West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1883-02-10

Theory which - Commencing
10 have asCtlcN NTs. ANA in
which There may he
more tbOH ouId

II 4 be true, SIS srrusd by me. that
a'mo phefic /. hloHccs lnipyI ,bc human
FAMILY 1" oSc,ss which m ordinary time
arc never dreamed OF, taea indeed TINS
Winter must 20 upon record as most
Striking * mplhcstion OF the theory.
Tue prevailing mania appears as a form of
deiirium, which believes in no SILVER lin
ing to even the least porlentous OF dark
clUrds, but would have il that each snrck
IN the horizon of existence is an unrFripg
indication OF very tornadots OF des'ruc.
lion and death. The perf,c, accord Of the
veal, prophets in their voluminOus pre-
dictions of storms aud disasters has Jude
niably produced an ,ffcci upon people The
nervous strain of which has by no means
been lessened by the series OF calamiticf
with the terri6ls details OF ahich the pub.
lie press has toemed thee many weeks.
a very large class OF men as well as of
women grow timid and uIxious, and an
other class morbid by the frequent recitals
.Ot blood curdling accidents aud incidents
while still another class foster "A most un-
natural appetite for such dread food. and
would faln see that tho supply should ever
exceed the demand. This latter species
magnify mole hills into mountains; the
morbid, looking through kindred spectacles.
behold the horrible In vcriest shadows
while the umil become rs children in dark
places aud see spectrcs on every hand.
But for some such sort Of prevalent at
mospnoIe the b il,ImoTe So called scouIrc
would have ptsyd as a summer bretz,.
creating the mertst ripple, % b. spec dily
forgotten ~ The every day tide of life.
None OF the larger cities are ever during
the winter months entirely free from
smallpox, and IS a rule, 3 .iimore nay
fairly be stated ts more txtmpt from The
.scouTgirg of the lpathsome PES, than al
most any ofthe great commercial centres.
IL has, in the topography of rs site, in
Vulnerable advantages, as the numerous
hills create such power 10 downfalling
~at'r as to most thoroughly cleanse the
streets atevery rain storm. Strangers fire.
quently remark the cleanliness Of the thor.
oughfares ard cite The natural surface
Drainage as a source Of unfalling healh
Baliimore's mortuary reports have for
years been of the lowest of the great cit
les, and at TO time during the winter has
the weekly deslh-rate Increased fifty rqr
cent. over the average. This statement
may appear incomprepensibe to those " no
have permitted themselves 10 be carried
away with the belief that half the popula-
ton of Baltimore was IN danger Of speedy
annihilation from the small. pox Ijcan.
not, however, prove any more incom3re.
hensible than the reports of the ravagcs Of
the disease which have been circulated
outside of the city. L. has been tn B,lti-
moresDs the OLD saying over again Of GO
ing away from home 10 hear the news
That there was an attempt to work up a
scare In the city il as uudeniable az that
lis origin was In the spleen If disappoint
ed place-hunters.
The outs insisted that the 'ins' were
incompetent, ard not few of the most
cisinterested citizeus believed that the con-
tea of words might tend to prac zeal de
monstrati IN of competency, which would
lead to condition of publication that
would make the spread of he disc ase in
possible. The newspapers, believing the
test worthy Of experiment. assisted the
'scare' by publishing statistics go placed
as to create some alarm, but when care
fully analyz,d really gave ground for
nothing beyond an apprehension of what
the result might be if energetic methods
we're not inaugurated
The effect within The city was slrairh,
way apparent in the almost immediate de
crease in tne humber Of cases. but ont
side the city it Eas anything but assuring
Rival businers centres At once set abon,
making all the capital possible ont of it No
morerspiclY swelled the ranks Of Falslsff's
opponents in'the vOluble bragadocia Of The
Shakesperian brs ggart than the lumber Of
amsil- pox cases IN Baltimore in The schem.
ing brains OF interested competitors for
trade and commerce. AS has hitherto
been remarked, the atmosphere this win
Ter has appeared ever ripe for the rapid
spread Of the belief in evil. aud there are
doubtless many good people who b. day
labor under the delu ion that there have
been aud are still, lot that ma,ter. tbous-
ands Of persons down with the small-D.y
Assuming tbo population Of the CITY a,
four hundred thousand, there has never
been day when the percentage Of the
sick reacaed one in eight hundred. To-day
fbere Is hardly one in thousand. il to
deed one in twelve hundred. The highest
The weekly death rate reached was las.
than one hundred, ao uprds Of s vent,
per cent. were cbildren under The age of
ten The disease has been absolutely
cotiined to The poorer and more tensely
populated c'ious Of &c city. and there
has not been q solitary case in any OF the
boiels Or within t1g business rr better rf-
idence portions. ~ one yi4.tirr gIn
more his contracted ,he disease. ana MOI
"a single instance hss been known where IL
has been carried away from the city i,
is absurd ~ clam the sligbtes, danger Of
contracting sma.l-pnz or any other disease.
by visit % Baltimore, and throughout
business and social circles there has mast
positively been no sl4rm. Indeed. the
i.lk abcu Do has been ~ the reports cir
c1'a'ed outside of Baltimore rather than
ihe raYages Of ibe p.siilenos within mu.
ncipsl conla's That there bss been