The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-10-11
New Orleans and the Yellow Fever.

ever the yellow fever makes its ap-
pearance in the city. If their object
were to inocuhte every unacclimated
citizen with the disease, to entice to
the city every stranger who never had
bit, and to spread it to all the neighbor-
ing towns, their conduct could not be
very different from what it now is.
They commence precisely in the same
way at the opening of every yellow fe-
yer season. The press generally opens
by belaboring some poor editor in the
North West who has had the temerity
to publish a rumor that yellow fever
has made its appearance in New Or
leans. This is followed up by daily
reference to the "Mortuary reports" to
show that the city is not only the
healthiest in the world, but that at this
particular time is healthier than it was
ever known to be before. Then comes
an invitation to all the absentees to
hurry home from the Northern water
ing places for sanitary reasons. A very
earnest exhortation is then made to all
the country merchants to come down
and buy themselves rich. If, in the
mean time, any timid authorities in, a
/ distant town should take precau-
tons against the ingress of the fever, a
howl is raised throughout the whole
length of the city that sets the whole
country to thinking about New Orleans
and it's fevers. Then follow the reluc-
tant admissions, when we begin to get
a glimmer of the truth. Only "a few
cases have appeared and they have
readily yielded to treatment" Even
these have been covered up in the
mortuary reports under the name of
'.malarial." Now this information is
all that the people desire, and having
obtained it they cannot be blamed for
taking precautions against the disease.
The papers may rail as much as they
please, yet when the fever comes to
New Orleans unacclimated people will
leave, unacclimated people will refuse
to go there, and unacclimated towns
exposed to it will try to keep it away
We are led to these remarks because
the New Orleans people are just now
making themselves very ridiculous
over the quarantine established at
Galveston by Governor Davis over yes
sells approaching from New Orleans.
Now, if the carpet-bag Governor of
Texas were as sound on all questions
as he is on the yellow fever we should
have very little fault to find with him.
He has received information that there
are yellow fever cases in New Orleans
(Which is now admitted to be true);
and that the fever is also in Baton
Rouge, Natchez, Vicksburg and Jack
son; and argues that it has spread from
the large city to the small ones, aud
may spread to Galveston. And this is
just such an argument that the gener-
ality of men will make. But it is be-
cause men will argue in common
sense manner that the New Orleans
wiseacres are SO eXasperated. They
have decided that yellow fever is this
and that; that it spreads thus and so;
and they have no patience with men
who will take any other view Of the
question.
Now we beg to be excused from talk
ing the slightest interest in the scientific
discussions of the phases of the yellow
fever disease, for the reason that no
two scientific physicians are agreed
upon any of them. We don't care
whether it is an indigenous OF an i'm
ported disease; whether it depends on
dirt Or cleanliness; whether it is con-
tagious or not; and we would not learn
if we could the New Orleans method Of
determining when it is endemic or cpl
demic. The people have q common
sense a posteriOri method of viewing
the yellow fever; it is this method they
have pursued from the time it first APP
peared in the country; and, from APP
pearances, they will continue to follow
it. They act upon facts as they have
observed them. They know that when
the fever breaks out in New Orleans
other people who are near take it; that
when it gets little worse it spreads to
the country towns; that of those who
take it large proportion die; and that
| those who keep out of the way of it
neither take it nor die. Hence they
keep out of the way it. We know
men now very near us who will not
go to. New Orleans notwithstanding
the yellow fever is pronounced only
"malariar' and of a very mild type,
and if many more malarial cases oc-
cur, we should not be surprised if the
people of Alexandria, as low as the
water and as late as the season is,
should act as stupidity as the New Or
leans people say Governor Davis has
acted. We don't want the yellow
fever, mild or severe, malarial or
otherwise.
It is time that Medical men were set
Ting down on something definite as to
the nature of yellow fever, or else that
they admit they know nothing about