Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-01-06
People Who Attain Only Half
the Average OF Life Because
OfPOOr Air.
The Marshes Veritable Breed
ing Places Of Dis
ease.

| Rome, crossed by branch of the fam
GUS Appian way, and breeding malaria
to so great an extent that they have
been regarded as a crying evil for 1000
! years. The POntine marshes are today
as ever they were. Capt Won Donat, a
| German engineer, has been making d
study Of these breeding places Of disease
with a view to suggesting a plan for
draining the marshes. They extend in u
| narrow belt from four to six miles broad
| and twenty miles long almost parallel
with the sea south of Rome. Sand
dunes separate them from the sea and
on the north and east they are hemmed
in by big hills. Capt. Won Donat talked
about them last month before the geo.
graphical society of Berlin, says a writer
| in the New York Sun.
The first village on the northern
| boundary Of the marshes is Cisterna, a
hamlet at the southern base of the AL
| ban hills. Here begins the reign of
what the Italians call aria cattva, OF
| the bad air. The people of this hamlet
present striking contrast to the health
fulness Of the natives north of them.
They are yellow, bloated, physically
| weak, with melancholy eyes, and their
every aspect is that Of poverty, misery
and i'll health. The hamlets farther
! south contain very few residents. Sez-
re and Sermonetta suffer, notwithstand-
ing their elevated position on the hills,
| because they are exposed to the daughts
| of malarious air from the swamp.
Even Terracia, which is on a rock over
| the sea at the southern terminus of the
| marshes, is a very sickly place, and the
| residents are said to attain only half the
usual average Of human life. On the
| other hand, the little towns lying to the
east and south, just beyond the first
| protecting mountain walls, such as Pr
perno and Sonnino, are healthful places,
and the seward slopes Of the sand
dunes west of the marshes are also sal
| ubrious.
1t is of the greatest importance that
this region be thoroughly drained. Be
tween the northern and southern bound
airy Of the sWamps, along the post road
| through the center, live only about thir-
ty people, all of whom with yellow gray
L
completely lost elastic quality, and if
one touches it with the finger the dent
he makes is some time in disappearing
| People exposed to this deadly air lose all
energy and ambition, have not even any
desire to change their residence, are COM
pletely exhausted with their little house
| hold cares, and while walking on the
paths often fall asleep, and in this con-
| ditiOn now and then one Of them passes
into the slumber that knows no waking.
The air does not seem to have the same
| deleterious effect upon the lower ami
mails. Herds of cattle and buffalo feed
Oh the marshes and thrive fairly Well
What makes the evil all the more
| striking is the fact that this Wretched-
! ness, poverty and sickness pervadeS a
| region which is remarkable for the lux
uriance of it's soil, the excellence of it's
situation and the charming character of
! the climate in the surrounding regions
| If the marshes were drained very large
population could settle here, enjoy the
best health and turn this ill-omened spot
| into a paradise. Capt. Won Donat says
| the infected region is amply sufficient to
support $4,000 people, who would be
no more crowded than they are in some
other parts of Europe. The land itself
is undoubtedly the most fertile area on
| the continent. AS it is, there is nothing
| to see but a green waste with a few
ruins of castles, witch wealthy Romans
! in ancient times had the temerity to
| build there, and wretched huts Of the
| handful Of people who still dwell among
the marshes.
1t was tWenty-four centuries ago that
| the first efforts were made to drain the
Pontine swamps. julius Caesar con-
ceived the idea Of boring a tunnel
through the Alban hills, on the north,
and diverting the water of the Swamps
into the Iiber river. This stupendous
scheme never reached even it's initial
stage. After Caesar, Augustus, Nerva,
Trajan, Theodore and eighteen popes
among whom were Leo X. and Sixtus
", grappled with the problem Of drain
age. The first to accomplish important
results was Pope Plus VI, 120 years
ago. At an expenditure of 100000
francs he built large drainage works
which accomplished some good, though
ultimately they fell into neglect and be-
came almost useless. The work of Pope
Plus VI, however, is still important, for
it can be utilized to carry out a new
scheme of drainage, and will, to large
extent, reduce the cost and labor re-
quired.
The reason that it is so hard to ro
claim their marshes is on account of
their physical structure. The surface
| covering is soft, elastic peat from two
or three to seventy feet thick. Under
this peat reposes a stratum of clay
| about foot thick. This clay underlies
the greater part of the marshes only
few feet from the surface, and the wa
ter cannot permeate it The surround
ing mountains are largely destitute Of
verdure, and all the moisture that falls
upon them is quickly drained into the
ma rShes. After heavy downpours the
volume of water precipitated into the
Pontine plains is immense, and for
months some parts remain under three
feet of water. The trenches dug by
Pope Plus VI, even If they are now in
good working condition, are quite insult
| ficient to carry off great influx In the
middle of summer the marshy tract is
so far dried up, however, that it can be
crossed at all points.