Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-31
NO DANGER OF CHOLERA.

1t Is Not Likely to Reach Pittsburg and II 1t
Does 1t Will Soon Be Stamped Outflow
tho Disease Differs From Smallpox
The reports of the march of cholera
throughout Europe have given rise to the
fear that the United States will be visited
by the scourge and that it may appear in
Pittsburg. A reporter of The DISPATCH
interviewed several prominent doctors Of
the city with the view of ascertaining
whether or not there was any possibility
of the scourge reaching here and it
it did come, were the conditions favorable
for the spreading of the disease. DR..
James H. McClelland, President OF the
State Board of Health, said that there was
a possibility Of having it here in Pittsburg,
but it was not at all probable. ''The Board
Of Health, however" he continued, "has
and has issued thousands upon thou
sands Of circulars suggesting precautionary
measures to prevent the existence OF any
condition where cholera would have the
least hold. With the present state of sani-
tary science and practice there need be no
fears that cholera will take strong hold
upon u.s. This climate and the conditions
surrounding us make that almost an i'm
possibility. Only the most wrctched san
itary condition would permit cholera to
exist here in any virulent form.
the urgent measures we employ when
it is required, the Board received from
Johnsburg some time ago, the report that
smallpox had broken out there We sent
our people to the place and found IA cases.
These we shut off from all communication
and with the assistance of some of the citi-
zens had the place patroled on every side,
allowing no one to come from or go to the
house. The result was that we stamped
that threatened plague out completely, con-
fining it only to the original IA caseA The
Board has men go aboard every vessel which
arrives at every port, including Erie,
strictest watching is in no sense a positive
safeguard against the bringing in of the
disease. Take Paris, for instance, where a
number of cases Of cholera have recently
been discovered. I suppose there is no
place in the world where the surveillance of
strangers is SO strict You cannot get into
Paris without being scrutinized by three or
four health officers, and before you are
in the city four hours, as unpleasant
as it may sound, your name is in the hands
of the police department. Even in Paris,
with all these precautions, it creeps in.
Cholera cannot be taken by contact The
by the pollution of water Even if the dis
ease should come, there is no reason to de-
SPAR, for it is by no means incurable."
DIR. w. H. r. Hamilton, who has had
some experience in cholera cases, having
had charge of the cases which broke out on
Cork's Run in 1873. The Doctor said he
did not anticipate the disease In Pittsburg,
as with the present system of quarantine
the possibility of it being carried into the
country is very remote.
IF the disease should ever get into New
York, Philadelphia or Cincinnati" he con-
tinued, ''there would not be much hope for
by contagion. If cholerine, which is
mild type of cholera, should be-
come prevalent throughout the country,
travellers passing through Pittsburg could
easily communicate the disease. When I
had charge Of the cases down in Cork's S. Run
in 1873 the Board Of Health confined the
disease to six or seven cases, but this was
accomplished only by using the most
stringent sanitary means The bedding was
burned and carbolic acid was most freely
used. When cholera first strikes a place
it is very virulent, so to Is per
cent of the cases resulting in death.
After it prevails awhile it Becomes less
and less virulent. In this regard it is un-
like the smallpox, as this plague becomes
more virulent the longer it prevails The
time we had scourge Of cholera of any
magnitude was in "a Even then, not
withstanding the condition of the sewerage,
the scourge spent its force in one week.
Now with our improved system of sewerage
and sanitation it is hard to see how 1t could
get any start whatever"
The other physicians interviewed were
all of the opinion that there was hardly a
possibility of the disease coming here, and
that if it did, with the systems now in
vogue it could not amount to much.