New Orleans Republican., 1875-11-18
The National Health Convention.

The Baltimore CORES pondent of the Ne,
York Times writes:
The success of the Baltimore session O
the American Public Health Association
must not be jud ged by the Numbers that a,
tended it. From that point of view indee,
1t is conspicuous failure. Not only hav,
the members present been few, but of tn
outside public after the morning session o
the first day there has been the meres
handful. 1t ia difficult to account for thi
seeming Indifference, for the subjecr
handled are undeniably of vital importantt
to all communities. Moreover, since tbt
days when Ben Butler scared away yellow
Jack from New Orleans by sanitary meas
ures the Northern public has telt specia
interest in such matters 1t may be IL a.
the somewhat medical tone of the Assem-.
blage and the paucity of discussion de
tered outsiders from following the cout se
of the proceedings. This is greatly to be
deploreu, because it is of the frs necessit V
that cectain grades Of worlmen and certain
professionals should work in unison either
with the medical gentlemen of the associa-
ton or with any body of men who take
upon themselves in earnest the solution of
soclal sanitary problems.
The proceedings of Wednesday, however,
though few comparatively took part, stamp
ed the session as one OF peculiar interest,
gave to it an undoubted success. The re-
port OF DR.. John s Billings, OF the Uhited
States army, was alone of sufficient import
ance to have commanded very general at
tention. Last gear a committee was ap-
pointed to work upon plan for a sys-
tematlc sanitary survey of the United
States, and this gentleman was nominated
as the chairman. The report in extenso
has already been placed before the readers
OF the Times, and therefore needs no reca-
pltulatlon here. 1t is sufficient to cay that
the plan proposed was as perfect for the
purpose OF obtaining the desired informa-
tlon as the signal service bureau. resolu.
tion was passed by the association to en-
power the executive committee to take
steps for the fuI uItheranee of the measure
and it can hardly Ds doubted that when
congress meets this machinery for uniform
and persistent sanitary reform will be put
into II otion. One of the clauses of the reso
luton was that Congress shonld appoint
supervising surgeon from the United States
army, and in all probability Dr. John s.
Billings, who it would seem deserves the
major part OF the credit due to the report,
and the questions in the various schedules,
will receive the recommendation of the
ass ociation for the position. AS this will be
the immediate result of the labors of the
society, it must be admitted that it has
gained great success and achieved real
work.
Another striking feature of Wednesdays
session was the paper of General Vicle,
who has no small degree of tame in New
1oIk by his health map and by the novelty
and boldness of his views with regard to
sewers. His address in the convention
fairly took the breath away from many, for
ne attacked the whole sewer system i'm
petuously and brought forth cOgent argu-
me nts to prove that sewers, the pride of
modern civilization, were inherently bad,
and culminative, in a terrible degree, of the
worst infectious agencies. He affirmed that
the Cloaca Maxima of Rome had so steepad
the surrounding soil with dangerous gaseous
emanations that it was radically un whole |
come, and was becoming in fact an imper-
feet guano. He cited the case of city in |
Hindestan where, in comarativeiy brief |
period OF time, four centuries perhaps, the |
surrounding soil had been poisoned in a |
similar manner. The sewers of New York,
he pointed out, discharged their noxious |
contents into the river, and under certain |
conditions the river brought them back |
agaip. This, however, was a mere incident, |
The grave trouble was that the gases from |
the sewers spread all over the city, and by |
the mere opening of the trap OF water |
closet were admitted into the entire house. |
And to convince the assemblsge how potent |
were the vapors that we're dispersed he |
produced fragment of lead pipe which |
had been eroded by the action of such influ- |
ences. Holes were worn in it of a circular |
form, and one of these was covered with q |
scale, initiating with remarkable precision
the pustule of smallpox.
This remarkable engineers idea is to sub
init these focal substances of which we de-
sire specially to be freed to pressure by |
process. In the abattoirs the
offal Of animals, by methods first employed |
at Cincinnati in the slaughtering Of hogs,
is converted into inodOr0us cakes or powder |
In very short time, and it seemed ~ if his |
thoughts ran somewhat in that direction. |
He is evidently one of that band of sani- |
tary engineers who propose to turn things |
upside down, but whoee revolutionary ideas |
oning. He is In favor of the kitchen and |
laundry being established at the top of q |
house, not in its basement, which he de- /
clares, under the present system, must be |
unhealthy. He says that the coil covering |
the pipes and about them reeks with the |
most dangerous gases, and that these can
not be excluded from rooms below the level |
that house should be built up rather than /
down, though there is no sanitary reason
for this II the earth above were kept sweet |
and sound. But it is not, for there are leak
ages from the gas pipes and from the water
pipee, and constant filtration of vile gases
from the sewer mains, the result being that
the lower rooms of every. house are cages
He also gave his views with regard to the
water supply of Glitter, and after showing |
the inadequacy of the Croton waterworks,
turned to New Jersey. There was q GROUP |
Of towns, cities and villages running north |
Of Newark bay to the end of Orange noun
tain, scattered along the two rivera. the
Passaic and the Hackensack. Although
The se were destined at some future time
not very remote to be conglomeratsd intb /
pne huge city, they all pursued their owh |
devices, laid out their roads and made theft
for wster independently II |
ssoh other. Al the present time the watf L
nssd wss entirely river water from tho twb