness, regarded
with respect? On the contrary perhaps the
cities OF the seaboard, New York included,
were never in less favorable plight for the re.
ception of yirulent epidemic. 1t is proper,
therefore, to renew the admonitous with which
we closed a former article on this subject and
again to urge the removal Of everything upon
which the pestileucc may feed. Especially do
we insist that every housekeeper should yigi-
antly guard his own premises and inculcate
cleanliness and individual prudence i'll his
household Above all let unnecessary alarm
he resisted as one Of the most powerful pre-
diSposiug causes Of disease. In fine let every
unc give close attention to the laws Of health
preserve an undisturbed conscience and leave
to the Great Ruler of events calmly and reso-
lutelv. the results Of the future.
In regard TO the origin Of the present cpl
dcmic, which has spread desolation over Eu
rope, and which heretofore has been always
traced To India, as the starting point, il has
been affirmed, with much plausibility, to have
had its beginning in Mecca, The French
Government sent a special commissioner to
the East to study cholera i'll all its phases, and
the theory is based upon the observations and
conclusions of that commission Mecca"
says a writer i'll the Saturday Rccier. this
year has certainly been the birthplace of the
cholera that hangs at present over the south
.of Europe The columns of pilgrims that
flock yearly to the Caaba from Egypt, Da-
''mascus and Bagdad have long been famous
for their numbers and their filth: and the
ships tina, bring worshippers from Suez By
',hc way of Yambu, Jeddal and other sea.
port, are SIMPLY magazines of dirt and OF
''dseaSc. The religion Of Mahomct. Is in
theory a wholesome and Il sanitary ONE
Cleanliness according 10 the tradition OF the
Prophet, is one half Of the faith, and the key
''Of praver. In the FIRST ages our forefathers
''long languishcd in ignorance Of the art Of
washing, down to the times Of Abraham him.
self. when an angel was sent expressly to
teach the unaccustomed patriarch how to
perform the curious and unknown rite
But though water. as the believer learns
from his Koran, will happily abound in
s.Da - i ~. In Stir.
land the holy precept which permits the
''Mahomedan, for all purposes of ablution, to
employ handful of fine sand, i. a conccs
"Sion partly to the necessities and partly per-
''haps to the Incidence OF the earthly pilgrim.
Despite the snxious admonition OF the Apps.
tile Of God, cleanliness throughout the Mecca
pilgrimage is only conspicuous by its alb
''sence. A multitude Of human beings, of
every country and degree, huddled pellmell
with drOmedaries, horses, asses, sheep and
goats, constitutes the procession; yernn of
"all kinds flourish and abound; but the patient
believer, when once he has put on the sacred
''habit, is forbidden by the rules of his faith
ito abiure the inhuman practice Of insect.
eide. In such II motley gathering the Gle.
''ments of pestilence exist already. but they
care fostered and increased by other unhealthy
incidents OF pilgrimage. The Korban Beiram.
''aS its name implies, is feast of sacrifice;
''and an older superstition perhaps than that
''of Mahomet still dimly survives in the yearly
slaughter Of innumerable victims. Their
purified remains add to the corruption that
us breeding already in the air, and makes
''the prevalent filth and impurity still more
dangerous and deadly. Of late the numbers
''of pilgrims had been believed, upon fair
authority, to be upon the decline: but we
''hear that this year the crowds amounted to
''at least two hundred thousand"
The present mode of travel in contrast with
that OF former years renders the spread of
infection more certain. Heretofore the slow
long transit from the tomb Of the Prophet was
made in the open air. and the elements Of
disease had time TO disappear under the con.
tinued ventilation to which the pilgrims were
exposed. Now the travel is by steam. Thou.
sands are crowded into close cabins and
saloons, and are transported with rapidity to
the borders Of Europe
Various means have been suggested to pre-.
vent the advance Of cholera into Europe. The
English insist upon rigid quarantine On the
contrary this is asserted to be simply inopera-
tive where there are so many points to guard.
''To shut cholera out, says one, ''by estab.
fishing rigid blockade is about as possible as
it is to keep flies out of garden by shutting
the garden gates The carelessness of Off.
cials, the fraud Of single captain or of
single pilot, may render every effort nugatory;
and if one avenue is stopped, cholera has
habit of either going round or flying over it!'
The losses of the French by quarantine,
amounting, as asserted by them, to 100 mil.
lions of francs per annum, will partly account
for their opposition to this system of protec,
ton. In 1851 and 1866 sanitary conventions
were held in which most of the powers of
Europe were represented, but the discussions
and results of their deliberations have never
been made public. NJ Behic, member of one
or both OF these conferences, advocated all at.
tack upon the 'Pestence centres of the East"
1T is not sufficient said he. ''to oppose to