The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-03-23
THE HEALTH OF cHARHEsroN-No. (

feel Of epiri. ticth with thee.
I'l ride no more.)
THE HEALTH OF oFCHARLEsTON-NO 2
TO THE EDITORS OF THE NEWS.
The answer to this question brings the COM
mittee at once to the objects Of their investi.
cation, viz:
The filthy accumuations of city COM
posed of all the refuse matters that col
lect after the vans Of people have been
satisfed-the remnants OF butchers meat, the
parings Of vegetables, the pluckings Of poul-
try, the washing OF culinary and domestic
utensils, the decayed fruit, the spoiled fish,
the bones, feathers, scales and other refuse
parts of cooked and uncooked animals, birds
and fish, the carcases of domestic animals,
the sour remnants of the table and kitchen,
the greasy and fetid water in which these
remnants have been fernenting-in short, all
that collects from the satiated vents of man
and animals, the excrementitious matters
from the stables and cowhoases, all these
and an endless list of other impurities which
mix with them and make up the foul burthen
or the odious scavenger's cart, go forth daily
to be cast into the low, moist and muddy places
Of the city. to tsmert and purify till they
saturate the air with Gitny enanations. preg-
nant WITH .lnvnse and death. -
rne soil CT the oity so low and porous as to
be constantly saturated with water, either
from the rain which falls upon it or from the
tide waters which ooze through it, furnishing
the requisite amount of moisture tor ding de-
composition, wants nothing necessary for the
most rapid disintegration of this heterogeneous
mass but the requisite degree OF heat. And
this is at hand when the summer sun shoots
down in perpendicular rays it's tropical heat
If we would have our city populous and
wealthy we must make it healthy. In vain will
1oY1i1I roilr do "a for of
the ocean un ess we caa invite strangers to
come among us with an assurance Of health.
Without this great blessing wealth itself will
lose its attraction. And it will, therefore, be
better for us first to spend money in getting
the former, unless we can make up our minds
to see oil that lost which we have been lavish
ing to secure the latter.
beg now, after what has been said in the
foregoing report on soavenger ofal, to direct
attention to the following letters TO the COM
mittee OF the City Council, charged with the
duty of preparing report on the origin and
diffusion Of yellow tever in Charleston, in the
summer of 1858. And first, that OF DR.. w. T.
,Wragg, a member Of the previous adminstra-
tion:
In 1883. when commenced my profession
al career in Charleston, found the yellow fe-
though they may have been overstepped in
some points, at times were nevertheless tolera-
bly, accurate limits to the infected districts.
The southeastern part Of Old Charleston was
the doomed territory, and Water-Rtreet on the
south, King-street on the west,rsa line some
what below Calhoun,street on the north, with
Cooper River on the east, formed it's bounda-
4 at the west end Of Broad-strest was considered
safe. All that part Of tho city known in olden
times az Harleston Green, lying west Of Rut-
ledge, and north Of Beaufain streets, was still
moro exempt. Cannonsboro', still further
north, was safe res~rt for strangers, pI divided
3 they did not go far enough up on the Neck to
incur risk from country fever: The same may
be said oof MaSyckboro', Wraggboro, and
Hampstead on the east of the city, and also Of
the intermediate central ridge from the Citadel
and st. Paul's Church, upwards, until the re-
gion Of country fever was reached: AZ late as
1883, it was deemed perfectly safe for strangers
provided they did not go below, Calhoun, (then
Boundary street.') (" .A's-''
What is the state OF things now 2? There is
not spot below Magnolia Cemetery, including
that beautiful field of rest, that is free from
danger in yellow fever seasons. Nay, more
The suburbs Of the city do not limit the ag-
q gressive movements OF the disease. Mount
Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, Potter's Mill, all
have shared in the ravages Of the destroyer,
and it may truly now be said that he walks a
: conqueror over the fallen raMparts of every
one OF these once guarded asylums. What
have been brought about ? The disease, in
former tinaes, entered the city, or sprang up in
it, but did not intrude upon those secret re-
treats until 1888 when, for the first time, the
be counted on IN one, at least, of the favored
precincts.
ried a Northern lady, and brought up his
children, ito. that time, with estranged cOnsti-
tutions being desirous of acclimating them,
was advised to commence by spending the first
summer in house at the corner Of Elizabeth
and Judith streets. The season proved to be O
On the opposite corner, boarding school was
kept by the Misses Bamyer, and young lady
from Georgetown, who had been allowed to re-
main, by advice of DR.. B. B. Simons, and who
house for three months, was taken ill and died,
q most virulent case OF yellow fever. Other
cases occurred in this neighborhood this year
for the frst time.
changes in the region about the houses may
have had an influence in producing them.
A year or two before Mr. John Robinson had
commenced the Improvement of his lots front.
ing on Judith-street, and on the square bound.
ed by Eli2abeth-street on the west, and Alex
ander street on the east, these lots were low
and were near the mouthor outfall OF long
narrow marsh fiat. which, commencing here
KinR-street. The natural effect Of the flline
up OF these lots was to iDjure the drainage O
all that part Of the marsh Hat lying vest.
For the Improvement OF his lots Mr.. Robinson
had used wood and other destructlble materia
to considerable extent, and had also trans
ferred, by means OF q temporary railroad, tht
whole Of the mound Of earth "a remnant o
the old Line) which formerly stood at thu
corner Of Meeting and Mary streets.
From this time the exemption previously en-
joyed by this region OF the Neck from epidenai
disease vanished. Since then, we have no
only seen yellow fever claiming its victims
there, but typhu !, scarlet and other epidemic
fevers have, from time to time, severel.
soourged it.
About the tim of which T am speaking, b.
and Of al arr IN ha
joyment OF O. reputation for health not inferio
to any other portion Of the Neck. we'll re
member that 1886. when the cholera made it
visitation to Charleston, only saw a singl
case on that part of the street, where the tre
ebb and fiow OF the tide over the low ground
kept them clear Of decomposable deposit
Within the last ten years the street mas bee
made up with wood and the lots filed wit
IL -. -