The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-11-04
Typhoid Fever RndeWhat 10 do 10
Prevent L. II

Nrtom hural Notes In Providence JonrnAl)
Line upon line Is the necessity. The
recent closing oil the Seminary OF East
Greenwich, In consequence OF the preva.
lencc and fatality OF the typhoid fever,
brings up again for discussion and warn.
Ing the subject Of defective drainage. Il
Is understood that typhoid fever Is now
largely prevalent In New England. And
1t must not DO forgotten that very many
persons arc affected who do not wholly
succumb 10 the disease. The last season
has been an unusual ono. The excess OF
heat and moisture In combination has
induced Rrapld and exhuberant growth Of
vegetation; this 10 now largely In o decay.
ing condition; the drains, out.houses and
yards Of our dwellings are exhaling to o
greater or less extent, mephitic gasses.
Where care has been taken during the
summer, OF course, there Is Only the nat.
ural and inevitable danger; but In cases
where cellars, drains and other places
have been neglected, there Is a grave lia-
billty which ought at once 10 be avoided,
In so far as Is possible. And II Is possible
TO do great deal toward 1t, and toward
tho preservation Of health. II should be
o rule as unaltarable as the laws Of the
Medes and Persians, that no of.
fensive smell should 60 uncorrected for o
day, anywhere about the premises;
but this Is not all. 1t Is very probable
that at East Greenwich there was no per.
ceptible eilluvium in that ell part Of the
building where tho miasma must have
been most concentrated and deadly. 1t
Is necessary, therefore, to use precautions
dictated by science, even when the senses
do not give any warning. In new coun-
tries the fever and ague Is tho result OF
miasmatic influence which does not make
itself apparent to the sense OF smell; our
typhoid tevers arc the consequence OF q
miasma which sometimes docs, and often
or does not, reveal itself 10 the physical
organs. This much we know; decaying
animal and vegetable matter arc each
provocatives oliever; the use Of disinlect-
ants, as lime, plaster, dry earth, a solu-
ton oil copperas, or preparations Of car
bolic aclD will tend 10, II not wholly,
eradicate the miasma, which Is always so
deleterious and in many cases SO fatal. In
q word, everywhere should b, written,
and being written should DO enforced
cleanliness. And that too, this year es-
pecially, in sense not always understood.
For be 1t known that our learned friends
the doctors say that the accumulation OF
wet and decaying leaves, the presence OF
low, moist soil, the stagnant water from
the drains, are each and all dangerous 10
the health.
Close observers will have noticed this
fall, on the north side Of the house, and
in shady positions, green mould, which
is not seen in ordinary seasons. This Is
evidence OF a condition Of the atmos-
phere unlAvOrablc In itself to health, and
is Il sign that extraordinary precautions
should be exercised. 1t is q common,
and no more common than true, saying,
that an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound Of cure, but still the majority of us
go on without much forethought in re.
gard to matters oil the most vital interest.
For our own part, us highly as we esteem
the gentlemen Of the medical profession,
we prefer TO receive them as guests rather
than as advisers and directors. So we
keep on hand always lime, charcoal, dry
earth and rake and hoe. Using these
freely, and maintaining lires-Open fires
late in the spring and beginning carly in
the fall, we escape, or have for quarter
of q century escaped (God be thanked)
any serious fever.