The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-10-21
THE DREAD EPIDEMIC.
OF TYPHOID FEVER AT BENwooD
Exaggerated, but yet Serious Enough to
Arouse COnssrn-NsesssIty of EISreis.
ing Care In the Eighth Ward to
Prevent Spread Of Disease.

The typhoid fever epidemic at BeL-
wood Is almost entitled to rank with the
Plymouth, Pa, scourge, which dscimated
the population Of that unfortunate village,
and siuGllRrly enough the source of the
sickness Is traCsahls to the same cause
polluted water, There are at this time
over Que hundred pronounced cases
Of typhoid fever under treatment
by the physicians Of BenWocd,
A majority Of them .may be cIRsssd as
mild attacks, or what Is commonly called
"wslklng typhoid fever" but there have
also been some very aggravated cases, In
looking over the town yesterday q report
or for this paper noticed that In the local
ity Of many residences were stagnapt
pools OF water, but the general
condition Of the streets and alleys
was comparatively good, in fact, the sani-
tslion Of the town is much improved over
former years, when the duck ponds -four
ished in all their glory.
The cause Of the present epidemic, &C.
cording to DR., II, 4. Ford, who has
about seventy cases under treatment, Is as
stated above, directly traceable to
drinking polluted water. The Doctor
said that all Of his patients except two or
three had drank tho water Of the we'll
situated near the new steel plant. The
we'll has not been cleaned for q number
OF years, and 1t drains ground inthe vicin'
ity that Is calculated TO add anything else
but purity to the water, The cause found,
the authorities at Benwood should not
hesitate to Immediately apply the rem
edy,
BIZ. George I, Garrison, the Health on.
Ger OF this city, was met in BenWood by
the INTELLldRNCRR reporter yesterday.
He had been in the Eighth ward
investigating the sanitary Coldi'
ton Of that portion Of Wheeling
and was not altogether pleased, In To-
c~alitles the drainage Is bad, especially
slond the B. & o. Railroad tracks next tc
the pottery, and the vicinity Of the
Eighth Ward school house. He said he
was looking around Bsnwood t
investigate for himself the Gausel
that contributed to the unusua
prevalence OF fever In the town. He wal
Of the, same opinion az Dr.. Ford, tina
polluted water was the prime cause O.
tho sickness,
Dr.. Leonard Eskey, the Health Officer
Of the town, who has something oyer
thirty patients, thought the disease wa
not properly speaking typhoid fever, bu'
a species Of malaria, although he had sew
eral cases Of pronounced typhoid fsyeI
under treatment. He claimed that thu
town was In the best sanitary condition
it had been for years past
and that the fatal character
Of the epidemic had been exaggerated
which Is undoubtedly true, But the sit,
uation Is serious enough to arouse TIT
lively interest Of the citizens Of Benwoo(
in the problem Of . better water
aupply. The condition OF tht
eighth ward OF this city
also presents a matter Of interest to tht
authorities. The proper drainage auC
sewerage Of this ward cannot be- too early
attended to. Tho health and lie Of tht
people Of that section depend on prompt
measures, and with object Lessons at Ben
wood staring the City Council In the face
1t would be criminal to delay remedia
measures longer,