The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-06-25
CIRCULATING CALUMNY.

New Orleans is, IN some respects, pecu'
liarly unfortunate city. Politically she has
suffered martyrdom, and one would suppose
that the many great and grievous burthens
she has borne would have excited the sympa-
thy of the outside world-would have disposed
the residents of other cities to be at least fair
and just in their judgments. 1t would really
seem, however, that there are those who
take malicious pleasure in saying and
writing things that initiate against the
interests and prosperity of our city. Every
year about this time as regularly as the sea-
son rolls round, rumors are industriously cir
culated about the prevalence of fever at this
point. Paragraphs are inserted in obscure
country papers that, in course OF time find
their way into other and more widely clrcu-
lated journals, until the whole country is
made to believe that New Orleans is an unsafe
place to visit. We had INDUCED the hope
that this year we should escape this infection,
and that journals elsewhere, before circulating
the most injurious stories about the health of
this city, would take the pains to ascertain
whether they were giving currency to truth or
calumny. The paper which circulates SLAM
derous stories concerning an individual with
out excellent reasons for believing them
true, pays the penalty of its unwisdom
and unfairness by gaining reputation
for unreliabiliiy. A journal which so far
forgets its duty to the public, and the OBJ
legation which it is under not to misrepresent
its neighbor as to publish to the world
calumnies that injure not one, but hundreds
of thousands of persons, ought to be held to
some swift and strict accountability for its
action. The seeds of SANDER are easily sown,
but with great difficulty eradicated. A cor
rection follows slowly the winged feet of lie.
These reflections are induced by the fol-
lowing paragraph sent to us by friend, who
clipped it from the Cumberland (Ky.) Wave,
published by S. S. Burke & Son:
1t will be gratifying to some of the friends
of Mrs. M. A. Curtis, to learn that she has
safely arrived at her home in New Orleans.
She writes back that the yellow fever there is
sweeping things clean us it goes.
Now, the lady alluded to by the Waue, was
waited upon by our friend, and emphatically
disclaims having written any letter contain
ing the language attributed to her, or any
thing like it. We submit that this is csse
calling for the severest censure, for the re-
mark of the Wave, while originating in OBJ
security and in error, will no doubt 60 sweeping
through the press, and be accepted by many
thousands of persons as the truth.
We desire to say now, and we ask our ex-
changes throughout the country to do us the
simple justice of publishing the fact, that
New Orleans has been, and is now enjoying
exceptionally good health. There has not
only been no yellow fever here, but there has
been nothing that in the faintest degree re-
sembled it, and it is quite probable that New
Orleans has seen the last yellow fever cpl
demic of any severity. inasmuch as the
drainage of the city has been much
improved, and greater care is exer-
cised more now than was the custom
formerly in eradica.ing the causes of disease
and the means whereby disease is dissemina-
ted. New Orleans is connected by tele-
graph with every important city and town in
the country, and the truth or falsity of any
story concerning her people or their health
can be ascertained in few moments. The
circulation, therefore, of unfounded and in
furious stories is inexcusable.