The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-09-17

| An Important Question
Editor Herald The press is, or at
least should be- the guardian of the
public welfare, and while some of our
papers are slow to recognize this fact,
| am sure the Herald has ever been found
on the side of the people and ready to
take up the cudgel IN defense of thei. in
terests.
II is hardly fair to stamp one as an
armlst il he far cies he sees an approach
lug calamity, and calls the attention of
the public to it IN order that steps may
be taken, if possible, to avert the conse-
quences. For the past three years that
dread scnurge, Asiatic cholera. has been
gradually approaching the western hem
isphere. Two years ago we hardly ex-
pected 30 escape it.; last year the most
vigorous quarantine was observed, espe-
cially on the Atlantic saaboard, and our
latest dispatches inform us that it is
now raging at Honolulu, and on the
United States steamship Bennington. 1t
may be that thorough quaran tine ma Y
protect US agaiIs st an invasion this year,
but it is only question of time, and we
must prepare ourselves to meet 1t soon er
or later.
1t is a well esta blished fact that the
microbes OF Asiatic choleraa are not
waited distances through the air. but the
means by which it may be communi-
Gated are so various that the best regula-
ted quarantine may amount to but little.
1t is well established fact, too, that the
germs propagate the more readily IN foul
IL g l.
how we are prepared, in this direction,
to meet so fearful an enemy.
In a medical practice of over forty
years, it has been my fortune to pass
safely through several fearful epidemics
OF Asatic cholera. and invariably found
that where proper cleanliness was OBJ
served, and the sewerage was perfect, the
disease could make but little Roadway.
| do not hesitate to say that there is no
greater toe to human health or human
life than sewer gas, and it is one of the
most potent factors in the dissemination
of Asiatic cholera as we'll. Few large
cities are free from it, and the frequent
epidemics of dipntheria, typhoid fever
and the malarial condition that We find
existing all the time, are proofs positive
of its existence in our fair city.
] know | shall be repro bated by some
for making this assertion, but facts are
stubborn things. and when the lives OF
our citizens are at stake | do not think we
have the right to suppress facts. That
Southern California especially and that
section in and around the City of Angels
is the health resort par excellence OF
Am erica, if not the world, is beyond
question. But the fact that the Creator
has left nothing undone in making this
favored section of His moral vineyard
perfect in health and comfort, is no rea
son why man should neglect his duty
IN endeavoring to Keep it as perfect in
these advantages as He has bestowed it
upon him.
Let me give you little of my own ex-
perience in regard to our sewerage. A
few days ago while at breakfast foul
stencil filed the room, and frequent ex-
perience told ME what the matter was.
| fastened TO the room where the water
and sewer connections were, and found,
as l expected, the most filthy and foul
black water pouring up from the sewer
and overlooking the basin. l balied it
out as rapidly as | could, and rushed in
to the store where | felt sure similar
condition existed. | found it so, All d
about the time | got it bailed out and
cork in, | heard report like a pis tol
that came from the Kitchen. and when I
got there again / found that the gas had
forced the cork out. and the foul water
was again pouring in. Finally, by wedg-
ing in stout sticks, from the faucet to the
top of the corks, l managed to keep them
in place and stop the flow. Now this is
not merely an individual experience of
my own, but numbers have told me that
they have the same condition to fight.
Will any intelligent physician dare assert
that health can exist when compelled to
breathe this deadly gas? Most certainly
not. | reported the matter immed lately
to the health department. A gentleman
a 90 al vl,~ i -.
horrible condition, and-that was the
END of it.
Some months ago, when it was oven
worse than now, | made com plant, and
our landlord, who is ever ready to do all
he can for the comfort of his tenants,
went to considerable expense in putting
IA vent from the ground to the top of the
three-story building, so it is not from
proper ventage. [ do not propose to
enter into any argument as to the causse.
1t may be for the want of proper sewer
capacity sufficient fall. or, as one expert
insists, because foolish and reprehensi-
BILE economy in water, prevents the flush
ing out of the sewers as they should be.
BE it as it may, the condition exists and
it should be remedied if possible. How
often, during the past summer nights
have our olfactory nerves given positive
proof that do not exaggerate this mat
ter IN the least, and how often has the
what results have followed? Past expe-
rIeRce teaches that where proper sanitary
laws are observed, and where the vital
powers are not prostrated by nervous ex-
element or the violation of the laws of
health, the deadly cholera bacilli has but
little chance to gain a foothold in the
system. But when the healthy bioplasm
of the body is depressed from any of
those causes indus is readily formed
for the lodgment Of the microbes and ia
tai results follow. AS | said before, the
Creator has left nothing undone In max
ing our favored section all that could be
desired. Let it be our aim to keep it
such so far as we are able to. Those who
have in charge the sanitary protection of
our people have q fearful responsibility
on their shoulders, and have no right to
complain when important matters like
these are called to their attention. And,
as sufferer in my own family l think |
have an especial right to express nv
views. GEO. A. COULTER, M. D,
Sewer Gas Galore
Editor Herald :-The increasing prevail.