The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-02-10
EsITIs THE ATMOSPHERIC:
A Theory Which IL CONNIE nc.
ing TO have Believers, and i'm
Which There may be More
Than Would Appear.


Than Would Appear.
II it be true; as is argued by some
that atmospheric influences impel the
human family to excuses which in
ordinary times are never dreamed of
then indeed this winter must go up
on record as a most striking exempli-
fication of the theory. The prevail
ing mania appears as form Of de
lirium, which believes in no silver
lining to even the least portentous OF
dark clouds, but would have it that
each speck in the horizon of exis-
tence is an unerring indication OF
very tornadoes of destruction and
death. The perfect accord of the
weather prophets in their yoluminous
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 ealamties 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 fire.
quent recitals Of blood curdling acct
dents and incidents, while still an
other class foster most unnatural
appetite for such dread food, ard
would fain see that the supply should
ever exceed the demand. This lat
ter species magnify moles into noun
tains; the morbid, looking through
kindred spectacles behold the horri-
BILE in veriest shadows, while the timid
become rs children in dark places
and see spectres on every hand. But
some such sort of prevalent atmos-
phere the Baltimore so-called scourge
would have passed as summer breeze,
creating the merest ripple, to be
speedily forgotten in the every day
tide of life.
None of the larger cities are ever,
during the winter months entirely
free from small pox, and as rule,
Baltimore may fairly be stated as
more exempt from the scourging of
the loathsome pest than almost any
of the great commercial centres.
1t has, in the topography of its
site, innumerable advantages, as the
numerous hills create such a power
to downfalling water as to most
thoroughly cleanse the streets at
every rain storm. Strangers frequent
1 n q al Al.
ouohfares and cite the natural sur
face drainage as source of unfail-
ing health.
Baltimorc's mortuary reports have
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 az
erage. The statement may appear
iEcomprchensiblc to those who have
permitted themselves to be carried
away with the belief that half the
population Of Baltimore WAS in danger
Of speedy humiliation from the small
poX. 1t cannot, however, prove any
more incomprehensible than the
" l'Oi 70 vi tilC DIV StS VI lilC OlSctSc
which have been circulated outside of
the city. 1t has been to Baltimoreans
the old saying over again of going
away from home to here. the news.
That there was an attempt to work up
a scare in the city is as undeniablc as
that its origin was in the spleen of
disappointed place hunters
The "outs" insisted that the sins"
were incompetent, and not q few of
the most disinterested citizens believ-
ed that the contest of words might
tend to q practical demonstration of
competency, which would lead to a
condition of publication that would
make the spread Of the disease impos-
sible. The newspaper, believing the
test one worthy of experiment, assis-
ted the ''scare" by published statistics
so placed as to create some alarm, but
when carefully analysed really gave
ground for nothing beyond an appre
hension of what the result might be if
energetic methods were not Inaugural
ted.
The effect within the city was
straightway apparent in the almost
immediate decrease in the number of
cases, but outside the city it was
anything but assuring. Rival bust
ness centres at once set about making
all the capital possible out of it. No
more rapidly swelled the ranks of
Falstaff's opponents in the voluble
bragadocia ofthe Shakesperian brag-
CART than the number of smallpox
cases in Baltimore in the scheming
brains of interested competitors for
trade and commerce. AS has hitherto
been remarked, the atmosphere this
winter has appeared ever ripe for the
rapid spread of the belief in evil, and
there are doubtless many good people
who to day labor under the delusion
that there have been and are still, for
that matter, thousands of persons in
Baltimore down with the smallpox.
Assuming the population of the
city at four hundred thousand, there
has never been day when the per-
centage of the sick reached one in
eight hundred To day there is hard
ly one in thousand, ifindeed one in
twelve hundred. The highest the
weekly death rate reached was less
than one hundred, and upwards of