Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-08-01
THE CHOLERA.
Report Of Consul Mason to the Home Gov.
eminent.
Marseilles and Toulon Models ,of Oleanli'
ness-The soourge,

WASHINGTON, July 1.-THE secre.
tary of state has received from Consul
Mason u long report ON the cholera ep.
idemc now prevailing at Toulon aud
Marscilles. The consul says In hi.
report: Both Marseilles and
Toulon suffered terribly ip
the cholera epidemic of 1895. During
the nineteen years which have elapsed
since then, Marseilles has been In
several impor ant respects almost re-
built. Her pavements, her sewerage
system, her water supply aud heI
methods of cleaning the streets by ~.
moving night soil, her system of In
speeding aud regulating the market,
her quarantine regulations aud hos.
pital facilities are all probably
unsurpassed In excellence by
those OF any European or American
city.
Tue old quarters of the city OF an.
cient Marseilles, which was scourged
30 sharply by the plague In former
centuries, has been pierced with broad
avenues. Streams Of pure water now
flow daily through the Cutters ard
narrower streets and alleys while the
pavements of the principal thorough
iares are washed and swept with care
and frequency which leaves nothing
TO be desired.
The terrible lesson of the former
cpidemlcs has been well learned by
the municipal government, and long
before the frat rumor OF trouble at
TOulon, Marseilles was cleaned and
made ready for the summer heat. But
with all the intelligent liberality
which the city has .evlnced In the CON
atructlon Of her draining system, there
Ia an insIrmountable difficulty which
all Mediterranean cities are alike COM
PEELED To face. Their sewers flow into
tideless and generally pltcid port.
The harbor OF Marseilles is
almost entirely artificial, The old
port IL Mt the estuary Of q small creek,
brldged out into large dock with a
narrow outlet to the sea. The new
ports ARE spacious harbors, inclosed by
miles OF breakwater and deepened To
navlgable depths by decking and ex
cavations. Iuto these inclosed ports,
which extend along twothirds of the
shore front of the city, the entire vol
tune of sewage Is poured, aud as
there IL only tho surplus of
pure fresh water from the
city hyasants to dilute this
'SurOid How, and M there In no tide to
maintain "A circulation OF sea water
through the inclo ed parts, the inevi-
table result IL that the latter Crews
foul aud pestilent.
The same conditions, unmitlgated by
equally careful sanitary measures. pre-
vail at Toulon, and IL is thought that
II was the dredging of the dlsused dock
there during April and May which
developed the seeds Of the present
epidemic.
The Marseilles government relies
solely upon the most rigid aud search
ing enforcement of the recognized san
itary measures. The dredging of ports
has been stopped, and that source OF
miasma, IA far IA po ,sible, has been
abated during the summer. Since the
outbreak in Touion the whole city has
been literally washed with water and
disinfectants. Not once merely, but
daily and nightly. The markets ar,
carefully Inspected. Immense guam
titles of stale and unripe fruit ant
vegetables have been seized and dc
stroyed. The railroad cars and stations
omnibuses, street-cars aud even tin
hackney.carrlayes are fumigated an,
the smell Of chloride, sulphates an,
carbolic acid Is every where.
la spite of this "a number Of death
have occurred Ia tho cleanest an,
iandsoInest portion of Marseilles. Tn
attack OF cholera has been this year ia
more vigorous and fatal than In tn
great epidemic Of nineteen years age
and NIL the present indications poin
TO u summer ef gloom and suflerin
for the people of Toulon and MAJ
illcs.
All that energy and liberality coul
perform, all that sanitary scienc
c0uld suggest, has been done, but tn
peslilence In here and deiles restraint
The present situation may be sun
married. as follows: The epidemi
which prevails at Marseilles and Tot
Ion Ia Asiatlc cholera, imported beyon
all reasonable doubt from Saigon
China. by the French transport Sarth
to the port OF ToulOn. At first tn
disease was of the type MEDICAL
classified AZ benign, hut liz malignit
has since increased In devel0pmen
under the influence Of the continue
hot weather.
In compliance with instruction
from the department Of state, this cor
sulate has ascertained from oflicis
sources that no edilgrants have recent
Nv left either roulon or Marseilles b
sea for the United States. II should b
added. however, that very few eml
grants for American ports ever EN-
bark here, M the steamers leavin
Marseilles usually touch at one or NOR
Mediterranean stations befor
leaving their final poin
Of departure and emigrant
usually go by rail to this ultimate por
of deparllire.tn embark for the Unite,
Estates. II Is therefore respectful,
Suggested that all vessels bringing em
grants or baggage to the United States
from Bordeaux, Havre or any othe
French port not declared infecte,
should be subjected to most careful
sanitary regulations.
Clean bills OF health have been re-
fused vt this consulate to all vessel
clearing for ports In the United States
since the 25th OF june, aud none sucl
will be granted until Marseilles IL OH
cially declared free from this conta
gion.