The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-12-20

~ - 80 AANoL AS 1SN
Hawaiian nation.
NOTHING is so demoraiizing to bodies Of men as
a panic. 1t has been destructive of armies, ever
since the time when Gideon, with his three hun
dred with lamps, pitchers and trumpets put to
fight the armed hosts Of INDIAN. Panics are
scarcely less demorslizing in peaceable cOmmuni-
ties than when they take possession Of armies IN
the field. In listening to the conversation on our
streets IN reading the hasty and fear-inspired
lucubrations of newspaper correspondents-we
are made aware that something of the nature of a
panic exists in this community at present, re-
garding the sickness which has prevailed during
the past six weeks. And after reading the dole
ful and exaggerated utterances Of the Gazette OF
Wednesday last, it will not be q matter of sur
prise If some shall have come to the conclusion
that Honolulu is a doomed city, full Of disease
and death. Such, without doubt, would be the
impression of a reader Of the number of the Ga
zetfe in question, residing in San Francisco or
New York. 1t is to be hoped that that paper
does not circulate to any extent abroad, as the
mischief it could do US by such false witnessing
would be great and almost irreparable. For a
false statement once set on its travels through the
BIGocs II u GiJ uCn tIibk " ~ oh0 -
flute. Ill news flies fast, and the contradiction
generally arrives too late. But so far as our own
community is concerned, it may be justly expect
ed that all undue excitement and fears of an cpl
demic will be allayed by a careful perusal of the
letter of the President of the Board of Health,
which we publish to-day, with the accompanying
tabular statement Of the comparative mortality in
this city during the months of November and De-
cember, years 1878 and 1879. The figures are
reliable, being compiled from the Official register
of burials; and. as may not be known by every
body, no burial is permitted without a statement
made TO the proper officer of the name and age of
the deceased, and the cause of death, if known.
1t will be seen by reference to the table, that DUR
ing the month of November last, during which
the fever prevailed quite extensively, there were
less deaths than during the same month of last
year; and that while the death rate has somewhat
increased during the first half of the present
month, yet that increase is by no means so large
as to create alarm, or to warrant the statement
that we are " q fever-stricken community" We
trust that for the sake of public tranquility, the
plan of periodically publishing the statistics of
the public health will be hereafter continued by
the Minister of the Interior.
Our articles Of last week on the " Sanitary
condition of the city, and ''The Water Supply"
were not written under any feeling of excitement
or alarm, nor with the purpose Of producing any
such feeling in our readers-a result which we
should very much regret. They were plain state
ments OF fact, which we can see no cause for re-
tracing. Whatever may ultimately be decided
to have been the cause or causes of the sickness
which has prevailed in this city of late, land
which we are pleased to learn from medical men
is on the decrease) the position we have assumed
must remain Observation-Disclosures it is the
bounden duty of government and people to pay
strict and constant attention to the cleanliness
and ventilation of the city and to the purity of
the water supply.
There is good authority for believing that in sea-
Sons of general alarm on account of prevailing
disease, many fall victims through the influence
of fear. The power of the mind over the body is
something wonderfully Many of us have read of
the man who died under the impression that he
was being bled to death, whereas the lancet had
not touched a vein or of the convict who was
made to sleep in a bed wherein he was told that a
man had just died of the cholera-which was not
true-and who died with all the symptoms of the
disease or Of the other one who was put into a
bed il which a cholera patient had actually just
died-which fact was concealed-and who contin-
ued in perfect health. And on the other hand
there are well authenticated cases on record in
which men. by the mere strength of will, have
successfully combatted disease. One was that of
a man who had been bitten by a mad dog, and
who made up his mind not to have hydrophobia.
He was attacked after a time with the symptoms,
but by persistent violent exertion and diverting
his mind by hunting, drove them off. We know
Of several instances in this city of persons who
had all the premOnitOry symptoms of an attack of
malarial fever, but who would not give up and go
to bed-some said because they could not spare
the time-took purgatives, ate lightly, and fought
it out on that line. We by no means desire by
these illustrations to satirize those who have had
the fever, but to show what there may be in
persons. temperament, and to reafirm our posi-
ton that fear oftentimes kills as many as disease.