Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-12
MEMPHIS APPEAL
THURSDAY MORNING. DEC. 70. 1879.
SMALLPOX AND THE CITY GOVERN


SMALLPOX AND THE CTTY GOVERN
MENT.
Whatever the sanitary condition of
the city, whether a foul contagion ira
verse our thoroughfares, or healthful, in
MIGRATING winds sweep down from cold
er ATTITUDES, as on yesterday, it is best to
tell the simple truth. Having done this
when smallpox wa supposed to be most
destructive Of the business prosperity Of
Memphis, absolute credence will surely
be awarded when the APPEAL states
that the contagion has probably done its
worst. 1t is also true that no danger is
incurred by strangers visiting the city.
Smallpox is the guest of no Memphis
hotel, it stalks not abroad upon the
streets, and is never encountered where
people most do congregate. There is no
greater danger incurred in visiting the
city to-day, from this cause, than during
most months of each preceding twenty
years. We propose, however, to advert
to the criminal negligence Of the City
Government, which resulted, as has been
again and again predicted in permitting
the spread of q loathsome epidemic.
The neglect Of the City Government to
establish a board Of health is an evil for
which we may hold one man accounta-
bic. Though there is a marked improve
ment il the sanitary condition of Mem
phis, still, the present situation recalls
20 mind the fearful experiences of the
past in other large cities. When death
rides in company of such terrible allies
as the yellow fever, the cholera and the
plague, he reaps an abundant harvest,
and his visits become historic. The raw
ages of epidemics are never forgotten;
men may forget as years roll on, or re-
member only family that such fields as
Marathon or Waterloo have been fought
and won; but who can forget the
plague Of Athens, the plague of Flor
ence, the plague Of London, the yellow
fever in New York, or the cholera of
1892? These scenes are brought home
&c US by the threatenings of the present
hour, and yet all that pen and voice
could utter was not sufficient to arouse
the official guardian of this city, until
Our worst fears became stern reality,
and the popular voice was raised in
tones of Indignation. Our sister cities
have been suffering for a long time IN
der the ravages of the smallpox, and
especially in the West at the present
time the mortality is large and the
suffering very great. The truth is
brought home to us both by intelli-
gence conveyed by private letters and
by the current news of the day. Some
of these reports are fearfully distinct and
impressive. New York, Philadelphia
aud Baltimore are still suffering, while
St. Louis and Chicago are ravaged.
seem to level all ranks, the !
rich are hardly better cared for than the +,
poor, indeed, well-regulsted public char {
is oftentimes more e~ficacious than /
service-and at such times few q
things are more striking than the moth .
of wealth. 1t cannot shield its +
possessor from the fatal stroke, and the ;
safety Of the servant is of more value q
than the gold which would bind him to !
the dangerous bedside. 1t is also at <
such moments of trial that the noble 8
of the human soul shine 0
-orth in all their lustre-qualities which I
can neither develop nor reward. h
It is on such occasions that we learn e
What true herOism is, and how far civic o
Outshines those on which the 2.
world bestows its laurels. The skilled /,
md true physician-who knows no rest
Tor fear, bat who goes from bedside to u
administering and assuaging, I
f he cannot avert the pangs Of death, is L
IS much above the blood-stained hero, u
whose horses hOOf tTamples out the life q
Il every bound upon the battlefield, as !
lie sky is hOlier and higher than the ID
arth it overarches. Let the bigOt "a
cad how the Sister Of Charity p
Illfls her noble mission, sinking y
ften at the bedside Of the sick, a victim ri
o her devotion. We r not what her OF
may be, there may be no record ca
Z her virtues on earth, but we believe :,
hat there is a volume where her good 10
eeds are recorded in letters Of light, IT
nj that angel eyes grow brighter when u
ley rest upon the page! And then J.
here is another book in which popular &c
lemory records the misdeeds Of the al
masters, who, receiving enor- Is
lous salaries, yet reck nothingof events
ccurring before their very eyes. Such
inns should be expended for the service
f intelligence and governing capacity, II,
nd not for the stupidity Of an owl, who
ally looks wise, knows nothing, and is
Jlemnly obstinate.