The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1893-05-20
THE PoNTlNe MARSHES.
swamp Lands OF Europe That Are th,
Abode OF Malaria.

OF Rome, crossed by q branch of the
famous Appian way, and breeding
malaria to so great an extent that they
have been regarded as a crying evil fol
two thousand years. The Pontint
marshes are to-day as great an evil a.
ever they were. Capt. Won Donat, q
German engineer, has been making 9
study OF these breeding places of dis
ease with view to suggesting plar
for draining the marshes. They ex
tend in narrow belt from four to 81,
miles broad and twenty miles long al
most parallel with the sea south o.
Rome. Sand dunes separate Their
from the sea, and on the north and
cast they are hemmed in by big hills
Capt Won Donat talked about their
last month before the Geographical
society of Berlin.
The first village on the northern
boundary of marshes is Cisterna, a
hamlet at the southern base of the AL.
ban hills. Here begins the reign OF
what the Italians call aria cattiva. or
the bad air. The people of this hamlet
present striking contrast to the
healthfulness of the natives north OF
them. They are yellow, bloated, physi.
cally weak, with melancholy eyes, and
their every aspect is that of poverty,
misery and i'll health. The hamlets
farther south contain very few resi-
dents. Seize and Sermonetta suffer,
Notwithstanding their elevated posi-
ton on the hills, because they are ex-
t,osed to the draughts of malarious air
from the swamps. Even Terracina,
which is on a rock over the sea at the
southern terminus of the marshes, is a
very sicllly place, and the residents are
said to attain only half the usual aver
age 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 Piperno and
Sonnino, are healthful places, and the
seaward slopes of the sand dunes west
of the marshes are also salubrious.
tits OF the greatest Importance that
this region be thoroughly drained. Be
tween the northern and southern
boundary of the swamps, along the
post road, through the center, live only
about thirty people, all of them with
yellow-gray skin and bloated flesh
Their flesh has completely lost elastic
quality, and if one touches it with his
finger the dent he makes is some time
in disappearing. People exposed to
this deadly air lose all energy and am
bition, have not even any desire to
change their residence, are completely
with their little household
cares, and while walking on the paths
often fall asleep, and in this condition
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 buffaloes feed
on the marshes and thrive fairly well.
What makes the evil all the more
is the fact that this wretched-
neVs, poverty and sickness pervades a
region which is remarkable for the
luxuriance of Its soil, the excellence of
its situation and the charming char
acter of the climate in the surrounding
regions. If the marshes were drained
a very large population could settle
here, enjoy the best or health and turn
this ill-omened spot into a paradise.
Capt. Won Donat says the infected
region is amply sufficient to support
five hundred thousand 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 green
waste with few ruins of castles,
which 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 Tiber river. This stupendous
scheme never reached even its initial
stage. After Caesar, Augustus, Nerva,
Trajan, Theodore and eighteen popes,
among whom weSe Leo X. and SiXtus
", grappled with the problem Of drain
age. The first to accomplish important
results was Pope Plus W., one hundred
and twenty years ago. At an expendi-
ture Of nine million francs he built
large drainage works which accom-
plished some good, though ultimately
they fell into neglect and became al
most useless. The work of Pope Plus
W., however, is still important, for it
can he utilized to carry out new
scheme of drainage, and will, to q large
extent, reduce the cost and labor re,
quired.
The reason that it is 80 hard to re.
claim these marshes is on account o1
their physical structure. The surface
covering is a soft, elastic peat from two
or three to seventy feet thick. Undc,
this peat reposes a stratum of clay
about foot thick. This clay under
lies the greater part of the marshe.
only a few feet from the surface, ant
the water cannot permeate it. The
surrounding mountains are largely des
titute OF verdure, and all the moistur,
that falls upon them is quickly drained
into the marshes. After heavy down
pours the volume Of water precipitatet
into the Pontine plains is immense
and for months some parts remair
under three feet of water. The trenches
dug by Pope Plus VI, even if the,
were now in good working condition
are quite insufficient to carry off tn,
great influx. In the middle of summe
the marshy tract is SO far dried up
however, that it can be crossed at al
points.