The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-05-10
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1t has been said that Cleanliness i
next to GOdliness," " and although the say
ing ia not Of Bible origin, as supposed BY
many intelligent persons, yet it isalmOs
worthy Of place in solomon's Proverbs
since the idea intended TO be conveyed
namely, that cleanliness is Of the greatest
Importance, is full Of wisdom. The whole
Of sanitary science, almost, might be EN-
braced In the one word-CleanlIne"s-'
Cleanliness Of person, Of clothing, oil house
and its, surroundings, would doubtless
improve the health OF miny an lnV"'la
and guard many more from disease IL
is from the unclean tenement house
population Of our cities and towns, that
epidemics frequently arise. The'e iurn-
ish our paupcr., our invalid', our dead.
Density Of population, want Of sufficient
light and pure air, together with the
ever accompanying ilthiness, are factors
in the production Of disease which never
fail, sooner or later, to bring about their
natural result. Philadelphia, with its
intelligent population living in modest
but comfortable homes, owned for the
most part by their occupants, has
an unusually low death rate, not
far from 20 per 1000 inhabitants,
while New York, with insufficient room
for its people, and with thousands Of
crowded tenement houses, owned
BY PERSONS whose solo object is to make
money, even at the cost Of the health and
lives Of human beings, has . uniform
death rate approaching 80 per !, 900; and
some times exceeding this, Wheeling,
which suffers to 4 very limited extent
from the tenement house evil, has
death rate below l8. But we have other
evils to contend with without tenement
houses and an over.crowded population,
and the obedience to sanitary laws is
Just a. important here as in New York.
The first and greatest law is to be clean, and
now is the time to obey the command.
Don't put it of until hot weather is upon
YOU, and the irst reminder you have Of
the importance OF cleanliness comes to
YOU in the death OF achild, stricken down
with cholera infantum induced by the
flthiness Of your premises. The efforts
Of our health authorities are, all very
we'll, and are no doubt always productive
oi good results, but much more depends
upon the careful watchfulness Of each
householder. The health officer visits
your premises but once or twice during
the season. You know their condition
every day, and ought to see That they are
kept in such condition as to require no
order for their Improvement. Ina word.
keep your premises clean.
And don't confne your labors to your
own premises strictly, but see that the
street gutter in front Of your house is also
kept clean. A daily sweeping will ac-
complish that end, and relieve you FROM
many gu odOr which il neither sweet nor
healthy. Thecity fathers might relieve
you from this care, by adopting the sug.
gestions embodied in the Health Officers
report, an abstract of which We gave in
these columns some months ago, but
since they don't seem to agree with the
distinguished. man who said that "healthy
life ia tantamount to social and political
prOsperity,"-not having perhaps enter
ed very extensively into a study Of the
political economy Of health,-let each
citizen consider it his duty, especially for
his own sake, and thegOod of his family,
10 prevent his gutter, no less than his
private premises, from becoming often
siye. Let US make an effort to so put our
houses in order now, that we will pass
through the coming summer with the
least possible loss to the life and health OF
the city.