San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-02-21

bacteria and any other germs of di-
sease, that may have a local habita-
toin and a name in medical books
These streets are clogged with trash
and rubbish as well as filled with ponds
Of water for days together, after every
rain, and are as unsightly as they are
unclean. AS there is no outlet provid-
ed for the storm water, it has to stand
in ponds until it is absorbed by the
earth, or evapOrated by the sun.
The back lots of all business houses
in the city need inspection and clean
ing up, perhaps a liberal sprinkling of
lime and other disinfectants.
All private lots are in need of the
same treatment. Where the public
health is concerned, any neglect of
sanitation is fraught with danger, on
the principle that prevention is bet
ter than cure"
The trash boxes should be emptied
daily, as they contain stale vegetables,
rotten fruit and fragments OF meat and
bread, saturated with water and in a
accomplishing state. The air soon be-
comes tainted with unpleasant and I'M
healthy smells and gases.
The plague is now desolating British
India and in case history tells the
H., az,
Asia for many centuries, that it did
not sneak into Europe, in some unper-
Ceived and unexpected manner.
In his History of the decline and
fall OF the Roman Empire" Gibbon
states, that the plague is easily trans
Missile in bales OF merchandise par
ticularly in wooden goods and clothes,
and that it was through this channel
the plague entered Europe during the
middle ages. He estimates that the
plague in that visitation, killed 3,00O,-
900 of the inhabitants of Europe.
During the reign of Charles the Sec
Ond, about 230 years ago, the plague
ragged with great violence in London
for eighteen months, and its ravages
were stopped only by the great fire Of
London, which Evelyn declared type
fed the scenes of the Day Of Judg-
ment.
Cleanliness is not favorable to the
termination of any sort of disease
and always diminishes its mortality,
where it prevails, and frequently serv-
es as an effectual quarantine against
disease.
There is a possibility that the plague
may be introduced into the United
States from India, in bales Of merchan-
disc imported from that plague-strick-
en- country, where sanitation is total
ly neglected and despised.
Should the plague make its appear
ance in Syria, Turkey, or Egypt, there
is a strong probability of its finding
it's way into that portion of Europe
bordering on the Mediterranean sea,
and in that case the possibility Of its
introduction into the United States
would be greatly increased.
The cholera will, probably re-appear
in Southern Spain with the advent Of
warm weather, and should this event
occur, there will be danger of its be-
ing widely diffused through hords of
with their tons of cloth
ing, landing annually on our shores,
and through the goods constantly be-
ing imported from Asia and Europe.
In 1882, cholera was introduced into
Canada, in the dead of the winter, by
from Ireland, and from
Canada it worked its way into the
United States.
No harm can result from the placing
of San Antonio in a state of perfect
sanitation, and as it may effectually
fence out disease, both indigenous
and imported, the city authorities and