The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-08-31
MALARIA, DRAINAGF, health.
DR.. Foard Points Out the Source of Much
Sickness and Suggests the Remedy.

DR.. Foard Points Out the Source of Much
Sickness and Suggests the Remedy.
Correspondence of the Landmark
Miasma, or malaria, is a poisoned at
mosphere, containing living poisonous
animalcules, generated from sSagnated
water and decaying animal and vege
table matter by the action of heat aud
moisture, and extinguished by severe
cold weather and d~isinfectants,
This is impure air, by the laws of ma
ture, arising from the beds of produc.
ton, to what heights we are not able
to tell, and is waited by the winds to
and fro, how many hundreds Of miles
no one can ascertain, entering every
open door, window and crevice of every
home over which those winds pass, and
is inhaled by every individual in every
locality thus infected; or those poison
germs may be absorbed by the earth
and washed down by the rains until
they reach the veins OF water which
feed our springs and wells. Our drink
ing water thus poisoned gives add
tiOnal momentum to the poisoned at
mosphere breathed, thus making dis
ease and death more certain,
The habitual use of all stimulants
and narcotics, and other violated laws
of nature, by the people, increase the
harvest Of human destruction A tub
OF water left exposed to the SUI and
night air for a time will prove a small
manufacturing establishment for mi
crobes and mosquitoes, while the hun.
dreds Of millions of undrained creeks,
river bottoms and swamp lands, lakes,
ponds and obstrUcted water ways of
North Carolina, are enormous death
dealing factories from which our pure
mountain air and sea breezes become
contaminated in the hot months to
such a degree that no section of the
State is entirely free from the poison
long at a time. The healthtulnees Of a
community depends very much upon
the direction Of the prevailing winds
aud proximity to those cess pools. E!e
walton is no guarantee against this
poisoned air, as it gets above the tim
Der, is driven by the winds to the
ridges, hills and mountains with more
force and certainty than to the valleys.
The only remedy is to cut off the sup
ply by proper drainage and other pre-
ventive measures.
The writer having been born, brought
up, studied and pVacticed medicine for
many years in q malRrious section, was
compelled to learn much Of which he
is now writing, and the observation of
a long life added thereto may be a
sufi apology, if one is needed, for
an article Of this kind. AS facts are
more convincing than mere opinions, I
propose giving O few that have come
under my observation, The natural
drainage of the middle and western
portions Of North Carolina originally
was so perfect and the climate so health
full as to invite immigration from the
old countries in great numbers prior to
and 5000 after tie Revolutionary strug
gle Of our forefathers. But as the
population increased, the rich high
lands we're cleared, mostly by deaden
ing the timber. Mills { grind grain
were needed and erected on streams by
making dams and creating large ponds
without first clearing off the timber,
which died and vas left to decay if ex
posed to the air, or lie in the mud for
many years to send forth poisonous
vRpors; and as the lowiapds were not
needed for tillage, or were considered
worthless for agricultural purposes,
they became hiding places tor wild ami
mails, and in catching these many
trees were annually felled, some III the
streams which INSTRUCTED them and
caused them to over 3w their banks
frequently, and the washing Of the alIu
vial soil from the hillsides thus thrown
out upon the lowlands with the decay
ing timber; and when the hot weather
and rains came those lowlands and
ponds emitted those poisonous vapors
by the ton. As time passed the health
of those counties became dreadful, and
reached it's climax from 1910 to 1850
Many thousands of lives were thus pre-
maturely sacrificed annually in that
section between Charlotte and Greens
boro, where health and happiness had
previously reighed. Some of the coun-
ties employed from twenty to thirty
physicians each constantly, and thew