The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-08-28
TIE HEALTH OF THE cry,

1
ness, sometimes through malice, reports OF
this character are originated, detrimental to
the commerce or the city. With view of cor
recting these irresponsible reports, and rcmov-
| ing every possible cause for doubt or suspicion
in the premises, we learn that. by the order OF
The Commanding General, the Chief Health
Officer of the city will hereafter publish n
weekly moriunry report, TINT every one, near
and far, mny see the sanitary condition Of the
| city This IS right and e,ninently proper, for
if the city is healthy, it is proper That il should
| be made known and so, OH the other hnnd, il
there is present any infectious or contagious
disease, the people hnvc right 10 be Informed
of il at the first possible opportunity; and we
publish accordingly, i'll our issue this morning,
| the report for the week ending August "a,
| 1867
We have inkcn pains to asccrinin some facts
relative to the health Of the city. anil after
careful inquiry Of the City Registrar and the
Military Medical authorities, as well MS many
Of our private practitioners. we arc happy TO
have il in our power to state TINT the city, Mt
this time of year, was perhaps never more free
OF diseases of gravity than it is at present.
This is the moro remarkable when we con-
sider the extraordinary amount Of rain that
has fallen the present summer. From ovcry
quarter almost of the United States, we hnyc
reports Of tho prevalence Of epidemic diseases:
In the West cholera, on The Gulf yellow fever,
and the several types of masmatic feycrs
everywhere. Druggists inform us that never
before has there been such demand for uui-
nine. The great chemical laboratories Of the
North nre entirely unable 10 meet This unprcce-
dcntcd demand. We hive not remained en-
tircly exempt from this visitation In the out
skirts of the city, especially in the northern
and northeastern parts, the physicians report
mn unusual number Of cases of the several
forms Of n'iasmntic fevcrs. llut the disease is
confined to those localities and needs must owe
its origin TO local causes. The heart of the
city, the entire business portion, has never
bccn more exempt from every form Of disease
than is the case at present. .
True, u inny be said ,L>
over. There is plenty Of time yet for IN epi-
dcmic. In this opinion we cannot concur. The
hot season may lie considered over. The days
will be shorter, and the ughts cooler, nnd the
caloric rays OF the sun will have less power
TO foment into disease aud epidemic nny chance
morbiiic causc found in the atmosphere. With
ordinary caution, such rs we hnvc every rea-
Eon to believe has been exercised NIL this sum
mer, and is still being exercised, we may con-
fdcntly hopct 10 "turn the line" in a continuance
Of our present immunity from serious disease,
and thus safely run into port-aur winter
quarter, where exhilaratiug breczcs and in
vigorating health await u.s. to compensate for
the waste OF vital force incurred by our long
md spending summers.
Through the kindness Of the City Registrar
we were permitted to examine the reports of
the Health Department, Mortunry Reports
Thcrnomelric Register, etc., etc, from which
we make the following extracts, which, we hope,
mny not prove uuiutercstng TO our readers.
The Health Department has charge of the sick
poor Of the city, black and white, both in
hospitals and i'll "priyate quarters Under
an agreement with the Freedmen's l,urenu, the
city provides them with medical attendance
and hospital room, while the Government abmn-
duntly supplies rntions, medicines, hospital
stores, etc. The city pays six physicians to
attend them, md enjoys the services Of Two
additional physicians, paid, we believe,
from the fund of SuIRans Dispensary.
All Of these make weekly and monthly
reports 10 the Chief of tho Health DO
partment. From an examination Of the July
reports, we find there were during that month,
in tho bounds of this city, hoth in hospital and
tignn fl,n
cases of illness, continued from the previous
month, and 7i9 new cases, giving a total of 9o5
cases Of sickness trentcd by the dispeusnry and
hospital physicians Of the city. Among the
"Rcfugces" (6ction for "white poor"), there
were in July, continued from june 1903; new
cnscs 534 Total, G42. Total of deaths in
Juy-whiies, :. colorcd, 35.
The niasmaiic diseases in July prevailed
to the following extent among the freedmen,
spoken of in the last paragraph (g05 cases,)
Typhoid fever 10 cases, Of which four fntal.
Remittcnt 35, ono fatal, quotidian intermittent
&c, one fntal; tcrtian intermittent G8; con-
gesiiye fever 9, Of which one fatal. We arc
aware that We may be charged with ignorance
or wilful innccuracy, in enumerating typhoid
fever nmong The diseases Of malarious origin;
but we hope not; our reason for 30 doing
being the fact that clHssfcntions thus made
(for tho City Regislrnr) are seldom very rela-
bic for scientific purposes, md VIC therefore
prefer 10 give the zymotic diseases, which may
hy any possibility owe their origin to local or
mRlarious causes.
or refugees, or white poor, (G42 cases in
July,) are marked typhoid, 81 remittent, 20
quotidan intermittent 81 tertiau, l punrtan,
and congestive intermittent, ono Of which
proved fatal.
The mortality reports for July 1867, arc as
follows During tho first week in July, there
were :'3 deaths from oil Causes in the City of
Charleston, l3 whites, and 20 colorel; of
which from minsmatic diseases. During the
second week'26 deaths, white and 10 colored,
q from masmntic diseases. During the third
week 30 dcathH, 10 whites and 20 coIorcd-7
from masmntic diseases. During tho fourth
week % dcnths-7 whites md 81 colored,
from miasmnlic diseases.
In August the mortality reports hnve been
rs follows: During the week ending August
3, there wero 81 deaths, 6 whites and 81
colored, 6 Of which from minsmatic diseases.
Week ending August 10, 81 deaths, 10 whito
and "a colorcd, Of which G from miasmatic
diseases. Week ending August II, "A deaths,
20 whites and "a colorcd, of which from dis