The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1915-12-02
Cleanliness Is Next to Goodness.

Cleanliness Is Next to Goodness.
This text is not taken from tn
Bible, yet it is good proverb. Trutl
is just as much true out of the Bibl
as in it. Being in the Scriptures doe
not make any statement true, neithe
does being out of the Bible make i
untrue.
| Last weeks Herald contained thu
following sad notice: "A message
received here this morning brought the
sad intelligence of the death OF Mrs
B. P. Carter, which occurred at an early
hour today at the hospital in Baker,
Oregon, where she underwent an oper-
alton on the 18th inst
The above notice causes one to re-
fleet on what there may be back of the
operation. Last September, Mrs.
Carter was taken with an illness that
was reported as being very closely akin
to typhoid fever. We pass over the
treatment of the case-how she was
moved from one house to another and
without trained nurse. We are not
in possession of the cause of the oper-
alton. We only know of the death
by the report. What l wish to call
attention to is the condition of the
allies of our town as we'll as the open
cess-pools in the back part of some of
the downtown lots. Will not more
attention to the sanitary condition of our
little city be of greater value to the
general material welfare than almost
any other one thing?
Why not form society under the
title, The Society of the City Beaut-
ifulP" 1t might be good manner of
getting at the matter. Every one
knows how hurtful to good health is
the collection of decaying vegetable
matter. Old boards, and other old |
rubbish may be the cause of germs of
fatal fevers. Who can estimate the
loss of one person? Is it not well to
use everymeans of prevention
Our houses are all built with such lack
Of sewerage that yards and streets are
loaded with conditions for germs of a
deadly nature. Is it not true that the
low part of the town site is so flat that
here is not proper fall to give the
proper drainage? We think all will
agree that any site that cannot be put
n proper sanitary condition should
,e abandoned at an early date? Would
lot the lowering of the creek-bed in
'ur midst to the depth of ten feet on !,
he upper side of the town and the {
continuation of the same to some point
northwest of town where the proper .
Ill would come to the surface Of :
he natural bed of the stream and
he placing of proper material for
closed sewer give the much needed
LIP Then fill the streets to the proper
eight and require all buildings erected
the low part of the town to be filed
level of the street or even above
lat point. Will this not make the
W part OF the site as sanitary as the
oper? / know the cry will come,
We have not the capital and taxes
e too high now When health and l.
res are at stake can we afford not to 5
AXE this much needed improvement? I
Could not large part of this be done z
poll-tax in the form of labor pay
emit? When death has come into the q
nily and taken one or more OF the Il
use-hold, who cares to consider the
estion OF dollars and cents?
Will not the removing of all decay
!, matter, the taking away of all 2
rthless buildings and the enforcing f.
the use OF scavenger, the closing E.
all pits and pools, and the removing E.
all defective sidewalks greatly ben r.
our condition. Would not the or n!
lization of some society as indicated k
we be OF great assistance in the good ~
'k2 We are in favor Of anything
general good. T. H. Fertig.