National Republican., 1882-12-15
THE CITY,s HEALTH.
No Fear OF an Epidemic OF Any Sort
Low Death Rate I'm che District.

Low Death Rate In che District.
While Philadelphia and Baltimore are both
suffering from epidemic diseases-the former
from diphthera and the latter from small
pox-Washington has been singularly free
from such attacks for some years In the city
of brotherly love the spread of diphtheria is
so great as to cause genuine alarm among the
| health authorities and among the physicians
of that city. 1t is generally conceded that in
| epidcmiCs of this disease its contagion and
! NirulcnCe are restricted to localities where
! there is defective drainage, and the sewerage
system of Philadelphia is so imperfect in
many sections that it is no wonder that dis
ease prevails So in Baltimore, the drainage
is very defective and it is probably due to
! that cause that smallpox has been raging there
for over n year, and the health authorities
have been unable to keep it under control.
The deaths from diphtheria in Philadelphia
last week were forty-two, and those from
smallpox in Baltimore Twenty-Five but as the
smallpox hospital is located outside the city
limits it is not believed that this number
covers all the fatal cases. AV'
When there was a smallpox scare in Wash
ington last year the whole number of cases
Notwithstanding all the alarm, was but forty
| two, and in every instance the infection was
| confined to the inmates of the house in which
! the disease appeared. This shows the care
| that was exercised by the health officer and
his assistants. The fact that the general
sewerage system of this city is as perfect as
any city in this country will go far to eX-
plain the freedom of Washington from epi-
demic diseases. Although the smallpox has
been raging in Baltimore for over q year, and
there is constant ntintercommuniCation between
that city and this, there have only been
sporadic cases here since the scare of
| last winter, when, as has been said, the
total number of cases was forty-two In the
report of vital statistics for last week, pub
lishcd in yesterdays REPUBLICAN, it will be
seen that there was but one death from diph-
liberia, and il is learned from the health office
that the death rate in the district for the
month of November was less than it had been
for nine years. 1t is believed that with the
reclamation of the Potomac flats, which have
been fruitful source of malaria in the west
ern portion of the city, that Washington will
rank as the healthest city in the union.
Conversations with several physicians show
that the number of cases of diphtheria
in this city is very small, and that
there is no fear of its being epidemic here.
Should number of cases occur in any spe-
cific locality, the health officer would at once
seek to know what was the cause, and rigid
examination of that section would be made to
ascertain if imperfect sewerage connections or
defective plumbing existed. If such was
found to be the case the necessary corrections
would at once be required, and the local cause
of disease removed. So that, with the gem
eral excellent condition of the city and the
rigorous sanitary regulations of the health
office, it is not likely that the district will be
afflicted with an epidemic of any sort.