The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-09-28
TIe Wessenger.
1UCH .SPASMODIC SANITATION
IN THE SOUTH

ofxD-tS to secure a thorough system oI
s1-r age, good drinking water that will
stx I'D the test of analysis, and scien-
eifA. sanitation. We have 10 idea that
Wilmington has been in condition at
TEX ct germs planted here would not
Hps- Years ago DR.. Bell, editor Of the
New York Sanitarian, made an inspec-
fIxsu Of this town and told us that 1T
uas then ready and ripe for the spread
Of yellow fever if once introduced. 1t
Was at that very time reported to be
I'm a. good sanitary state by officials.
Ea1w is it now? Walk on some OF the
s.frr.efs at night and hold your nose for
Ell answer.
1yh Charleston News and Courier
dIsuuusses what it aptly describes as
~Spasmodic Sanitation" Most SANTA
FJt,r is of that ~kind-very infrequent,
very imperfect. 1t is correct in saying
that occasional scare about yellow
Ever. cholera, diphtheria, etc, discov-
erz things and conditions about the av-
erage city that are in force at other
Zines, and are not noticed then, but
which probably are productive of more
and death in a generation
than ali such epidemics put together"
Let a thoroughly equipped sanitary ex-
pert OF large experience be introduced
and given the freedom Of the city,"
private lots and so on included, and he
viii find many hidden corners in which
gnalarial poisons and death-breeding
efHuvia are generated. The truth is
sanitation is science, n those who fill
places as party henchmen as rewards
are not in possession of any knowledge
sufficient to meet the exigencies. In
s,rOof of this Atlanta is pronounced to-
LAY by n Of it's papers to be ex-
u remedy filthy, the New Orleans States
declares that it's city is most abomi-
l,abIy and unbearably foul. Atlanta
first invites yellow fever refugees,
shen proposes to clean up for their re-
&-eptiOn. There are even dead sewers
l. here-receptacles merely Of all manner
If garbage and filth that can not es-
e-ape. An Atlanta paper is quoted
} IOIl ny II CIdIlcSloH popCi ~ liz
fleet with added comments:
~@Stench arises in almost every part
Of the city, and in places is intolera-
Ole 1T is a crime against the city for
which the health department is respon-
ss1h1e." it is added, but we should have
heard nothing of the condition so de-
uounced but for the outbreak of a
filthy disease in another city hundreds
OF miles away. The authorities Of At
Eanta, it is reported from other sources,
are now industriOusly engaged mclean
ing the city. The sewers are hushed
every day. More water is poured
through in a day than was Ised for
that purpose in a week heretofore"
Why all this cleansing and fumigat-
ing and flushing of water if the city
IVA clean and healthy before? What
Is the condition Of Wilmington? Are
the physicians satisfied? Do they know
what the condition IS? In New Orleans
after the fell destroyer came in and the
scare" became a panic the cleaning,
flushing, purifying business began in
great earnest. Here are some reports
OF what was found:
DIR. Metz found as many as sixty
NCOkit Ouo1 loSCllCl LII NiNC SoAicL
quarter, living in filth. One of the yell
Tow fever patients, a woman, was taken
from this quarter, and the board real
Ized that unless something was done at
once the block in which the woman
lived was likely to become a plague
spot. 1t was therefore decided to guard
and thoroughly disinfect and fumigate
IN entire square, and to remove most
Cf the families as soon a. possible"
W. ~ 1.r -oo ~ ~
efficiency, neglect, laundering stupidity.
People are killed by such sins of omis-
SIon- We have not a doubt that tens
OF thousands of people die annually in
n south who ought to be alive and
would be alive except for the crimina
neglect as to sanitation, water, etc. The
News and Courier says:
"There is an epidemic Of cleansing
and disinfecting and so on from the Po-
m to the Rio Grande. Wherever it
Is manifest, the local authorities and
h people plead guilty by that fact to
the charge of habitual carelessness n
neglect in the conduct of the affairs of
their several communities. 1t is a Sc
r1ous faul everywhere. It's punish
ment is disease and DEATH.
Alas! that this should be true, but
-, it is. We do not believe any south
srn town is habitually kept clean and
free from the neglected sources of poi
son. New Orleans is deeply moved and
the people meet and talk and act. It
eEould be SO here and in all other south
srn cities, if an epidemic of yellow fe-
yer. or cholera, or diphtheria or any
other fatal c%ontagion were present.
The bankers, business men and others
III New Orleans met and resolved that
kst Tuesday be general cleansing day
and that each individual inhabitant
9f the city proceed without delay to
che cleaning of his own premises, to
the disinfection of his water closets,
alleys, yards, etc, and the destruction
of all ~decaying matter by fire.
Tho NawS and Courier referring TO