The Portland daily press., 1866-01-31
Is the Cholera Coming,

Is the Cholera Coming,
The reported outbreak of cholera in very
malignant form in the West Indies has once i
more aroused the general anxiety in regard to
its probable appearance on our own shores
II Is true The information which reaches us is
uncertain and contradictory, leaving room .or.
doubt whether the disease which has appeared
be indeed cholera, or some other equally fatal
and malignant scourge; but that is point of
really minor Importance. Apestflence strong
ly resembling it made its appearance at Point
a-Pitre, on the island of Gaudeloupe, on the
22d October, and extended thence to Martini
ique. A ship from Marseiles is reported to
have brought it to Gaudeloupe. The 8ermu-
al Gazette reports 375 deaths from the 18th
to the 23d November, the number at Point-a-
Pitre alone being 146. A letter dated at that
town on the 10th reckoned the deaths at 80
to IS daily. At Gaudeloupe they were 100
per day. The disease was at first supposed to
be only marsh fever, but it had developed
much more virulent form and so increased
that there were not laborers enough to bury
the dead, and the Governor was obliged to call
in the military. half the people had aban-
the town. A strict quarantine was maintain
ed, the mail steamers neither receive nor land
passengers there, and the mails are fumigated
before being opened. A
1t is believed that there may be some exag-
gelation in these accounts, yet still the spring
is approaching, and the cold which has acted
as check for some months past, will soon
likely that the disease may ere long make its
presence manifest among us. Communica-
ton with the West Indies is constant, and is
kept up by such variety of craft, great and
small, almost unnoticed, at all sorts of petty
ports, that the maintenance of quarantine
regulations against them is very difficult. I'm
der such circumstances it certainly behooves
every community, especially every sea-going
one, to omit no precaution which can add to
its own safety. The case of the Atalanta at
New York shows that rigidly enforced quar-
antine is eficacious in preventing the spread
of the disease, and the advantages of good
sanitary regulations do not need at this late
day to be enumerated. Those whose proper
business it is should lose no time in putting
in force every possible measure of precaution.
At the same time we would reiterate the
warning which we have before had occasion
to urge against all indulgence in exaggerated
fears. Panic is at all times the prolific parent
of this disease. 1t is with this enemy as with
almost every other, nothing is so dangerous as
cowardice. Basis sa-
If modern science has settled anything, it
has established the fact that cholera may, by
judicious efforts, be not indeed avoided alto
gether, but so controlled, ameliorated and kept
within bounds as to be no worse than any or
binary epidemic. At the request of the New
York Commissioners of health, DIR. Lewis A.
Sayre, the Resident Physician, published some
time since. brief letter to the citizens, lay
ing down some general rules for the proven
ton and avoidance of cholera. His SUCCESS
tons are so sensible and practical that we
copy the chief points, advising such of our
readers as may think it worth their while, to
p cut and preserve them for future reference:
@Whatever differences Of opinion may ex-
ist in regard to the cause and mode of propa-
cation of the cholera, all now agree in their
observation of this acknowledged fact that its
greatest ravages and most fearful mortality
are among the filthy, the vicious and the desti-
tute, and in fact it is almost confined to the
imprudent, The incorporate and those who in
jure themselves by taking improper medi-
cnes.
cleanliness, therefore, is of the first impor-
tance-both of your person and of your houses
particularly your yards, sinks, privies and
cesspoos, where fresh chloride of lime should
be daily sprinkled, and the adjoining walls
and sa1ces surrounding them repeatedly white
washed. 81. a b aaf fE.5
DC careful that there is no stagnant water
either in your cellars or yards, and if your
Easements are damp, use fires in them fire.
quently and 5.rn up the toni air, and cause
more perfect ventilation.
Remove all garbage at least once day, and
twice If possible, and permit nothing to re.
main on the premises to undergo decompos-
ton. a5-g aa- y -9 or7
Keep your houses well ventilated rf if =
Iii Be temperate in all things, both in eating
and drinking. Be temperate in exercise, in la
! Dor, both physical and mental. Keep good
hours, take proper food, in reasonable quanti-
ties, at proper times. Plainly cooked meats,
with boiled rice, bread, and thoroughly cooked
potatoes, should form the Ordinary base of
diet. aal d eai % pnll4oiit
Abstain from all unripe fruits and stale or
partially decayed vegetables, But above all,
avoid excess in intoxicating drinks of every
u kind. T" ~ ''.' d ''''-' i'-lf7i
Wear flannel next the skin, and at all times
maintain the natural temperature of the body
by sufficient amount of clothing. Avoid all
exposure to sudden changes of temperature,
and if accidently exposed to storm, remove
Il YOUR wet boots and clothing as soon as posi-
BILE. e4E -
The cholera is not the necessarily fatal dis
ease which it is commonly believed to be, but
lie hat lie hnfh tah 10 aJ16 nu,,a