The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-09-02

il is 10 be hoped that the. leading people 4
. II tie Fast will neither lose their heads
.oyerthe danger of.the advent 0fthe cholera
p 1I5r forget that. the.dUties which they.
10 PEI form must be di scharged PROMPTLY if
.3iLeY arctic be of. aRg. service. THIS. talk: Of
sdnlhi0ning Congress to pass laws for clos 1
=. my fhe-d6or in the. face. Of the epidemic is
e Wild. long before members can. be assem-:
-. he'd The CHOLERA will either:be domicied. in
n e1w York or the quarantine system will
>liave proved -effectu2l The. President. has
IN the power necessary TO: cope: with the
. danger. mo International law oblges the
Copsu1s of the United. States tf0TeigHpor
f6.~issue -clearauces. TO vessels ;bouad for
American ports The formality is 4 mere.
matter of International county With a
brief dispatch the Treasury. Department:
can suspend the issue OF clearanees at every
port That would at once arrest the dam
ger if the disease had not already. appeared
in. tie country. After: the embargo. was
made: there would be ample time &: discuss
plans to mitigate the ineonYeniences ii
would. in voTye. ~ .:-=-:. :.
The Situation changes from hour to hour.
At the, time these lines are. read, other
NoraYias may have. arrived at New York
laden with cholera patients. The MoraYla
herself lies mile from shore, in full sight
Of one of the most popular and freQuented
water ing places OF the East. Her passen-.
gers were to have been moved yesterday to
Hoffman Island, a bout a mile and. a half
from tile shore Of Staten Island: Are these
distances sufficient 10 keep the pestilence.at
arms length? Is1hs range of the cholera
bacillus so"lmited that it -cannQt cross a:
niie-of air p :: - = ~.
Two or three points are suggested by the
history OF past ep!demies. The arrival; Of
cholera patients from foreign countries is
not Invariably followed by an ms tant out
break of the disease in the place where they
land: Sometimes the contagion takes effect
d Immediately, but quite often there is. a
period Of Incubation, during which the
disease germs lie dormant and burst#int0
malignapt activity after people have forgot:
ten all ABOUT them. FuIly+twelye years
elapsed between the first Appearance of the
pestience OF 1882; in its ,Asistie; CRADLE and
its outbreak In this-cGuntry. It:has always
been.understood that she epidemic. OF 1856,
which destroyed some 1920 lives in New
York: was brought.to that port in the ship
% ATLANTA in 1862, Thus itWoulG- not besafe:
TO assume: from the. .non-aPpearanee. of
cholera nj New York this summer~that: the.
germs imported in the MoraYia4 have been
extermflated.:. Again.. articles aTe:~cof:
stantly appearing in the papers which. as:
sert, on 'ffe alleged authority Of physicians,
that frost and even cold weatherkill cholera,
and that after October New York will. be
safe. There is little foundation for this be.
lief Cholera is usually more maligna MT: in
summer than In winter, but it has been,
knownto rage with the thermometer below.
the freezing: point 1t is the yellow fever:
not the cholera germ which is destroyed by
frost. ::.--> - -
In studying cholera as an epidemic we.
have to- assume the theories of sani-
tarlans: TO be correct. Thus we must as
sumo that: the pestilence follows the estab-
llshed routes Of travel. That has been OBJ;
served on the occasion Of every epidemic
outbreak. Those therefore who, in the
event Of the. disease becoming epidemic.
want safe places of refuge viii attain their
object best if they. strike away from. the
usual: lines. Of travel. II was observed IN
I549 when the disease was so Yirulent at
Sacramento. that there were few eases in
the small settlements in the rural counties:
The epidemic pursues direct line, from
which it rarely DIVORCES to right or left
Furthermore, its ravages have always
been IN direct proportion 10 the sanitary
conditions Of the places 1t attacks, and to
the habits Of their inhabitants. A. large
proportion of the mortality at every vista
ton of cholera in this country has occurred
among persons Of incorporate habits, and
Of constitutions enfeebled by insufficient
and unsuita bic nonrishment. And in every
city the largest mortality has occurred IN
wards where the streets and back yards
were left uncleaned and the drainage was
imperfect Few American cities suffered
as little from cholera. in 1919 as San Fran
cisco; the fact was ascIibed to the efforts.
which were made to clean the city, and to
the purifying winds. Chicago, on the other
hand, is in panic in consequence Of the
unhealthy condition of the city, which is
aseribed 10 the bad water that Is drunk. 1t
seems that the sewage of Chicago flows into
Pthe lake near the point from which it de-
riyes its supply of drinking water; which
probably accounts for mortality of 1897
persons fEom typhoid fever in l89l-~seGen
times as many as died from the same dis
ease 10 the same year in New York. The
water viii have to be purified If Chicago
wants to escape the cholera. IL 1t becomes
domieiled on American soil.