News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1893-05-11
How to Stamp Out Cholera.

DR.. I. Telyafus of Tifis, Russia, has
plan for stamping out cholera,
which is likely to excite general inter-
est now, not because of it's immediate
practibility, but for the reason that it
| furnishes a lesson which may be put
into practice by everybody on a small
scale. He points out that the habi-
| tat of the cholera bacillus is the delta
of the Ganges, a low-lying area of
some 1900 square miles, intersected
by the many mouths of the Ganges
and Brahmapootra rivers. The soil
of the delta is moist, and contains
! the putrefying remains of animal
and plant life. Cholera has had it's
habitation here from time immemo-
rial, and every now and then, after
unusually heavy rains or other i'll
understood causes, invades the neigh
boring provinces, and sometimes
spreads a pandemic over the entire
world There have been four such
general invasions. and we are now
passing through the fifth.
DR.. Telyafus refers to the stamping
out of this plague in the Nile delta,
and he thinks that similar or more
| energetic measures would be effectual
on the banks of the Ganges. Former
ly the fellahin of Egypt buried their
dead on the banks of the Nile, and
when the annual overflow of the
river occurred, the bodies were wash
ed out into the stream and carried
down to spread disease over the del
| ia. Since an end has been put to
this custom the plague no longer
| harnesses the country. The natives
of India still cast their dead into the
sacred waters of the Ganges, and
while it would be difficult or impossi-
BILE to restrain them from this, DR.. Te-
lyafus suggests that they he COMPEL
ed first to cremate the dead and then
throw the ashes upon the bosom of
the river. He would further improve
the sanitary condition of the delta
by planting extensive eucalyptus
groves, as has been done in Algiers.
In the latter county the areas that
were almost uninhabitable marshes
few years ago, are now settled and
extensively cultivated by numerous
population. The change has been eff
fected by drainage and the planting
of eucalyptus trees. To convert the
Ganges delta into fertile, habitable
and healthful region would involve
enormous expense, but this would be
covered to great extent by vastly
increased production, and be more
than compensated for by the saving
of thousands of valuable lives every
year.
This theory, so unquestionably
correct, carries the suggestion to the
American people that every moist
and filthy spot may become a breed
ing place of cholera if left alone. The
cry of the people of New York city
for cleaner streets is justified by the
knowledge that cholera is on the |
way, and that it lives on filth. The
energy and enterprise of the city
authorities in cleaning the Croton
watershed will be of little avail in |
staying the pestilence if the streets,
the slums and the homes of filthy |
people, ignorant of sanitary laws,
are neglected, even for few weeks of
summer weather. In inland cities
there may also be cholera, and if it
appears it will be found to take it's
start where filth abounds. But once
fastened upon the city, its spread to
cleanlier places will be inevitable.
The processes of nature that have
made the Ganges delta the home of
the earth's deadliest scourge, are
taking place On miniature scale in
hundreds of spots in every large
American city. Cleanliness is the
iDvincible foe of cholera.--Troy Times.