The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-12-16
800 BoARps AED ouARAErTyE.

diseases, and epidsmics, snd coHtagion, and
infection. and sanitation, etc, sd intn.tum'
We have resd somewhere TIA. '.he king @.
France marchei up the bin srd then marched
down sgsin,' and this seems to be about
what the Public Health association did 81 its
late meeting. Nothing definite was ss-ee1
on, no plans tor combating epiismics or pre-
venting them were eliminated IRON the col,
lecsed Esculspisn wisdom Of the association,
a want Of harmony seemed 70 Be apparent
10 every action Of the association. The New
Orleans board of heath and the nstionsl
board Of health were spatting At esch
other all the time and airing their differences.
examinations and recriminaiions were the
order of the dsy, 20 culminste Tuesday in o
ast fight between two members Of the ssso.
citation, one Of them an army surgeon, with
the prospects of duel as the result. II the
country is any bette. off or likely to be from
this meeting Of the association, it is not ap-
parent Ii congress does no. abolish the rs
tional board Of health, or define specifically
its duties and powers, the possibilities are
that there viii be serious conflicts between il.
and the state boards Of health 10 the south
crn states next summer This nstionsl board
of health seems to think .hs; if ship Island
is rot made the central poiut for southern
quarantine that the country will be devas
tated with plsgles dire snd mUltitudilous.
Ship Island is the gateway between life and
death go far as the south ls concerned,
and must certainly have been
made 70 order 10 enable the national board Of
health 20 save the country. On the OF ~
hand, Ship Island, while It hiss not beeu
fgurstive Medu:sa's head psralizing TIE
New Orleans board Of health in death, it liz.
been bette noir that has occasioned its men,
bers loss Of sleep no doubt, q sort of night
mare that mss embitiered their slumbers and
made day miserable. Now how would il DO
to dispense with the national board OF health
ard let each slate control lis own health
affairs Or, if it Is not abolished, curtail its
duties to those Of 8 mere bureau for the colcc-
ton and dissemination Of health statistics
The health and lives of the people are Of too
much importance 10 be endangered By squat
bles and contentious between authorities.
Texas has shown herself well able TO lock
after her own sanitary affairs without out
side assistance and so has Louisiana and the
state board of health of this
state, and the local boards certainly
have more facilities and more information
as to the proper means TO be used, if not
more interest in the matter, than the national
board can possibly have. If Texas is per.
m.ted TO do it, she will do all that can DO
done to keep epidemics from her shores. She
can aud will fully test the efficacy of quarsn-
tine, and her local boards will look well
after the cleanliness and sanitation of their
towns and cities. Tho question of
commerce we know enters iuto that of quar-
sntne, but when men's lives are ct stake,
and their wives and children are jeopardized,
or they believe this TO be the case, they are
not going to regard any demands that trade
and commerce may make. Here in Texas,
sAd We presume it has been the same in the
other states, the action of the state and
local boards has been satisfactory to
the people, and they have rested
contented. One great trouble with
tho national board of health seems to be the
ineTperience ofthe most Of its members with
yell fever. They are all no doubt gentle
Ineu earned in their professiol, and know
exactly what the books say about yellow
fever but in that disease theoretical knowl-
edge alone will not answer. There must be
an intimate acquaintance with Bronze Jack
himself, an acquaintance formed in the kos-
pitfalls and by the bed-sdes of patients He
is an eccentric genius, is Bronze Jack, and
every time he puts in an appearance for q
carnival in southern towns and cities, he pre-
sents some phase of character never before
seen, and the physician must study it while
the fever-stricken patient tosses in his bed Of
suffering. For this reason the formulas and
dogmss Of the books are at faalt. Let q
northern physician, be he ever so eminent,
take charge Of yellow fever ward
in southern hospital and treat.
the cases under his caro- strictly
according to what he has learned
In his library and the lecture room, and if he
is sensitive man, his heart will weep and
ache in his bosom st tue number Of mounds
that will spring up in the burial places be-
cause of bis want of skill. For this reason
experienced yellow fever nurses often prove
to be as successful in its treatment as the
most learned and experienced physicians,
and because of the eecentrcties of the dis.
ease physicians who are thorough in its gen
eral pathology and in its treatment, are Of
ten at a loss TO tell whether sporadic cases
are really yellow fever cases or not. For IL
lustration, last summer disease broke out
in one of the interior southern parishes of
Louisiana. The local physicians, who were
well acquainted with yellow fever, said it
was not that disease, although it had many
similarides 10 it. The national board of
health sent one of its members there to pass
judgment upon it, and he said it