The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-09-26

matter at or near the wharf; to the un. wholesome condition of the wells; ana to some change and alteration In the constitution of the atmosphere on 'he other hand there are those who are as fully of opinion that while yellow fever Is indigeniops in some regions; while II prevails in the eastern part or the west ern hemisphere far more frequently than in any other region. the locus or the malady Is the Antilles. That In these places 1t Is endemic; and that while certain islands and seaport towns along our coast always suffer from an epidemic whenever certain atmospheric conditions exist; that whether the fe- yer Is epidemic or endemic. and wheth- CT the locality Is one frequently visited. or one in which the disease is indigen- ous. sporadic cases are of very rare oc- currence.
 Perhaps the most enthusiastic and jealous advocate of the doctrine of local origin was Noah Webster. who, in a very curious work entitled "A History of Epidemic and Pestilential Diseases" etc, published in l7s9, appears to re- ylve the ancient theory of the proba- bility that presidential epidemlcs are produced by some occult qualities In the air, or by vapor from internal parts of the earth. or by planetary influence. or some extraordinary phenomena in the physical world, as earthquakes, eruptions of volcanoes, appearance of comets, violent tempests, unusual sea- sons, and other singular events and cir cumstances. which. as precursors or companions. may appear to be connect ed with pestilence, either as cause or effect, or as the effect of a common cause.
 In this abstract we have the sub stance of MT. Webster's argument: 'In the first place, the opinion that the | sloop could communicate infection, Is unfounded; for 1t does not appear that any person i'll with the fever has been on board-certainly there had not been any sick on board after leaving Marti- nico. The sloop was taken by the Brit ish troops when they took the island, and lay in port some weeks unoccupied; 1; until Captain Truman had an opportu- nity to purchase her. Meanwhile some of the crew, to keep themselves em- piOyCu duN ploSulC "Sit III lhC business of droging; that is, transport. ing goods from place to place. One of them died with the fever, but on shore, and he had not been on board of the sloop after his illness. On the passage home the seamen were all in good health. There is not, therefore, the least ground to suppose the ship con- tained any infection, and no part of her cargo was supposed to be in bad state. The external parts of a vessel or house cannot retain or communicate infection.
 Secondly, as to the chest of clothes, it probable that it contained no infection from diseased persons; for by the affi- davit Of Captain Truman, taken before Alderman Furman of New York, at the request of Dr. Baily, the health officer of that port, which affidavit have con- suited, it appears that the clothing worn by the seaman who owned the chest and died at Martinico, was all wrapped in his blanket with his body and buried. AS Captain Truman is a man of good character and has made his affidavit, four years since the dis ease at New Haven, when all apprehen- sions of injury from declaring the truth have subsided, there seems to be no reason to question the fact But as men, who have not attended to the great operations of nature in producing epidemic diseases, naturally look for the causes among visible and tangible substances, they still found a resource in a British regimental coat, which was in the chest, and which, it was SUD- posed might have belonged to a sol dier who might have died of yellow fe- yer. In consequence of these suspi- cions the contents of the trunk were all burnt.
 On examination it appears that the coat was new-and the mate of the sloop has sworn that he saw the coat plundered by the seaman from bale of goods. and he believes 1t had never been worn." It was taken by the sea man in the business of droging, from among the packages of clothing sent by the British government for the use of the troops. But had we no such evidence, common sense might inform us that man, laboring under fever in the sul- try climate of the West Indies, would not wear his regimentals In the chest, therefore. as in the sloop, we can find no infection of yellow fever If MT. Aus tin and his clerk received the seeds of disease from the clothing in the chest, as 1t is possible they did, the sources of the disease must have been the fetid effluvia of dirty clothes, which had been kept long time, close packed in a chest, in a sultry climate. It is not me- cessary to suppose the clothes to have been worn by diseased person; the sweat and filth from body, if con fined in the hot season, will fermert and !. produce a poison injurious to health, and productive Of yellow fever or other diseases.
 But as some reports have been circu- lated, in contradiction of the testimo-. ny of Captain Truman, and as there is a possibility that he might have mis, taken the facts, lay out Of this ques- tion all the evidence respecting the sloop; for whether the trunk contained infected clothes or not is wholly irnma- terial; and without any reference to that point, the evidence that the fever in New Haven did not spring from any imported source, is complete. MT. Aus tin went on business to New York, was seized with the fever and died; his body was conveyed in sloop to New Haven and buried; 1t Is an agreed point that no friend, nurse or other person took the fever from him. MT. Hubbard went on business to Derby, ten miles distant, was taken i'll and died; his