New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-04-25
DISEASEINDUST CLOUDS
CITIZENS INHALE GERMS.
Physician Traces Many Ills to Street
DeDOSitS.

When the snow melted this spring and the accu-
INFLATED dirt Of the winter in the streets was
ground into dust the physicians Of the Health De-
partment said that no germs we're in the clouds OF
dust that assailed pedestrians throughout the city
No self-respectng baclH. they said, would min
gle in the pulverized muck-not a bacill! would
deign 10 trust his injecting self in the swirl OF
powdered filth But DR.. ". Gilman Thompson, in
The Medical Journal" who has intercepted dense
clouds Of sufocaing dust in his travels in the city
has opinion variance with the official ex-
preston. DR. Thompson. in his article gave a
summary or an analysis Of dust. as follows:
J. The ashes house sweepings. etc. which are
freely blown about from exposed ashcarts and ash
2 The manure Of horses and dogs voided in the
streets 20 become dried, pulveTized and distributed
3 The irritating powdered asphalt ground from
the surface Of the pavemerts. and often mixed into
a shiny paste with mud. horse dung and the petro-
leum drippings from automobiles.
etc derived from buildings undergoing construc-
ton or demolition and carried about the streets in
3 The earth from street excavations usually i'm
pregnated with sulphides and other products from
6 The SCOT from crimneys. which eventually
settles I'm the streets and In the winter becomes
visible b. blackening the snow
In addition. as less general filth factors may be
added:
= The garbage which in the tenement dis
trcts is frequently overturned into the street ese
cially after heavy snowstorms, when It's reHloVai
is neglected. ,,..
g. Other deposits which combine all the injurious
qualities Of the others
Thus in eight "a her unpleasant paragraphs he
analyzes the dust which collects In the streets and
is blown hiher and thither. The horrors that citi-
zens meet are told by Dr. Thompson He says;
short walk. the opportunity IS afforded him Of
acquiring one or more or lI!e iou"s ~, or,,.,
A conjunctvits serious tTauIld on lhg ti
from a spicula OF silica from passing asnci.I, "A
nasal catarrh OF more or less seVeTS, ,I a die
ease from Irritation OF the Eustachian tubes ION
6ronchc-pneuIr, mia and Influenza II he IS subject
10 asthala acre attack ma De pre- irratoo
OF his lungs may easily excite an attack OF pull
r1onary co1gertion or crdema.
MIA f NAV inbaie the bacillus tuberculosis or de-
velop a catarrh which makes a pItIio 80, AS
eases and ali are diseases. which colIectvely
constitute Formidable nGicS mem also fheg are
ciirnatc diseases hut only In the sense that ire
~ air Moisture may lessen vitality ana cause
mucous membrane irritation nu' IrIs The diTt
no DC y-oTse climatic conditions exist elsewhere
with less 9 nTf Of the diseases Of this type
The acute Inhalation diseases ana c1ni djrt - in
diseases. are due directly ana chlehy 10 'i'' III
nalation.
The conclusions reached by Dr. Thompson are
these:
,rv dirt remains comparatively harmless while hIS:
o. Its.' IrLo longer IL remains in given street
the more finely becomes pulveIlZeo anu u1 ar
W inns atomized and inhaled it acts inJuriouSy
upon ali the sensitive mucous eIP' a1eS
gsnS tTaiima and partly by conveying 10
tbeTn and Embedding in their folds a grgat k -
20 a-,,,a These germs not necessarily those %
o1aSei6c diseases for such germs are known 10 De
LgIed nv conditions of prolonged exposure 10 dIy
~. aDS sunlight whereas moisture proves favor
- 90 tbeir longevity. But SUFFICIENT non-speclnc
aDL- I" - conveyed by street dust to excite ca
germs NJ ,,,ier. infa mmations. and by thus los
tering chronicaly diseased or irrltated conaltoh
~ The respiratory passages the latteF are
Ita bie IN more serious infections. -,
Herein lies the chief menace TO heait m rom rom
80 the spufum of patients having chronic tuper-
cuIosts bronchitis or nasopharyngeal catalrn 81.
,er from the sidewalks and added to the general
street dirt aa.... ..,.ts,ios -, s,,,,ort
% ,bese elementary propositions. so Well known by
"a .rs.nvsl eTDerience 20 many laynen as well as
psystcisns Al certain seasons when the streets
~ hs city are presenting an exaeerbatlon OF their
% ronjc r1cieanliness after day two OF gusty
vdnds an epidemic OF acute coughs and colds and
-bo suffer from chronic respiratory ailments. but
sraonR those In previous health