Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-04-18
THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Review of Ats WOrk-N hat It has Cost
ana what IL has Accomplished
Money and lime Well and
Properly appended.
The DIsPenSary n Great Boon TO the
POOF-An Epidemic of small Pox
Preyented-Isealou Ben.
e1iI for a Very small
Outlay.

ncens IN tenGerng their designations
! 4 has caused, to say the least, mucl
d thought among our citizens in refer
J ence TO what our board OF health hs
q done, what 1t should do, whether ben
: ehciAl results have followed previou
! expenditures, and where the money j
) TO come from to continue their sanitary
e work. At considerable trouble we havt
collected facts which the public has s
L perfect right to hear, and which, in jus
: tice to sll parties, we propose to publish
o Before proceeding, however, to q dis.
4 cussion OF what has been done in the
+, past by our board Of health under the
management of the present efficient
: heads, and what in our judgment should
be done in the future, we are cOnstrain-
ed to express our qualification at the ae-
ton Of the general council in Lot &C
cepting the designations Of the health
officers, for we feel, like his Honor May
or League, at this particular time we
need their experience and ability, and
that, to permit them TO resign because
fOrsOoth they are unwilling TO allow so
heavy a responsibility to rest upon
them, without the means of justify
ing it, would be a gross iDjus-
tice to them, and deeper
wrong to community confidingly look
ing to its sanitary officers for advice and
protection. The board Of health stands
charged, in round numbers, with tWen-
ty-eight thousand dollars, of which we
find paid to the residents OF Happy Hol-
low, as indemnity, seven thousand dol
lars; the quarantine buildings on Presi-
dents island cost four thousand dollars,
and, in our opinion, would have saved
hundreds of valuable lives to our city,
and millions to our commerce, had it
been built year sooner; four thousand
dollars more went for salaries, and one
thousand dollars for dispensary purposes
| leaving for immediate sanitary labor
only twelve thousand dollars, not one
third the appropriations made for the
! board of health in 1866, and not one
half what was required to fight the epi-
demic of 1873. Now, what was done
with the twelve thousand dollars? The
street force was constantly employed in
cleaning and purifying the public prom
ensdes, removing the accumulated filth
OF years from alleys and cellars, ex-
hausting and disinfecting foul vaults
in short, hunting up and removing ev-
cry approRchable ofense, from a dead
rat TO that great nuisance, Happy Hol-
low, which for quarter of a century
had been the receptacle Of every charac-
ter OF decaying animal and vegetable |
matter, and which in the end trans |
ferred to ElmWoOd hundreds of our
best people. Garbage carts for |
the first time We're instituted, |
and without which no city can be we'll |
ordered and well kept, for table and |
kitchen refuse must be daily removed, |
or it will soon again render the streets |
and alleys offensive and dangerous.
Again, let us for a moment look at an
other apparent expense of the board,
and see in fact If it was not direct saw
ing to the city treasury. We find the
dispensaTy charged, including rents,
drugs, and printing, with thousand
dollars. All freely admit the necessity
Ofsuch public charity; the poor must be
promptly provided for, or they will soon
become heavier expense to the city.
Now, according to the secretary's re-
port, We find thirty-four hundred and
fifty applications for medical aid were
made to the office OF the board of health.
Now, large majority, if not all, with
out timely relief would have sought the
hospital, and even at q moderate indi-
vidual cost have aggregated an expense
greater than the whole board OF health.
Again, the exact m0rtuary statements,
published monthly from the health Of
fee, have resulted in incalculable bene-
fit to our city, for the alarming and IN
just death rate of foTty-six per thousand
of our population, published in the sta
tistical journals of the country, has I
been reduced to twenty-five Of the
and nineteen of the real
thus inviting capital and
instead of driving them
from US. One other statement OF what
the board OF health has done and we
pass to what they should do. Now
smallpox, the most loathesome disease
known to the human family, has been
epidemic in several adjoining States and
cities, was gradually incroached upon
Memphis, and we confidently believe
would have been epidemic here, but for {
the vigilance and promptness of our
sanitary officers. We have been thus
free in acknowledging our Indebtedness
because we propose as freely to discuss
their duty. Now, of course, to be effect
i've, they must be clothed with ample |
power to fully execute every law looking
TO health; then they should remove any
local offense, and vigilantIy guard
against every avenue of disease; they |
should condemn much of our NicolsOn !
pavement, that, if left in its present de.
cdNluS bdluIdlOu
become permanent source of sickness.
They should Immediately organize
3 system OF garbage. remove, and
appoint inspectors ID condemn and
destroy imperfect and unripe fruit, Z
premature and whitening Vegeta- |
Oles, diseased and unWholeseme meats :
here is where our greatest mortality !
springs from, and these some OF the
most prominent causes of such fearful q
Of deaths among our white
and colored population. The taxpayer !,
nav argue that these reforms cost L
Granted. Suppose, in fact, 7
hat the whole wooden pavement was
substituted with rooE, Of which our >
State happily ab0Gnds, and that all "
hese changes and suggestions required - -
vice as much. Would it not ultimate
V prove revenue in the way OF in
.reased vitality and largely increased
yealth2 The city Of New York allows f
Ter BOARD of health a million and a
Iuarter dollars, Snd rejOices in unbound. q
d prosperity. No city can be great b
Without a well-organized and well-eXe- n
uted board OF health. 1t must not be a
rgsniaed under the fright of an sp- b
rOaching epidemic, and broken up Il
ghen the danger is over. It's laws must re
e we'll matured and permanent, TO give OF
onfidence and prosperity. Memphis is
spable of being made one Of the most d;
eautiful, as II is already one OF the b,
cities in the world. A little OF
IT would perfect our splendid natural NJ
rainage. The now unsightlY bluffs,
lstead of being used for the base pur- W
Oses suggested by a late correspondent Nj
[ the afternoon journal, would, as of
q adorned and inclosed park, furnish di
ealth and amusement to old and bC
ozng, and serve as brilliant adver- di
sements Io the gorld Of our enterprise th
nd our beauty. 81
Crops in Texas. %
-om an OccasionaI Correspondent.] III
LAMAR COUNTY, TEXAS, April 8 ~ ~
.75-I will give you q few lines from ti.
is county ia regard to its prospects ~ ~
r a crop. Tie first wheat looks well Pti
fair crop was sowed. Oats also look W.
ell, a good crop Of which was also t,i
wed. We commenced planting corn ~
February, and continued until Fri 10
", the fifth Of March, and some got -,
me planting, but on the sixth, before ~
". it commenced to rain and then - -
set, and by day ii commenced to snow. -
II during the day perfect snow-storm 80
gyailed, and continued until after 20 20
ght. After melting underneath, il E.1
in laid on the ground TO depth Of iil
ON eignt to fifteen inches, and Ia some
aces il drifted to depth of three feet
I'd over. 1t laid on the ground until sic
-