San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-12-15

1
| il WAS n small town, 1t does not follow
| that II does not need sewers, now that
| IL contains 1900 souls. The very
| leyelness Of ground on which the city
| stands, Is an unanswerable argument IN
favor OF sewers to carry oil eX-
| Cremen:ious matter.
To show the immense importance OF
sanitation, have clipped the following
extract from a paper read by Dr. Ock.
| ford, at the recent homeopathic medical
convention In New Orleans, and now in
vite the readers attention to Ii.
SANITARY SCIENCE.
George NJ. Ockford, N. D., OF Lexing-
ton, read the following paper:
Although the subject of sanitary
science has been written and Rewritten
upon until 1t has become an Old story,
no apology is necessary from anyone
who reiterates its truths. We MI be-
| lieye sanitary science in the abstract,
but there are too many physicians among
us who pass its teachings lightly by.
They admit that IL is n good thing to
disinfect and deOdOriZe in general
way, but fail to comprehend the gran
deur Of q sanitarian's work and the pos
sible results to be achieved by a fulfill
ment of the laws OF hygiene. By
the teachings of sanitary science we are
enabled to understand the methods that
will prevent diseases and premature
death, and the prevention of disease is
subject that must always be OF Interest
to the medical profession. TO preserve
the public health should be the object Of
every philsnthropist, for 1t is the foun-
iatiOn of all social organization. Epi-
denies and anarchy are closely related,
as the ravages of cholera, yellow fever
and other pestilentisl diseases have
often demonstrated. Anarchy and So
oial Disqualification always attend upon
widespread epidemios. To prevent
these malcoDditions, preventive medi-
cine or sanitary science would lay the
Ak at the root OF the matter, and so or
der the conditions Of the individual and
OF the community that epidemic could
find no abiding spot 10 terminate and
spread. And In preventing disease, we
also prevent much OF the premature
death that interferes with the well-be
ing of labor, business and social organi-
cations. The individual and his sur
roundings demand one consideration,
for In the conditions governing their ex-
istence are to be found potent factors
IN the production of disease and death.
The surroundings Of an an individual
always exert an influence for good or
i'll upon his health. Good sanitary con-
ditions are essential to good health. A
filthy, undrained soil always possesses
a nestegg for the incubation OF disease.
The filthy portions Of city or town are
the spots that epidemics always do their
most fatal work in. The polluted soil
posons the air, renders wells unfit for
use. and sends Its morbitio material into
the dwellings. The reeking mud of to-
day becomes the dust of another day,
and Is carried by the wind into our
lungs and to places where our food and
drink are kept. 1t is carried every
where, and II laden with disease germs
ia one OF the most potent factors IN pro-
ducing fatal diseases. Tne decsying
dead horses On battletields develOpe
typhus fever among those enCamped
about them, and the presence
Of filthy piggeries and other foul spots
in q community always produces fire.
quent disease and high death rate.
Sewer gases either from drains or cess
pools propagate, II they do not engender
disease. Persons exposed to their NAL
nant influence suffer from diphtheritic
or lucrative sore thrOats, arrangements
OF the organs of digestion and are ready
Victims for fatal epidemics. CarbOnic
acid gas evolved from the breathing of
individuals In overcrowded and iIl-ven-
tilated apartments produce asphyXia and
putresuence Of the blood Carelessness
in disinfecting discharges from persons
suffering from specific disorders, such as
cholera and typhoid fever Is often the
readiest means OF spreading the cOnta-
gion. The use OF impure water Is always
frannht WI TO mi n
ted with the product of human eXCre-
ment or the pollution incident to crowd
ed localities always induces malignant
and fatal disorders.
Many houses are unfit for human habi-
tation. Imperfect ventilation, foul do
nestle operations, the breathing and
emanations from the bodies of the in
mates, artificial lights, all tend to de-
strOy the oxygen, impoverishing the air
and causing the lungs to lose their pow
er OF resistance. Then the arrest OF the
| natural action of the breathing appara-
tus by q sudden atmospheric change
most surely induces an attack Of pneu-
monia, bronchitis or pleurisy, and these
diseases are oftentimes the initial point
OF pulmonary consumption. Infant life Is
especially affected by these malcondi-
tiOns. The nursery air Is often vitiated
even in the houses of the well-tO-dO, and
In those OF the poor and improvident il
Is often fetid with the product of human
excrement. The delicate organs Of in
FAINT life soon break down under such an
irritant, and life is extinguished."
1t must not be forgotten that correct
| sanitationis designed to prevent disease
| by the simple process Of leaving no soil
In which Ii can SOW its seed. The pre-
vention OF disease tends to prolong the
term OF humsr life for the reason, that the
strength Of mans constitution Is serious
ly impaired by every attack Of disease
and perhaps made more susceptible Of
future attacks.
In San Antonio from the neglect of a
system OF sewerage, would decimate it's
| opulation-permanent damage Its
good name as a health resort-carry
grief and mourning into half the house,
holds In the city and seriously Interfere
with Its business;so that the cost OF such
an epidemic would amount to as much as
sewers would cost, where health is at
stake, niggardliness becomes q crime
against the public.
The people Of San Antonio must move
In this important matter. The
oity authorities cannot construct
sewers without money, and they cannot
obtain the needful supply Of money by
the sale Of city bonds, except the tax
payers shall vote 10 favor OF sewers.
That Ia precisely where this much
needed Improvement "hsngs fire." Nom
property owners are barred from the
privilege Of voting on the question, con-
sequently, the taxpay ers must decide
whether We shall have sewers or
epidemics. II may be, In the estima-
tion OF mossbacks, only choice bet ween
difficulties, whether they will submit to
| n trifling increase In the taxes or no