Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-02

ually calling upon the city authorities to
do something to prevent the spread of this
dreadful disease. Were any efforts made to
improve the sanitary condition of the city :?
If any were made, we never heard of
them. About a week since the City
Council passed quarantine ordinance to
satisfy the public demand that something
be done. The Council passed it because
public opinion compelled them to, think
ing, no doubt, that the great thing to be
done was the stopping of public clamor
and not the stopping of public scourge.
The City Council, judging from their acts,
always act on the theory that the passage
OF an ordinance will cure an evil, and that
it is not necessary to enforce it after its
passage They seem to think that there
is some peculiar virtue in the ordinance
itself. To illustrate the manner in which
city affairs are administered, we will cite
but one instance. For five weeks to our
own knowledge there has been dead dog
lying on Sixth East street between First
and Second South streets. During this
time the DEMOCRAT has called the atten-
ton of the City Marshal to the fact very
frequently, and he has taken no
notice of the dead dog. Twice
we have spoken to the Mayor of
this city in person concerning the matter,
and he told us it was the duty of the
Marshal to have the dog removed, but
the dead dog was on the street night
before last. Sixth East street is lead
ing street, and one upon which some of
the finest residences of the city are stu
ated. Does anyone suppose that it is not
injurious to the health of the city to allow
dead dogs to lie in the streets and decay
and send forth the terrible stencil conse-
quent upon the decomposition of animal
matter? The city officials seem to think |
there is nothing injurious about such
things, and the city officials ought to
know, because they are elected by the
intelligence of a free people. Even the
Herald, the sub-organ of the Mormon
church and the Peoples party, has at last
awakened to the necessity of doing some
thing, and this morning, through some re-
markable process, rightly came to the
conclusion something should be done. 1t
says regarding diphtheria:
Parents leave the sickbeds of their suf-
fering children, and without changing their
clothing or doing anything in the way of
disinfeetion, ~mingle with the public freely.
ALI of which is most criminal in its disre-
gard of the rights and health of the COM
munlty. The regulations, if any
can be said to exist. are not enforced, or if
enforced, are applied with so much laxity as
to furnish no protection whatever against
the contagion. The terrible disease has
assumed such alarming proportions that the
public has become greatly aroused, and the
authorities will not be held blameless if they
longer refuse to make the quarantine mean
something more than harmless yellow
flag"
As was said above, the Tribune and
DEMOCRAT tried to arouse the city author
ties to a sense of the danger, and this
same solicitous Herald, on September Sd,
said concerning that effort and the spread
OF diphtheria:
st is singular thing, but one which our
contemporaries refuse to recognize, that
howl as much as they may about the filth of
the city, and yell as they will that epidemic
diseases are stalking through the town, the
death rate continues low, and will not in
crease LII answer to the appeals of the never
happy newspaper man who has a grudge
against Salt Lake. If some of our
had been believed, people
would have expected the Sexton's report to
show more deaths from diphtheria than oc-
CURED from all causes combined
We would ask the Herald if the city was
any more filthy during September than
during August, or if the death rate was
any higher? During August, the death I
rate was nearly five per cent greater than
during September. Yet the Herald
Knocked at the warnings sounded by it's
local contemporaries. What is it's
cause for alarm in September with de-
death rate and the weather
cooler when there was no cause for alarm
n August? Ii the Herald has any in
iuence with the city officials, we trust
hat, seeing it has at last awakened to
he danger, it will use it in behalf of a
more healthy condition of things in our
city.