National Republican., 1880-09-03

ders sgainsi the sanitary condition Of Wash
iugton. This practice has been followed to
such an extent that au opiuiou prevails in
many quarters that Washington is the dirti.
est and scklicst city in the union
an opinion so incorrect that, 30 far
rs Washington people are concerned,
contradiction is entirely unnecessary. The
latest SANDER, however, is one published in
the Washington dispatches Of the New York
World last Wednesday morning which rep.
resented the city as IN a bad condition of
hlth, with the streets allowed to 70 unswept, the
garbage left uucUlleCted to breed disease aud
an epidemic Of mllarial fever. This
dispatch said that "thc odors Of Roosevelt
street arc rcdolont in the choicest localities"
The publication Of go grave q charge deserves
more than u passing notice, and in order to
get an official opinion Of the situation RE.
PUBLICAN reporter yesterday called upon DR..
TOwnshend, the health officer who chccrfully
accorded the reporter an interview, with the
following result:
Reporter-Doctos, have you read the dis.
patch sunt from this city to the New York
WO,id yesterday, ia which Washington Is
spoken Of as a city foul. lUathsome malarious
and one to be shunned2'
Doctor TOwnsheud-Yts, l have seen the
article you refer TO, and concluded alter read
ing it that news must be very scarce hero
when a correspondent finds II necessary to
rely SO entirely upon his imagination for ma
terial. Think of one protesting TO live here
and speakiug Of Washington as foul, loath-
some aud malarious," our beautiful streets
Uttered. every one Of them, with refuse 50 Of
lcnsiyo that one cannot walk them without
| being nauseated.h 1t Is too ridiculous. | CAM
imagine what prompted such 40 unwarrantcd
and exaggerated attack on Washington
Reporter-You do not consider us in such
| imminent danger Of aunhilation, then?
Doctor T.-No; l think some few of Us may
survive aud the government even retain
clerks enough TO transact routine business.
Colonel Irish Of the bureau Of engraving and
printing may be forced to suspend money
making, as l scc--aCcOrdiug 10 this gentle.
mau-that his employees, without exception
are suffering from ~ very dangerous type Of
malaria, approaching typhoid"
Reportcr-Doctor what Is the prtseut cou-
| ditiou of the District, and how does WASH
| ington compare in healthlulness with other
/ cities Of our size in this country
Doctor T.-WashmgtOr city aud the entire
| District nss enjoyed unparalleled hsMthlul.
| ness during the past summer aud, compared
| with any other city Of her size or larger, the
! deatE.late from malara aud ZymOtic diseases
| is largely In our favor. The sanitary cond-
| tion Of the District is batter than 1t has been
! for years. Between Washington and New
| York there is no comparison. As compared wi! h
the past two years, taking the months OF July
and August the showing is such rs to hardly
| Justify the statement that this gentleman
makes, 10 the effect that city physicians saw
| malaria never before made such ravages.' If
malaria was prevalent in character and extent
as stated, the mortality from diseases OF
its class must of necessity increase
largely, yet our records show that instead OF
such being the case there has actually been q
decrease in the number Of deaths. Ia the
month of August, 1877, there were AIS deaths;
| in August, 1878, there were 425; in August,
1870 800, aud during last month only 325
deaths. That is the total mortality. Now, In
August, 1877, Is deaths occurred from msarlal
fever; in August, 1878, there were 10; in Aug
ust, 1879, there were 9, and last month 0. The
increase evidenced here is not very alarming,
| isit2 The mortality IN the month Of July was
also smaller than in any July for years, and the
mortality from all miasmatic diseases has also
been smaller. Taking the three summer
months together, it Is shown that in 1877 there
were 43l deaths from Iniasmatic diseases; in
1878, there were 42l; in 1870, 43i, and in 1850
only 3l3 l give You the number Of deaths
instead Of the death rate for fear some might
say was figuring on au increased population
The population has increased, you know, and
the deaths ought to have, cOrrespondiugly
but instead OF that they have decreased.
would like to show you a comparative state.
nent Of the total mortality and the mortality
from zymotic diseases of Washington and the
other cities Of our size, aud will prepare one
for publication.
Reportcr-WeIl, Doctor how about tho
street sweeping being discontinued, and no
garbage removed from the cities for two
weeks?
Doctor T.-That wild statement is in keep
ing with the rest Of the dispatch. | know
nothing of the particulars about street sweep
ing, That matter comes under tho engineer
department. So far as the garbage service II
concerned my statements are pretty generally
understood, but as form collections or remova
being made for two weeks the statement II
simply absurd; there has been over 400 toni
taken out OF the city in that time.
Reporter-You think there is no cause fo
alarm then2
Doctor T.-Decidedly not. There Is, o,
the contrary, every reason for congratulatiOn
The article is an exaggeratiOn from beginning
to end, with he continued laughingl tw,
exceptions. He says our flats comprise
dozen acres, when he might have said u hun
dred, and lie says one Of cur sewers is open a
the Owar" end, when the fact is they are al
open at that point. Who ever heard Of
sewer with its lower end closed?
Lieutenant F. V. Greene Of tho Distric
engineer department who has charge of th
surface work, including the sweeping an'
cleaning Of the streets, as well rs the paving
sweeping is now done IN u more satisfactory
manner than ever before aud u larger Rmoun
of work is performed by the contractor thar
ever before. Pennsylvania avenue. from Tia,
capitol to Seventh street, is swept every day
except when 1t rains, and the Othc
streets are swept once or twice
week, according to their needs Las
month 100000 square yards Of street, cqus
to $50 miles, were swept Lieutenant Green
| stated that the streets of the city had neyc
10 his knowledge been kept in cleaner con
ditiOn than at present.
lu reference TO the marshes river fats o
Kdwell bottoms, along the river shore soutI
of the executive mansion, tho District su
thorties do not hold themselves responsible
for their presence Congress, while appro
priating liberal sums for the improvement
Of haIhors, rivers aud creeks elsewhere la
been attended with fit of economy whencvc
! the subject of the Washington river front ha
been brOuchcd IL is estimated that il wi
cost fully 100000 to fill up these fats, an
such m expenditure from the lmited,resourcC
Of the District would be quite out Of tn
question even If congress, which prescribe
how the money shall be spent, should dire,
the District authorities TO undertake tho wOTl
In reference " the statement Of the ba
effects Of the proximity Of tho kidweil bo
toms upon the employees Of the bureau
engraving aud printing, II may DO oppropriai
to state that Colonel Irish, the chief Of Il
bureau, seemed not TO be aware Ofthc prtsen,
Of this foul spot until his attention was CallC