New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-01
4 UoRD MORE As no THE PLAGUE.

| mend yourself 10 Une DetleT VI A''"-
York, whose votes You so urgently need.
FORD MORE As TO THE PLAGUE.
With the coming of frosts the reign of the
plague was virtually over. 1t was to be ex-
pected that there would be little decrease in
| the death rate for a week. as the cold weather
usually is fatal to those already attacked, and
the slightest exposure to frost Or ngs relapse
even to convalescents, but there is no proba-
bility of any further increase OF the disease.
| Up to the present date there have been
about / 2, 900 deaths from it in all, about one
| third the number of cases. This death rate,
however, but family expresses the amount OF
suffering, loss and absolute want entalled 10y
the scourge Yellow fever, as we have stated
before, differs from any other plague IN that
| It re0nires for its cure the desertion of homes
| and cessation of business in the community
in which it appears The actual deaths in the
South, great as was the suffering which they
| produced, were almost overbalanced by the
disaster induced by want of employment,
manic. and the loss OF home clothes and food
| to the great mass OF the poorer classes.
The terrible story has its bright side, as we
| all know The hearts of the whole Nation
have been rOustd to brOtherly sympathy by
| this sudden blow it has done more to dispel
the rameor and hatred of the WAR than half
| a century of ordinary events would have done;
| Northerner and Southerner have been forced
TO look each other in the face, as man
| 10 man, and are not likely soon to forget
what they saw there. No man mistakes
the meaning of sermon when Death is the
preacher. From Europe, even from far-oh
l Of mi apsa1
brotherhood and practical help. We can count
no event as absolute disaster, which summons
whole people to show themselves In their
noblest character, and offers in it's record the
history of so many martyrs, men and women,
who threw themselves into the deadly breach,
and whose names only God knows and has
| counted.
But now that il is all over, it will not do
for us to sit down, bemoaning it as a vista
ton of God. and rejoicing in our own credit
able behavior in meeting it. A meeting of
devout men, week or two ago, besought the
President to appoint day of fasting and
prayer to allay the anger of an offended God
who was furnishing US for some unknown Sin.
| The sin for which we were punished was bad
| drainage and accumuations OF filth. Fasting
and prayer we suspect will please the ALI
wise Ruler much better il We supplement
| them now by the rational means of proven
| ton which He has placed in our hands.
| The facts of the ease are that the country
| this wear has been scourged to an exceptional
degree, not only by yellow fever bat by every
form of maanous disease. The death rates in
some of our larger cities rose during the warm,
muggy weather of September 33 per cent
over the same space of time last year. The
urinary cause was doubtless the prolonged
! drought and the uncovering of the miasmatic
borders of the streams, hut the seeds of disease
thus engendered would not have brought
forth such prolific death-crops If they had
not found abundant soil in the foul
mir, poisonous smells and fermenting filth
about our towns, country houses, even
resorts of health. In the South this fact was
patent from the first. Grenada is fair
sample of small Southern towns, in its abso-
| Lutte neglect of drainage OF every sort. bad or
| good New Orleans has been breeding place
of pests for fifty years. Burial Is impos-
| sihle IN most of the cemeteries, and at high
tide many of the receiving vaults in which
| the dead are packed are under water. Thirty
| years ago the visitor to one OF these rose
planted, shell-p paved cities of the dead would
be forced to drive through it at full gallop, 50
terrible WAS the odor Nothing has been
done to remedy it since. Neither have
| Northern cities any reason TO boast.
New-York, with the pure AIR OF the bay
blowing constantly through her streets, has
managed in times past to load 1t with
as many vile, disease breeding smells as O
pest hospital; Boston little better. The BOIL
of Atlantic City, Cape May and the cheaper
| religious seaside resorts was pregnant this sea-
| son with malaria. In Philadelphia, so defcc-
| tive ia the sewerage that to live near cui-
vert opening is to insure an attack oil FEVER.
| These are unpleasant facts, but they are facts
which are telling on our weekly bills OF NOR
tality. What is to be done Galveston, as
our readers know, from one OF the most
,ickly. is now one of the healthiest. because
| The cleanest city IN the Union. The commits
sion will find out, probably, the cause and
cure of yellow fever, md other fevers but 1t
| will not hinder the causc nor advance the
eure. That Is for each town. village and
| householder TO do. The matter ia one OF
national importance, but it is also one OF in
dividual effort.
| New-York journalism suffers loss, which we
| trust may he TEMPORARY IN the retirement of Mr..