The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-25
How 70 Better Richn1ond's
Health.

The Charlotte Observer notes an M
81 +ercsting parallel as vel! as dllleici'ee
q 1,ctwccn an article recently appearing ~ -
+bc New Orleans Times Democrat anu
\ another appearing in The Times loispatc''
an tic srhieot of cleanliness and hea''h'
.rrhe New orleans paper says our
t.ontcmpornry, states that the death
!. record among the white population ' y
reached its lowest tlgrrcs-10,b per l,Vo'V'
Nor annun. n This Isl eXccptionaple. LOT y
H a lower than for any city IN Ameilc e'"
and il It we're possible to maintain such
II :, .record tho expectation OF the White
,,oon,e of New Orleans would be advanced
& 10 ninety-four years and every whi'e man
:, and woman could look forward 70 ncar!S
4 :, century Of life.' Tho Times Democrat
I saws. however, that the mortality there.
IS generally very low, save when cpidchalcs
II n 70 encountered This Is due to climatic
4 ondit,ons-cspccially freedom from sl'a
don changes in temperature. I'M A'io'i'et
nont to DO considered IN this co nlilrc'l,'i
ii saws the paper Just quoted. is ono on tt l
utmost Importance to us, for 1t carries y
valuable lesson-tlat whenever we deVote
onr efforts TO an Improvement OF SAM
tarv conditions, to n careful and thorough
inspcction Of streets and tcncments, tlie'o
u Is a marked decrease in the sick rate ana
4, death rnte. We had a good example
RI OF this last year, when the sanitary "o 't
carried on during the fever left Ne" "
g k.,s IL so much better and cleaner con-
ALTON than it had been for years, WIN
thc result that the mortality was gIea''S
,cduced even among the negroes, whom
ii is usually difficult to reach N son
tary matters There is little reason 70
doubt that the present mountaineering
morality is due to much the same cause,
ana that the better inspection now being
81 made and tho greater attention Doing
paid to sanitation lave tended to reduce
the death rate among the whites OF ms
X city TO half what it is in New York ana
Il less than it is in any other of the larger
American cities"
The Observer then speaks of the vastly
different conditions in Richmond, as point
ed out in The Timcs-Dispatcn
'',Thc death ratio in Richmond, says
The Observer, sis figured ut 93.la ana IN
a. report submitted 10 the City Council
nv a. special committee appointed to In
vcstigate the health department, the con-
cluslon is that the high death rate Is
hut The natural consequence of the lack
Of effort to check dis'nsc. The Times
Dispatch regards thu cofnmittce's report
as an emergency CALI and urges imna-
date action.
Laying aside climatic conditions, which
may operate somewhat TO Richmond
* disadvantage as compared with New Or
leans, there is no denying the assertion
that cleanliness goes n long way toward
preserving citys hcalth-Hanava is a
notable proof of this. The conditions ii,
Richmond and New Orleans furnish a
conspicuous example to other cities
This contrast speaks for Itself. a little
while ago we were all synpathzns viii
New Orleans because the city was atflict-
cd with yellow fever; yet 1t turns out
that this epidemic was a blessing In dis
guise. The New Orleans authorities wen
TO work ana thoroughly cleaned ant
fumigatcd the city. As consequence
health conditions have greatly improved
II Richmond had done likewise, there ha'
been a corresponding result here. We ar
not liable TO have a yellow fever epidemic
but we have diseases almost MS baf
quite as bad, perhaps in their result!
when taken altogether, as yellow fcye
we should follow the example OF Ne
orleans ana give our city scen,ii
cleaning up.
With this end in View. we should cle'
TO the Council those members who M
known to be in favor OF reforming and r
habi,ating the health department.
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