The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-09-15
NUMBER 81.
PAYING THE PENALTY.


Caused by Her Apathy.
The thriving, prosperous city OF Ham,
burg has paid fearful penalty for its
reckless neglect of ordinary sanitary
precautions and its violation OF all laws
cf health when the terrible pest OF
cholera was right at its gates.> Dis
patches In the daily press give vivid
and graphic picture of the condition OF
the plague-stricken city. Its usual
gayety is turned TO mourning. Its
palatial houses are empty andits streets
are filed with collins and hcarses. Its
vast commerce is at standstill. Its
wharves are lined with idle vessels. Its
hotels are empty. Its schools, theaters,
opera houses and concert hall arc
closed. The hospitals are ovcrcrowded.
The undertakers are taxed 10 their ut
most to bury the dead, Under this
overhanging cloud the people are natur-
ally depressed. Those who could do SO
have fed elsewhere Those who remain
wait and wonder whose turn it will be
next, and meanwhile the poor are suf-
fering from a combination Of miseries,
in addition to their own poverty. And
all this came upon the devoted city in
less than month, for it was Aug. 18
that the first ease was reported. In tho
brief period of twenty-five days proba-
bly, over G,0Q0 persons had fallen victims
to the disease. The official rcturRs OF
the Board of Health up to Monday re-
ported &, 124 cases and 2,676 deaths, Tut
on the same day the director of one Of
tho cemeteries stated he had buried
4,032 cholera victims i'm that period, and
this was but one cemetery.
All this suffering and death clearly
are the outcome of criminal neglect.
The first case brought to the attention
of the medical inspector of the Board Of
Health was on Aug. 1S, but he made no
report upoa it until five days later.
Meanwhile nothing was done TO ward
off the ravages Of the pestilence already
at work in the city. No effort was
made to stop the expectation Of immi-
grants to other countries who were suf-
fering with the disease. Hamburg
freely admitted the disease, AMI as
freely sent it broadcast to Paris,
Havre, London and New York. No
precautions of any kind we're taken un-
til it was too late and it had spread from
the low river sections OF the city to tho
new and residence quarter. For a week
or two it was confined to the lower
classes who live in the suburbs IT
Hamm and Hammersbrook AMI in
Spitaler, Stein, and other streets along
the Elbe, reeking with decaying filth,
garbage, and cholera-producing ma
teria!, and adding their stenches to that
from the poisonous waters of the river.
daily made more so by the refuse from
the idle vessels. Then the disease
made its way into the better parts of
the city, as might have been expected,
for no effort was made to clean up and
properly disinfect. The impure water,
which is utterly unfit for drinking, helped
to spread the plague. It was terrib'>
present which Russia sent to Hamburg
aud the world never will cease to won
der at the complacency with which Ham,
burg accepted it.
But Hamburg is now paying the PEN
atty which always follows the violation
of sanitary laws in time Of danger. II
frosts do not set in soon the mortality
list must swell to frightful proportions.
Its business already is destroyed for
the present. 1t is city OF suffering
and death instead of the city of gayety
|. and commercial enterprise it was four
weeks ago. It stands as Il conspicuous
warning to all other cities. Its lesson
| is to clean up, TO do it at once and
thoroughly, and then to keep clean.
Remove the filth. Purify the water.
Burn the garbage. Make tho streets
and alleys and back yards clean. De-
stroy the cholera-producing material.
That is the lesson Of Hamburg, whose
cholera victims are now Quarantined in
the waters.of New York Bay and whose
pest ships are threatening our own
| ports.