The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-12-14
NEWS HND COMMENT

There Is al altIole in the international
Medical Magazine on the subject OF water
filtration, which while it does not apply
directly to Scranton, thanks to the wise
foresight ana enterprise of the Scranton
Gas and Water company, is nevertheless
interesting. 1t says: "A rough Gale lla-
tiOn based upon statistics given in & now
book by John w. Hill shows that ty-
phOid alone IN the year 1896 caused up
ward of 5000 deaths in thrty-iiVc Amer
lean and Canadian cities, saying nothing
of the deaths from the same cause in the
smaller towns and country places. For
every fatal case there were at least four
that recovered which would make 2O,r0
condemned to a long and trying illness,
with pcrsstinC i'll health in many of
them and there must, in fact. have been
| considerably larger proportion of recov-
cries under our improved modern meth
DDS of treatment. But the striking-One
might even say startling--fact demon
strated by Mr.. lIill'S book is that the
death rate from typhoid fever, instead of
ranging from 80 to Ga in each 100000 of pop
ulation, as II did in Philadelphia from 1890
TO 1896, or from 81 to 100 in each 100000, as
| in Chicago during the same period, need
not be over or ) in the 100000, If only
our municipalities could be governed on
business principles, with the help of the
best sanitary science. The proof is 10 he
found in the effects of thorough system
of sand filtration of public waite" sup
plies in a number of European cities. For
instance, in Berlin the mortality from ty-
phOid has, by such filtration, been so re-
ducod that in each of the years 1898 and
1896 it was ), while in 1891 it was only 4, IN
every 100 900 of the population. In AM
sterdam the rate was 10 in 1890 and came
down to 3 in 1896 In Hamburg the pro-
portion was 2S in the 10000 in 1890. but an
| epidemic of cholera compelled the institu-
| tiun of radical measures for the puTitica-
| tion of the polluted Elbc water (Which,
however as the typEo Did death rate shows.
was not half as nlthy as the Schuylkill
river water furnished TO PHILADELPHIA,
aud, in consequence, the typhoid rate in
| 500 had fallen to t in the 1000" The ar
| tirle concludes with this pertinent QuCS-
| tion: "If some fierce barbaric horde like
| the Goths and Nandals of old were in the
| habit of swOopng down every year upOn
| the civilized regions of North America,
killing our people by tens Of thousands
| and wOunding from $4,000 to 10000 more.
| all for lack of adequate dcfcnses, which
would cost a few beggarly millions of dol
| lars what q howl of indignation there
would be! How the press and platform,
and even the pulpit would ring with de-
nunciatiOnS of the Criminally Gpathetic
authorities who permitted such an unnCc-
essary sacrifice! Yet would such need
| less loss in battle be any more deporable
or any more Cflmlnal lnan permitting the
death or serious injury annually of the
same number of people by the many dis
eases which We now know to be prevent
| able?"
Correspondent Charles NJ Pepper, writ
ing from Marianoa, Cuba, To the Wash
iugton Star, speaks thus of the effect
upon the Cuban people of that part OF
President McKinloy's message which re-
feiTed 10 the future of Cuba: Judging
hy The Cubans in Havana and the insm-
gents in the camps around Mariano& and
GunabaCoa, ii has increased enormously
the personal influence of President Nc
IIinley. and therefore of his adminietra-
ton. The ragged soldiers in tho ranks Of
the iusurgc nts had gradually come TO
look upon the president as one who un-
derstoOd them and the struggle tEoy cav
ried on. The belief had spread among
them that his personal sympathies were
with them and that he knew ANA made
allowance for their drawbacks In going
among them during October | found thl.
TO he the strongest impression. Some am
btio : leaders were trying 10 create "A
differeht belief, and some impatient rad
iCals were talking distrust While these
efforts created some uneaslncss ana in
creased the expectancy, l could never dis