Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-02-08
Is 1T In TaR ArMOsPHERRi
A Theory Which is Commencing I
have Believers, aud In which
there may be moro than
WOuld LpDear.

would Appear.
IL IL be true a. Is argued BY some, that
atmospheric influences impel the human
family to excesses which in ordinary
times are never dreamed Of, then indeed
tins winter must 90 upon record as a
most striking exemplification OF the
theory. The prevailing mania appears
as form Of delirum, which believes in
no silver lining to even the least porten-
tous OF dark clouds, but would have il
that each speck in the horizon OF exist.
ence is an unerring indication OF very
tornadoes Of destruction and death. The
perfect accord Of the weather prophets in
their voluminous predictions Of storms
and disasters has undeniably produced an
effect upon people the nervous strain OF
which has BY no means been lessened by
the series OF calamities with the terrible
details OF which the public. press has
teemed these many weeks.
A very large class Of men as well as OF
women grow timid and anxious, and
another class morbid by the frequent re-
citals of blood curdling accidents and in
cidents, while still another class foster a
most unnatural appetite for such dread
TODD, and would fain see that the supply
should ever exceed the demand. This
latter species magnify moles into noun.
tains; the morbid, looking through kim
dred spectacles, behold the horrible in
veriest shadows, while the timid become
as children il dark places and see spec.
tres on every hand. But for some such
sort of prevalent atmosphere the Balti-
more so called scourge would have passed
as summer breeze, creating the meresr
ripple, to be speedily forgotten in the
every day tide of life.
None of the larger cities are ever dur
ing the winter months entirely free from
smallpox, and as a rule, Baltimore may
fairly be stated as more exempt from the
scourging Of the loathsome pest than
almost any Of the great commercial CEN
ters,
1t has, in the topography of its site, in.
Vulnerable advantages, as the numerous
hills create such power to downfalling
water as to most thoroughly cleanse the
streets at every rain storm. Strangers
frequently remark the cleanliness OF the
thoroughfares and cite the natural sur
face drainage as a source of unfaillng
health.
Baltimores mortuary reports Eave for
years been OF the lowest of the great
cities, and at no time during the winter
has the weekly death rate increased fifty
per cent. over the average. This state
ment may appear incomprehensible to
those who have permitted themselves to
be carried away with the belief that half
the population of Baltimore was In
danger of speedy annlhllation from the
smallpox. 1t cannot, however, prove
any more incomprehensible than the re,
ports of the ravages of the disease which
have been circulated outside of the city.
1t has been to Baltimore the old say ing
over again of going away from home to
hear the news. That there was an at
tempt to work up scare in the city is
as un1eniable as that its origin was in the
spleen of disappointed place.hunters.
The "outs" insisted that the "ins" were
incompetent, and not few of the most
disinterested citizens believed that the
contest of words might tend to practi-
cal demonstration of competency. which
would lead TO condition of purification
that would make the spread of the dis
ease impossible. The newspapers. be-
lieying the test one worthy of expert
ment, assisted the scare" by publishing
bJdbibbAOo bO PiuNCo 40 W CtCotC bOtI6
alarm, but when carefully analyzed
really gave ground for nothing beyon
an apprehension of what the result might
be if energetic methods weie not inaug-
urated.
The effect within the city was straight
way apparent in the almost immediate
decrease in the number of cases, but out
side the city it was anything but assur.
ing. Rival business centers at once set
about making all the capital possible out
of it. No more rapidly swelled the ranks
of Falstaff's opponents in the volubIe
bragadocia of the Shakesperian braggart
than the number of smallpox cases in
Baltimore in the scheming brains of in.
terested competitors for trade and COM
merce. AS has hitherto been remarked,
the atmosphere this winter has appeared
ever ripe for the rapid spread of the be.
lief in evil, and there are doubtless many
good people who to-day labor under the
deIusion that there have been and are
still, for that matter, thousands of per-
sons in Baltimore down with the small
pox.
Assuming the population of the city at
four hundred thousand, there has never
been day when the percentage of the
sick reached one in eight hundred. To.
day there is hardly one in thousand, if
indeed one in twelve hundred. The
highest the weekly death rate reached
was less than one hundred, and upwards
of seventy per cent. were children under
the age of ten. The disease has been alb.
solutely confined to the poorer and more
densely populated sections of the city,
nd hoon cnlttnr.,
any of the hotels or within the business
or better residence portions. No one
visiting Baltimore has contracted the
disease, and not a single instance has
been known where it has been carried
away from the city. 1t is absurd to
claim the slightest danger of contracting
smallpox or any other disease by visit
to Baltimore, and throughout business
and social circles there has most posi-
lively been no alarm. Indeed, the talk
about it has been of the reports circulated
outside Of Baltimore rather than of the
ravages of the pestilence within munici-
pal confines. That there has been a very
general vaccination Is true, and therein
lies the greatest possible preventative to
the increase of the disease. The tell tale
yellow flag has been thrust forth from
many windows where it was made to i'd
dicate possible rather than an actual
danger, in order that whether smallpox
itself or only varieloid, contact of the
uncontaminated should be averted.
Food, money and attendance have been
lavished with unstinted hand upon the
sick and the disease kept 30 closely with.
in its center of origin that even in mid
winter, when it prevails to much great
er extent than any other time, its spread
has been stopped short and quick. So
vigorously and so successfully has IL been