The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-09-04
AN IMPORTANT MEMORIAL
From ths. Medical Men ln Regard to the
Mortality tn East wheeling,
A Solemn warning to Council to Relieve
Themselves from Responsibility.

Ht -
"A Solemn warning to Council to Relieve
Themselves from Responsibility.
A System 0 Sswsrass Loudly Demanded for
the Protection Of the Public Health.
To &s Committee % Health Of@e C0,mcii q
he Chy@ Wheeling:
GKSTLEMES!-The undersigned praCti.
~tioners OF medicine, having been In 1t.
Tendance on numerous cases Of Diphtheria
in East Wheeling, have been impressed
with the fact Of its being almost entirely
confined to that locality, resulting ingreat
fatality; and bellevingthat both are owing
to some local cause, we take the liberty Of
addressing your committee on the subject,
and through you asking the City Coun.
Gil to extend a helping hand In preventing
the further spread OF O disease that has be.
come almost q scourge to the citizens Of
the Fourth Ward.
DiphtheEia Is known to be a disease
whose prevalence and fatality are largely
due to causes which are %preventible, and
none Of these contribute more to It's pro-
gress than accumulations Of decomposlng
animal and vegetable matter, and badly
drained aud lily ventilated houses.
In East Wheeling the surface consists
OF q loDmy sand, while beneath Is found .
bed Of stiff clay. The upper stratum OF
sand becomes saturated with the drainage
from the houses, and the underlying bed
OF clay prevents it from passing away, and
there 1t remains, breeding the germs OF
disease. The greater part Of the same ter
ritory is ''sprouty," or in other words per-
meated with veins Of water, which former
ly made their appearance in springs in
different localities, but since the lots have
been built on many OF The cellars have be.
come the places where the water makesits
appearance, and not only these collars but
the cellars Of entire rows Of adjoining
houses have become saturated with water.
With the cellars damp and the drainage
from the houses saturating the yards, It Is
not TO DO wondered at that sickness
abounds.
On the principle that ian ounce OF pre-.
%ventiOn is better than q pound Of cure"
We venture to ask you to have sewers
placed in the streets and alleys Of East
Wheeling, the sewers to be laid deep
enough 10 drain the cellars, and the prop
erty owners to be compelled to connect
their houses with them. The enforcement
OF the ordinance in relation to draining
waste water on the streets and alleys would
! nnn.thpI thu NrHnnnkfNn IN 1n nra1a
We would suggest that owing to the
conformation Of the ground on Fotrteenth,
Sixteenth, and Seventeenth and Eigh-
teentll streets, lS-inch crock sewers
should be placed on the north
sides OF these streets to drain
the lots on that side, and that similar sew
ers be placed in Alleys II, Is, II, Is and 10,
10 drain the lots on the south, side OF the
above mentioned streets. Fifteenth street
should have one sever In the middle Q!
the street. The brick sever on Seven
teenth street, from Jacob to Eof streets,
should be removed, and another laid deep
er, as 1t now answers no useful purpose In
draining the cellars on that street, the eel
lars being deeper than the sewer.
sewers should also be laid on Jacob, from
Fourteenth 70 Seventeenth, on Wood,
from Sixteenth to Ainsteenth, and on Al
ley G, from Fifteenth to Seventeenth
streets; on Alley F, from Fifteenth to
Seventeenth, and from Eighteeeth &c Nine
tenth streets, and on Alley L, from
Fourteenth to Nineteenth streets.
We recognize the fact this system Of
sewerage will involve a considerable out
lay oil money, but this would be but a tri-
fe when compared to the loss Of life
among the children in East Wheeling.
In the past two months fully and Au-
gust twenty deaths from diphtheria have
occurred in East Wheeling, while but ten
have occurred in the remainder Of the city.
Less than a year ago a similar condition
Of things existed, and an equal mortality
OCCURRED from the same disease -diph-
liberia. Those two epidemics were both
due TO p%reventable causes, and upon you
will rest a terrible responsibility Il proper
steps are not taken to remove them.
We do not make the appeal TO you in
any dictatorial or disrespectful spirit, but
we feel deeply our responsibility as medi-
cal men, and wish to impress you as
guardians OF the public health with the
Importance OF reaching forth your hands
to assist your neighbors aud friends in
this calamity that is now upon them.
What would be your reflections, gentle.
men, If called on to mourn the loss Of one
or more members Of your family from a
disease you were convinced could have
been prevented by a moderate expendi.
ture OF money by the city authorities?
And what do you think are the reflections
Of the parents in East Wheeling who are
now mourning for their dead, and are
waiting in dread a further loss Of their
children, knowing as they do that in a
great measure their loss is owing to causes
which you can remove.
Hoping that this communication will
receive favorable consideration at your
hands, we are yours respectfully,
". J. BATES, G. F. ULRlcII,
L. D. WILSON, E. HooE,
4: ;. TURNER, S. L. JErsoN,
W. ]. BATES, JR., G. BAIRD,
J. w. MORRIS, ALBERT F. STIEEL,
J. A. CAMPBELL, R. G.. HARVEY,
r. II, BULLARD,