National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-08-17
HEALTH OF THE CITY.

LAMENTs FOR THE OLD oANAL-DE-
CREASED SALES OF QUININE AND
JALAP-HOW THEY ABE MADE UR.
swell, bowls timssP' was asked recently Of
one Of the W6l+odo druggists on the Avenue.
"oh, # Is Inos distEesstngly healthy" he re-
pHsA ''Wh7, ordinarily at this seasopof the
year we YOU'D hsFe Chilly p ffty prescriptions
. day fer q1ntze, ealo@el and Jslsp, blue phi
and tones of ysJtO0s kinds, all adapted TO
some stagsH ShIIls end fever, fever and asus,
or mSlsrial fsvE. This year No have none
worth speaking g." Spuiniue -is ! drug In
more senses thm one, ehP' Yes, indeed p
cause Of this change, and Tie tan Of Hostrtms
quickly replied, "Aleck Shepherd" Ali And
how is thatp'
"Well, you see he filled up our laboratory
the old canal ditch-for one thing. But Der
haps that would Ret have affected our trade so
badly II be had not gone so extensively ipto
drainage generally. You see, all this Murder
Bay country, ana IN fact, this whole depression
on the line Of the Avenue between the Treas
uTy and the Oapibsl was originally q swamp.
The old canal was expected TO drain It which
It partially did. But when It got into the ditch
theFe It lay stsgnant, and festered and baked
and evapOFated 30 that the inhabitants Of that
quarter fairly respirated fever and ague. 4
good portion Of the filth Of the city found its
way sooner or later into this ditch, and Of
course added TO its mAlignancy. When the
Board of Pubic Works filed up this cess-po6l
and established It's ystem Of sewerage TO take
the place Of surface drainage It reduced the
chM practice Of the physicians and eurtaJled
the druggists sales Of auinine and rheumatic
specifics fully seventy FIVE per cent. The
houses IN this section were formerly damp.
The paper on the walls Of the psrlors would
be dripping vet In rainy or foggy weather.
OF course No one could live in them and escape
chills and rheumatism unless they kept fires
oil such days. And this the poor folks could
not do, and many of those who were able
would not think of doing because they did not
appreciate the danger"
ftAnd Is this changed nowp
ayes; and this Is how It came about. Many
people thought very hard of it at the time, and
some Of the property owners otherwise called
tax-psyers) are of the same opinion still. Gov.
Shepherd not only insisted upon sewers, but
put in the laterals to the curb. He then in
stEucted his superintendents TO explain to the
owners how much cheaper and better 1t would
be for them TO make their transformations at
The same time, and have only one muss about
It; for THO Board of Health would soon oblige
them 10 do It any how, and they mostly took
the hint and did so. Now, this year the city
Is perfectly drained by submerged sewers IN
place Of the old surface drains, and the houses
In this part Of It are comparatively dry and
healthy"
"And 20 you are memorialist because shep-
herd and the board have injured your trade by
improving the health of the city, are youp
81 beg your pardon. 1 trust you will not IN
suit me for my frankness. am no memorial
ist. bad hoped That in the course of this
conversation you had given me credit for
higher order Of intelligence. But 1 suppose
that my remark at the outset about the dis
tressingly healthy condition Of this part Of the
city may have misled you. II / remember
rightly, did mot cay that business generally
was duller than usual at this season Of the
year. ! was speaking Of the health of the
city, aud Of the manner In which It affected
the sales of certain kinds Of medicines. But
the truth is, the people viii spend about such
proportion Of their income with US anyhow,
and would prefer to sell them perfumery,
cosmetics, soda and mineral waters and toilet
articles ct any time than medicines. And
there is another view Of this matter which may
not have occurred to you, but which we feel
somewhat, and that b the Increase Of popula-
ton and wealth which results from these I'm
proVemsnts. What we sell to healthy people
we get paid for, and DO not lose so many bad
debts as We formerly did, 50 that on the whole
our profits are quite up to the average, and
even more satisfactory"
'1ndeed, that Is good news, and you are q
true philosopher. An apology Is due to you
for the suspicious recently expressed regarding
your status IN connection with these improve
ments, which Is fully accorded. Good day."
"Hot at all. Good day"