Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-07-15
sEWERSGE AND HEALTH.

10 the OulOEi anu AHl6lACAiA'
1t is highly gratifying to meet. with such
articles as have recently appeared in your
paper in regard to cholera, its prevention,
etc. The writer lie thinker, and thinks
under the guidance of heart that loves
truth and desires to use it for the good Of
humanity. The scientific truths he sets
forth would, if properly used, be worth
many millions Of dollars to the people of
Tennessee. l. is the thinker, under the
guidance of a loving heart, that evolves
those truths, the use Of which make the
safety, the happiness and the progress Of
soci :ty. But will these truths be used, is
the great question, or will they be rendered
as useless as "Arabia T2les?' If they are
not used, Nashville is doomed to suffer
again and again. The idea is correct that
cholera ought never to exist in Nashviil.
Fire cannot exist without something to
produce il; neither can cholera exist with
out something TO produce it. Who is guilty
of ali this Widespread ruin, desolation aud
death?
In 1865, in a Nashville paper, advocated
the practical application Of thase same
ideas. except the excellent one of "a night
soil factory" Had the advice then gave
been followed, we would hsye had cholera
this year, but We would have had millions
OF dollars added 10 The value Of the propsT-
ty in e city, and many thousands Of e.
terprising people added TO our population.
then said, "Fhe filthy vaults in every
yard, and heavy expense of cleaning them,
will give place to clearly, cdorless crooks OF
earthen or iron. Expensive sC2yenger carts
will disappear, and dsiniectants will be use
less where there is nothing to disiniect.
v,1sf 4
and IN by heavy expenses to the city sid
reduced and doctors starved. Gel
but ventilated" This advice, if then fol-
lowed, would have closed the year 1866
with The city freed from I'll those unsghtly,
disgusting nuisances, called privie5, that
DESTROY the value of all grounds for thirty
feet aroued them, make back yards revolt
ing to al the senses, and, by thrir often
sive smell, drive children into the streets TO
be educated fer the Police Court. That
these vaults or "death factories" are the
source Of cholera, Is evident from the fact
that the disease Almost invariably irvades
the system through lower boWe.s. In
Edgefed and other cities where these vaults
are made in the earth, the danger is much
as an absorbent and disinfeciant, and
thereby prevents communicating adjacent
lots. but even there they ought not to be
used; while in Nashville, the vaults being
among layers Of rock, the rainwster often
serves as a means OF communicating yards,
cellars or wells five iUDdreG feet distant
Had 1866 banished privies from tie city,
the same team that brought food to man, in
the city, would have carried odorIess food
to pl.nts in the country, and 1867 would
have found the back yards ready to be made
what they should be-tha abode Of purity,
neatnes' and taste, the most attractive part
Of tie homestead, with flowers, crap and
other small fruits--a grassy plat where ladies
and Chi dren could enjoy the much needed
air and exercise without exposure to pubic
gaze.
This feast of purity and elegance would
soon suggest the sweeping out Of existence
those low, dark, smoky abOdas Of foul air,
rats and reaches, called kitchens, and sup
plying their place wi b high, well ventilatet,
well lighted, Clearly tooms-the mos. cheer
full rooms ID the h0use-surrOunded with
every convenience for obtaining water, fuel,
provisions, CroCkeTy, etc, with the feEest
steps to the one who is 10 preside over it.
This room and its sppuTteDaGces would be
an exposition Of the hu bands judgment
and regard for the comfort and health Of
his family, and the manner Of using it
would show the skill of the mistress Of the
house.
Such kitchen would be visited with
pleasure and pride, and no foul air would
poison the food cooked in it, but it would
be regarded as kind "nursing mother" to
the family. Half the expense off family
would be saved by these two proposed
changes.
But there still remains another 'disesse
factory" working ceaselessly day AID night
TO polute he air in every room from TIE
bottom 60 the top Of the house, furnishing
abundant food for dysentery, typhoid fever,
rheumatism, etc. Go into the damp, muddy,
unventilated cellar, and the foul air Is SO
devoid of oxygen as t. almost extiuguish
your candle that emits a very feeble light
for few feet around it. Shut the doors
and windows Of such house on Cherry or
Union streets for tgeIty-four hours, and
the air will Ga offensive in every room
in the house. In New Orleans the owner
of lot of ground on which there was
a pond of water, TO save himself
the expense OF filing it, built the
walls Of his house around the pond, leaving
10 ventilation. knew the house several
vars. Various persons were taken sick in
it,but medical treatment was of no avail.
Tfy all died. Few things are more I'M
beatty than damp confined air il which
wod is rotting, and very large number Of
celias in this city are in this condition and
are cnpelled TO remain so until we have
propei sewerage. 1t is the only remedy for
Nashville. In 1866 l said, "a million Of
dollars tus expended, would not injuTe city
bond, bt would greatly increase their value.
Iii improvement and labor saving inven-
lions thalhsve inside the great wealth OF
Massachusetts, it is the want Of them that
has impoverished Nashville" 1t is "the
liberal sou sha be inside fat" No million
Of dollars vas then needed. The money
so stupidity use d at that time, was all that
was then NEEDED i led with judgment.
Nashville lever was prosperous and ltntver
can be unit literally is used under the
guidance foresight and comprehensive
icocmeht. There are miuds, in every age
so constituted as 70 enable them, with keen
PERCEPTION I'D quick induction to read the
past, TO guile the present, and shape the
needs of ia future. Such minds are the
fine sCuTcs Of wealth, though seldom ap-