Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1883-02-06

LII II De true, as Is argued by some,
that atmospheric influences fmpeI 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 exem-
plfieation of the theory. The pre-
yailing mania appears as form of
delrium, which believes in no silver
lining to even the least portentions
of dark clouds, bat would have it
that each speck In the horizon of ex-
istence 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 calamnities 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 recitais of blood curdling acci-
dents and incidents, while still anoth-
er class foster n most unnatural ap-
petite for such dread food. and would
fam see that the supply should ever
exceed the demand This latter
species magnify moles into noun
tains= the morbid, looking through
kindred spectaeles, behold the horri-
bic In yer1est shadows, while the timid
become IS children In dark places
and see spectres on every hand But
for some such sort of prevalent at
mosphere the Baltimore so-called
seourge would have passed as sum
mer breeze. creating the merest rip
pie, to be speedily forgotten in the
every day tide of life
None OF the larger cities are ever
during the wfnter months entirely
free from smallpox. and as a rule,
Baltimore may fairly be stated as
more exempt from the scourging of
the Ioathsome pest than almost any
of the great commercial centres.
1t has. in the topography of its site,
innumerable advantages, as the nu-
merous hills create such power to
downfalling water as tomost thorough
ly cleanse the streets at every rain
Storm Strangers frequently remark
the cleanliness of the thoroughfares
and cite the natural surface drainage
as source of unfailing health
Baltimore'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 av-
erage- This statement may appear
IncOmprehensible to those who have
permitted themselves to be carried
away with the belief that half the pop
ulation of Baltimore was in danger
of speedy humiliation from the small
poS- 1t cannot. however, prove any
more ineomprehensible 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 saying over again of going
away from home to hear the news.
That there was an attempt to work
UP scare in the city Is as undenia-
BILE as that its origin was in the spleen
of disappointed place-hunters.
The s+outs' insisted that the s:Ins''
were incompetent, and not n few of
the most disinterested citizens be-
heye that the contest of words might
tend to practical demonstration of
competency, which would lead to a
condition of publication that would
make the spread of the disease i'm
possible The newspapers, believing
the test one worthy of experiment.
assisted the siseare'' by publishing
statistics so placed as to create some
alarm, but when carefully analyzed
really gave ground for nothing be-
yond an apprehension OF what the re-
result might be if energetic methods
were not inaugurated-
The effect within the CITY was
straIghtway apparent in the almost
immediate decrease in the number of
cases, but outside the city it was any
thing but assuring. Rival business
centres at once set about making all
the capital possible out of it No
more rapidly sweIIed the ranks of
Falstaff's opponents in the voluble
braggadOeIO of the Shakesperian brag-
CART than the number of smalE-pox
S%-St3- IA 41~AAGAAAULC HI Tic
brains of Interested competitors for
trade and commerce As mas hither-
to 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 aud
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-
eentage of the sick reached one in
eight hundred To-day there is hard
y 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
absolutely confined to the poorer and
more densely populated sections of