The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-05-05
ROARLATENA.

rns uousasfoA SprsN4teg-Ths s"n'-
,.,v condition Of the City favora'
81. % che EbIdsnas-work lor the
Heath eomssr and advice TO "a
ftHfiS : = 90 - 49,
Yesterday morning, in these columns
refs,snce wss made To the TACT that tnat
dread disease known IS scarlet lever pre-
vailed throughout the city ana 'nas .s
great number of children nao oeeh
stricken down. The. sentiments 'ners
cave uttersnce 70 ems to have awakened
soms of our hysicians from The iethargy
Which has ershrouded them Tor some
time past, and they now realize tne
fact that . reporter may De-
come cognixant OF the exis'ence
of the prevalence OF q disease,
notwithstanding their denial o. ls
existence; but still they are not yet Will.
iny to acknowledge the whole truth. Az
least we 60 Judge from the manner IN
which the susceptible evening paper Dss
been imposed on, or it would not nave
gwen uttersnce TO the following, when
new cases are daily being reported:
some doctors think the newspapers
are making too much OF racket over
the scarlet fever cases in the city. They
say the city is Lever entirely Tree from
it, and that the present VISITATION ~
nothing to compare with the visitation
oftvo yesrs since, which lasted from
August in one year until June Of the fol
loving year. the type in many cases
being more malignant than 1T present
But did 1t ever occur to our readers that
when these same "some doctors" are asked
regarding the prevalence OF disease
they deny it. existence and use all efforts
10 their power to suppress any knowledge
of the fact, and thus leave the people 10
ignorance OF lis existence, stford!ng them
no opportunity to successfully combat
and prevent its becoming epidemic. If
it has never occurred to them, they are
now SO informed, and they are further In
formed that all efforts have been made to
.uppress the existence OF scarlet fever by
80 ne physicians" at the peril OF the little
lnuocenls who are in danger at any time
of rushing ignorantly into the jaws OF
death, through its agency, By reason OF
sucn suppression. The fact cannot be
denied that the disease prevails to great
ext, nj ia Wheeling st the present II mel
neither can il be- denied that it has iruc
tilted into an epidemic through the
the miasma which continually arises
from impure matter, with which our
street, ire filed, and has thoroughly i'm
pregna,ei The atmosphere. That the
streets and alleys OF q city should be IN
such condition is gross aireliction OF
duty On the part of ONE one is certain;
and that they should so remain does
not in The iesst amellOrste the offense oc-
css oned by such direlecticn The ssser-
ton that scarlet fever comes from mas-
matte. sources is equally rs true as that
the uisease now prevails in the city, and
knowing full well that our people cannot
be too we'll informed regarding the
causes of this dreadful disease-whIch is
even worse than the small pox-we re-
produce from eminent medical authority
a few OF the latest facts regarding 1t,
which should serve as gentle reminder
that the cleaning up OF the filth on our
streets and thorough Investigation into the
sanitary condition OF the city will not b.
amiss.
epidemic diseases, as a class, the most
destructive 10 man. and formerly looked
upon rs mysterious or retrlbutlve vlsl.
tation from God, arc now known TO arise
from conditions more or less fully der
the control OF hygenic laws. Of this
subject Prot. Huxiy thinks the people
perish for want OF knowledge, and says
OF scarlet fever: Looking back no iur.
Their than ten years, it is possible to select
three 1853, 1864 and 1862, in which
the total number ci deaths from scarlet
fever alone amounted 9)OOJ. That /.
the return of the killed; the manned and
disabled, being kept cut OF sight and
expresses his b.llef that the natura OF
of THIS scourge will be well understood,
a d 1.-The ions suffered massacre OF our
innocants come u an end
DIR. DrulLt, President Of tae Association
of Medical Officers OF Health, London,
SAYS: Il am ono OF those who believe
scarle: fever to be emphaticaily aproduct
of sewer gases. In my experience sore
throat and sewer gases go together
"Oae example inc contnues) l brig
before you (the sssociation) in this draw
ing OF u ralH-water pipe, with an open
funnel top, to the window OF bed room
10 which child alter child Was seized with
scarlet fever"
DR.. Carpenter read paper on the
causs,ion OF scsrlatins, before 3 Lor don
NJ edlcal Society, January 1871, in which
he stated his belief th1t scsrlatins arose
de n, 90 rs we'll as from contagion, and
cited instances, one in particular, where
the disease was constantly recurring in
u school for bnys, until the refuse from
q slaughter house, which discharged into
u cesspool under the play ground, WAS
turned away, when the outbreaks ceased.
DR.. Stratum, of Germany, who has
spent many years IN the investigation Of
epidemic diseases, believes in their an
Inhalation by proper attention to cIeanli-
ness and other hygenlc measures, and
says, That good prlvies are lar higher
signs of civilization than grand palaces
and museums OF art, and that to WIS
should DO relieved OF bad odors and fer
putresence before erecting
statutes, building museums and buying
pictures