The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-07
THE MENACE OF GRAVEYARDs.
Dangers to the Living Caused by
Their Presence in Settled Commu-
mites.
Louis Windmuller IN the North American

1EtAGhEG DttAAtu
mites.
Louis Windmuller in the North American
Review.
Innumerable proofs, furnished by sc.en-
thc men Of all ages recently by the
French doctor Pasteur, show that earth
retains instead Of destroying the germs
of disease contained In body, and that
in some degree 1t will vitlate Us surround
ings.
Since Hannibars army was decimated
by efIiuvia from an ancient graveyard he
unwitungly demolished history has re
peated itself. The cholera IN London In
1854 was ascribed 10 the upturning Of the
earth where victims OF a previous plague
had been buried.
The French Academy Of Medicine Iocat-
ed the origin of diseases of the lungs and
the throat In putrid emanations from the
Partisan cemetery Pere ia Chaise. or the
older church yards Of Paris, once honey
combed with graves, that OF the limo
cents is remarkabl Established on The
present site Of the market called "IIalles
Centrales," it bred pestilenco for centu-
RES without hinderancc. Finally 1t be-
came notorious as a nuisance, so that Il
had 10 be abolished. Innumerable skele-
tons were unceremouiously carted TO the
Catacombs on April 7, 1886, Lyon Play
fair asserts that Roman fever originates
not in the POntine Marshes, but in de-
caying bodies Of the millions buried In
the Eternal city. Doctor Domingo Breire
found in cemeteries of Rio Janeiro my
RAIDS Of microbes in corpses, identical
with those in persons stricken with yell
low fever, a year after burial
Drainage from cemeteries in Philadelphia
has polluted water Of the Fairmount reser-
Voir. The Centennial dysentery Of 1876
has been attributed to this cause A con-
tlnued prevalence Of typhoid fever in this
sparsely inhabited city must be ascribed
10 the same cause.
Mortality by yellow fever was twice as
large In portions OF New Orleans where
large cemeteries are located as elsewhere.
In Cuba this plague RACES almost con-
tinuaily. Bodies of the victims Of disease
and Spanish cruelty, estimated 10 num-
Der two hundred thousand, are inadequate
ly protected against high temperature and
moisture their emanauons area menace
10 our soldiers more terrible than Spanish
guns. American officers should be dele
gated 40 destroy these bodies before they
do harm. The Austrian government per-
Tnits the destruction OF those who have
fallen on the field Of battle by the erect
Of pyres, a practice which ought to be
made obligatory on the militarya authori-
ties of all civilized nations over a hun
dred thousand bodies of Napoleon's army
OF invasion were cremated in 1872 by Rus
CLANS. More men died before Sebastopol
by inhaling miasma Of purified bodies than
were killed by the enemy. Some forty
thousand corpses poisoned the air after the
battle Of Sedan, until inhabitants Of ada
cent Belgian villages prevaileds on their
government TO appoint IN 1871 an officer 70
relieve the distress BY saturating them
with naphtha, he succeeded in burning
three hundred bodies in an hour, until all
were consumed. Long experience in the
East Indies has shown that danger In
creases with moist heat. Neither burial nor
disinfectants can sufficiently protect the
health Of our army. DR.. Samuel Latham
Mitchell said In a report TO our common
council May 30, 1875: Earth purifies con-
tents Of graves on the principle that wa
ter IN cleansing clothes becomes itself
foul"
A commission recently appointed to IN
vesugate sanitary conditions Of all grave
yards Ia Denmark was obliged to condemn
COS out Of total number Of $50. German
authorities have forbidden the use OF wa
ter from any well situated within 800 yards
Of a grave. Experience has shown that
cemeteries should BY law be banished far