The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-06-05

apesher Peea for Jeuefs0" "~'
lFor the Dispateal
=. 1. farmer communication relative 70
bereavement Of Shockoe creek l at
s sSSs~.nss8 70 demonstrate Its necessity ss
ssr,ssrv measure. Attention was ca'iea 70
sne fact that the bed OF the creek anu ns
sdisceut soil, exposed to bigh solar tem'
v,crature, emitted emsuatscns ni'eo VIII
organic putrefaction aud microscope germs
constituting indus oil disease whicu ca,
serded In haIcful influence over an area OF
seversi miles, 1t may be ADDED that the
r,tv 81 New York has lately been In stare
- consi ernstion from the unclean ccndi.
sson az lie streets. So great was the panic
~ The citizens that at the call OF toe Acaoe,
NV "a Medicine 2,O0o physicians assembled
era earned the community OF the danger
e. which II was exposed from neglect OF
cIesnIiness. II was argued that impure
air and water, stagnant pools, aud unswep'
streets we're the prime factors OF disease,
and not onIy what are ca''ed yimVtN
ns,sdics result from this source, Dat
thst even catarrhs, neuralgies, and opthai-
mi. or,cinaie from IL. The army OF Napo'
s..or was fearfuIIy depleted In Egypt by
cnths,m,a. the ca,isation OF which may De
s,trIbuted 10 the torrid beams OF the SUP on
tho imnerfectly drained district OF the Nile.
We. too. have often an Egyptian tempera-
snre. and as similar causes produce like
e6ects why should We not dread Egyptian
epidemics? Fearing the invasion OF disease
from the want Of cleanliness, New YORK
approprlates $1,000, 900 annually 10 remove
this cause OF disease, and appoints super
fntendent, who receives salary OF So,oVo
Der annum. Were such focus OF disease
as Shockoe creek In New YORK IlDera' ap.
proprialions would instantly be MADE ana
fbc nidus of disease be removed without
delay. The citizens OF Ricnmond snouio
moi nause in this great exigency, but should
imperiously demand Of their legislators TO
aba;e this nuisance at once. The enemy IL
Mt our door, and every patriot should do all
in his power to drive him from our
enyirons. The opinion prevails that
Richmond is healthy city, and we hatter
ourselves with encomiums on the purity OF
the atmosphere and its freedom from all
noxious principles. Unfortunately this IS
a fallacy. On reference 10 statistics from
the Health Department in the Sunday Ne'cS
of baltimore, II will be found that OF about
thirty cities I'm various parts OF the Union,
with the exception OF New York, New Or.
leans, Charleston, S. c., Memphis. and Chi
caeo. Richmond ranks the highest in the
ratio OF mortality. And while the death.
rate OF Philadelphia Is 20, Baltimore IL, San
Francisco IL, Boston 26, Cincinnati ~, that
OF Richmond Is 81 In the thousand, thus
depriying her Of all claim to be ranked as
healthy city.
Now, he is said to be benefactor who
makes Two blades OF grass grow where there
was but one before. How exalted is his
position who adopts means 10 Danish dis
ease aud converts sandy waste like
the valley OF SbOckOe creek into a
sanitcrium OF health and utilities it by
the erection OF houses OF merchandise
and private residences in the place now
occupied by buts and shanties. His, indeed,
would be a reputation "aboye all Greek,
above all Roman fame" and his memory
should go down TO posterity as benefactor
OF his race. This Improvement OF ShOckoe
creek, which ardenlly urge OIL The City
Council, is one Of prime necessity and
should admit OF no delay. Its present con.
dltion being reproach TO the city, the Won
der Is that 1t has been borne with so much
apathy and that our citizens have not risen
with one accord and imperatively demanded
that the creek should be arched. The ques-
ton Is one OF health and disease-of life and
death TO many of our fellow citizens. The
invisible enemy arising from this pestiential
locality is, like gravitaton, always present,
and, like gravitation, 1t pervades space and
Is at the same time unfeit and unseen.
When we read the obituary notices OF the
citizens OF Marshall, Jackson, and JEFF
ferson Wards, many OF them estimable
and OF good repute, the sad refiec-
ton and the bitter reproach may well
intrude itself, that II is not uncharitabe TO
attribute their death to cause which the
municipal government and its cOnscript
fathers might have removed. Better far
that no street should ever be graded or
paved; that both ingress and egress from
the city should be difficult and unsigbty !;
that unduations and gullies should con-
tinue, and all mathematical symmetry be
discarded from our avenues, and that no
Belgian blocks should adorn our pave.
ments, than the representatives OF our city
should be liable to such an imputation. Let
the Council remember that this nuisance has
become one OF gigantic proportions, and
that ii ought 10 be abated. Let them call to
mind that the Roman who saved the life of
fellow-soldier received a civic crown, and
that the Council which relieves the city of
the nuisance now existing in Shockoe creek,
and makes the waste through which that
riyulet flows, instead Of the habitat OF pes
thence, the abode OF industry and thrift,
VIII pidSC it>tl vi DdslS Vi lUlDeIIsUlDlc
reHown.
Let us now consider the proposed i'm
provement in its financial aspect. Next TO
the sanitary this is the most important
view, as. OF all nerves, the pocket.nerve Is
said to be the most sensitive, and when
touched the people are most responsive.
The depreciation OF real estate in Marshall,
Jefferson, and Jackson Wards has been
melancholy and appalling. Once the seat
OF opuIenee and enterprise, these wards
have gone to comparative decay. As an
illustration OF the depreciation OF values,
let us 20 back to period within the recol-
lection OF some OF our oldest citizens. The
building at the corner Of Main and Nine
teenth streets was erected some sixty years
since as hotel by DR.. Adams. a man of
marked ability, the Mayor OF the city, and
OF enthusiastic devotion to its interests.
The cost was $4,000; and after several
mutations of owners, II was sold since the
war for $4,000 and devoted TO educa.
tioDal purposes. The houses opposite.
used as stores and residences, were
estimated at $4,000, aud even up
to S25,00e. At present they would
not command more than $4,000. The old
Stone House, valuable for ITS historic and
legendary as.0eiatiOns-the oldest house in
the city. built In 1850 by Mr.. Jacob Egpe.
at the foundation OF Observation-Disclosures
these buildings. President Monroe, when
a youth at school, boarded here, and il was
honored by the visits Of Washington, kadi-
son, Monroe, Lafayette, Patrick Henry, and
other Revolutionary men. 1t is now OF M.
Tie intrinsic value, but the city should p,r.
chase and guard IL from injury as a relic of
the war OF the Resolution, which will teach
US as no printed page can teach us the les.
sons and glory OF the past. The most yaIv.
able stores were situated on Main from
Fourteenth TO Twenty.third streets. The