The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-02-15
Sanitary Reforms.

VI
Sanitary Reforms.
Baltimore Herald.
God made the country and man
made the town" is an aphoTism eX-
pressive of the superiority of a rural
home, be it ever SO hOnely, to city
residence with its elegant surround
ings. The simple habits. the domestic
virtues, the contentment and robust
health of the country people have
been cited by novelists and poets as
evidence of the advantages of dwell
ing far away from the maddening
crowds in pent-up cities where there
are so much din and excitement,
luxury and misery, aesthetic morality
and degrading vice. The Stalwart
frames and flOrid compilations of the
agricultural population, who lead an
active life for the most part in the
open air. are contrasted with the
puny, ill-developed limbs and Sallow
looks of the city deniZens, who apply
themselves so closely to business and
sedentary pursuits as to have no time
for invigOrating exercise, and to
whom green fields, shady groves and
babbling brooks are like half-forgOtten
idyl of youth. How far late hours,
high living and a season of gay and
fashionable parties from which the
guests do mot go home until morning
may conduce to physical debility,
wan looks, sunken eyes and pulmO-
nary ailments that terminate in Il
rapid decline of the vital energies,
until consumption claims its victim,
we do not propose to investigate. 1t
is probable, however, that were the
deniZenS of our populOus towns to
live more temporarily, keep more
regular hours, spend more time in
athletic sports and constitutional
walks they would compare favOrably
in strength, muscle and powers with
the average rural population. As
splendid specimens of robust man
hood and blooming womanhoOd can
be seen in New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and other large cities which
man has made as can be found in the
country districts. But it has been
alleged by those who profess to have
some knowledge of hygiene that ma
larial fevers are engendered by the
foul atmosphere of a densely pOpu-
lated city, and SanitarianS are Sug-
rested by the municipal authorities
giving more attention to the condition
of the streets, sewerage, tenement
use of water privileges.
There is good reason why these
suggestions should be acted on, for
the cleaner city is kept the purer is
the air the inhabitants breathe, and
the better ventilated each dwelling is
the less liable are the inmates to con-
tagious diseases, provided there are
no ceSSpoolS or ill-conditioned out
houses in the vicinity. But, strange
to say, DR.. Parkin, of Brighton, Eng
land, rejects the theory that the NOR
tally rate increases with the density
of the population, and that the chances
for health and longevity are less favor
able in the town than in the country
He also states that the thinly popu-
lated part of a town is more liable To
disease than are the thickly settled
districts. The condition of the earth
where it is low and marshy and the
water is stagnant, is a fruitful source
of those chills and fevers in lower
Maryland, which are of rare occur
renee in the more elevated districts,
OF even i'll Baltimore, notwithstanding
its proximity to Jones Falls and the
Basin. The night air of the Pontine
marshes is almost as baleful to tour
lists who inhale it us is the wind watt
ed from the deadly upas to
those who are condemned to approach
the poisonous tree. While in the
more elevated and ariStOcratic regions
of Rome malarial fevers are rife, yet
in the squalid Ghetto where the
streets are like narrow, filthy lanes,
and the population are clustered as u
swarm of bees, malarial fever is al
most unknown. 1t is asserted that
there is steady demand for quinine
by the jewellers ON the banks of the
Hudson, and cities and hotels by the
sea were visited last summer by ma
lignant fevers. UnderitheSe circum-
stances Baltimore has net such gTi1y-
Gus cause for complaint. Although
the smallpox is not yet stamped out,
The death rate is not greater than the
average since that disease appeared
here, nor is the city the laZaretto so
enormously represented abroad to the
detriment of our merchants. Balti-
more will not suffer in comparison
Will lIS pOpuldOiOH VI uCiIly llNC nun
dred thousand inhabitants if its bills
of mortality for the past few months
are contraSted with the percentage of
deaths i'll proportion to the popula-
ton of sparsely settled rural districts
in any state in the union; and in that
respect DIR. Parkin's theory may be,
perhaps, correct.
The English government has had it
for some time in contemplation to
bring into parliament bill making it
compulsory to hold an inquest
after every fire, whether it
has resulted in any fatal casualty