The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-04
SENSATIONAL DISPATCHES 1870 THE
TRUTH.

When last week a case Of yellow fever was
reported In town q swarm OF sensational dis-
patches to the Northern press swept over the
country. The public are hungry toT seisa-
lions and the press strains every nerve to
feed them abundantly. The metropolitan
press North does not want plain facts, "
wants sensations true or false, and It's cores
pondents are instructed and trained 70 make
sensations. It's columns every morning teen
with murders, rapes and all manner Of crimes,
all the most narrowing or disgusting and In
decent features Of which are made as conspicu-
Gus as possible and announced In flaming
head lines. To such an extent has this abuse
gone that many of the leading journals OF the
country are unfit to be taken into the family
circle, and some Of them may actually be
classed as Indecent publications.
It Ia not astonishing, therefore. that the
Northern papers are outvieing each other n
their zeal to feed the imagination Of the
public, morbldly excited over the yellow
fever, and that every idle ignorant or ma
licto,ls r,lmor on the streets Is gobbled up by
their correspondents and sent off by tele-
graph. An ignorant negro, or u frightened fu-
gitIye. or d credulous and gaIrulous idiot IT, to
the average correspondent. ut this time an In
nnitely more valuable source of Information
than the records of the Board Of Health or the
statements of the ablest and most experienced
physicians.
The former collect every flying rumOr /,
their fears or imagnations improve upon IT
and add to Its extravaganza, and where the en-
terprlsing correspondent might, from au-
thentic and reliable sources, learn OF but one
or two cases Cf yellow fever, from these he
can hear Of dozen or fifty II he desires to do
50, and may therefore send his journal q
thrilling dispatch which will give 1t an extra
sale of few thousand copies There may
not By word Of reliable information in
tho dispatch, but 1t is none the less valua-
bic for that. A sensation is what the paper
wants, and correspondent who will send o
sensation, however absurd it may be- Is certain
of fame and reward, while the besotted fool
who dispatches the plain, unvarnfsbed fact Is
likely to DO kicked out Of q service In which
plain truth has unhappily become SO value
less commodity.
The injury these sensational dispatches
have already done. not only New Orleans. but
the country at large ts very great, and the
public condemnation Of their publication
should not be measured.
The plain truth Is this: There have been,
this summer, just five cases Of yellow fever
In this city. Three Of these proved fatal,
while the other two are now. we learn, out Of
danger, There has not been q neW case re
ported in The last fo,r daya, and the city Is
healthy and in excellent sanitary condition,
and the weather Is favorable to the continu-
ance OF the public health.
We are not going to be guilty Of the folly
Of making any predictions relative to the
fever. But certainly there are no indications
o. an epidemic and so far no tendency has
been manifested by the disease to spread.
Last year when the fever broke out It's pro-
gress was gradual but ominously steady and
Irresistible. On the first Of August Of that
year there were reported twenty-four new
cases and seven deaths; on the second there
were thirty-six new cases and seven deaths;
on the third there were thirty-eight new cases
and seven deaths, and on the fourth twenty
new cases and eleven deaths. The progress
Of the fever from early In July UP to those
dates had been slow but sure, and there were
and from one to two and three deaths re-
ported. The people hoped against hone, but
1t was evident to almost everybody that we
were within the circle of an epidemic.
This year the manifestations Of the few
cases we have had have been very different.
The disease has shown no tendency to spread
Five cases are all that have occurred, and 1t
seems to have entirely disappeared. The
prevailing conditions do not seem to be favor
able for It's propagation. Like flame which
Is extinguished by being immersed Id car
bonic acid gas, the pestlence Id tho prevail
Ing atmosphere seems to lose its yigor and
vitality.
We have given a plain and full statement
Of the situation In this city, and we assure
the public that they can place implicit reli-
anpa In IT, %=..-zM.=