Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-09-17
THE SEASON OF FEVER.


win have an injurious effect upon the
business OF that section cannot be ques-
TONED.
Already the towns are quarantih'hs
against one another. and this proceealhs
must very seriously interfere with tfdNei
and commerce. But as yet our southern
friends are more scared than hurt. Inc
nercentags Of deaths to the NUMBER Oh
fever cases is small No such milo yer
Iow-feyer was ever seen before. vi oiu
tbe disease was known as one of fright
ful fatality. Then the many died ana
the few recovered. Now these results
are reversed.
Again. It is too late in the season Tor
yellow-fever TO get into "full SWING
IL is a disease which cannot exist IN
temperature which long continues peio"
an average of 70 degrees Fahrenheit Fur
thermore, the towns and cities OF the
South are better prepared to fight IL imam
ever before. They have learned much
from costly experience. New orleans
for instance. is in a good sanitary con-
dition. Such fever cases as exist there
are traceable TO the outbreak at ocean
SPRINGS. Miss, where there were hundreds
Of cases of dengue and dozens of yellow
fever though from neither disease was
the number of deaths large.
New Orleans has plenty OF water WIN
which TO flush her culverts and sewers
and this she Is Systematically dong.
The family that is too poor to pay lor
city water finds the health authorizes
coming to its relief. New orleans
shrewdly thinks it cheaper to give away
water than to have hundreds OF SICK ana
dying people upon its hands. Hospitals
and nurses, too. are provided ana 'he
negro population is especially looked
after. In all cases where patients can
not be conveniently removed TO hospitals
their homes are guaranteed as far as
possible.
And what is being done in New Orleans
is being done in Mobile, and wherever
else the fever has appeared Never De
fore have the people been so thoroughly
prepared TO fight the disease OFF; never
have they been so willing to spend their
money TO stamp out the disease where
if has appeared. But, notwithstanding
these conditions, many families nave heu
northward and westward. In few places
do they find a welcome. Most far SOUTH
ern towns will not permit them TO us
embark from the trains and the trains
are required to pass through the towns
without stopping, and at the rate OF
twenty miles per hour. Atlanta Is, at
present, the great city of refuge All
refugees are welcome there; and, as
consequence of this, Atlanta's neighbors
are beginning to quarantine against her
and so it goes!
The conviction that has long obtained
in Richmond obtains in Atlanta-that
yellow-fever cannot live in their city.
There. as here, in times past, many cases
of yellow-fever have been brought from
other places without spreading the tis-
ease. Professional opinion, we believe
is not absolutely a unit as to he me
fallibility Of this view, but no matter
Atlanta is willing to take the risk, as
Richmond has always done. We believe,
however. that Atlanta is redoubling her
exertions to improve her sanitary cor
ditiohs. to the end that no lack OF local
sanitation shall add to the risk that she
feels justified in taking in view of her
natural position.
The spectacle of cities and towns re-
lentlessly quarantining against one an
other is not a pleasant one. In many
instances armed men are employed TO
warn off boats and trains and to see that
no refugees from the affected districts
cross the line. All this seems cruel, yet
II is perfectly natural. one fever case
introduced into a town poorly provided
with the means to fight the disease might
carry death 20 hundreds. With better
for fighting the disease will
come leniency in the treatment of refu-
gees. and the time may come when they
will not be met with shotguns, but with
welcomes But for the present the little
towns are only asserting the first law
of nature, and for doing this they should
not be harshly judged.
We trust that the yelow-fever in the
far South will cause a general cleaning |
up throughout the land. In few cities |
are sanitary conditions what they should |
be There is al this time much Of eX |
IRENE poverty, and where people (be they |
white or black have not the money to |
buy bread it is absurd to expect them |
to spend money TO keep their premises
clean. These very poor people we shall |
have to care for, because ii is the duty |
of man to man. But If that argument |
will not suffice, we say it is our duty to |
look after them, lest their homes become |
the breeding places Of disease which may |