360 



FEVEK, YELLOW. 



was with much difficulty, and under the prom- 

 ise of government support, that they were in- 

 duced to remove. 



The epidemic of this year did not rouse pub- 

 lic attention to the same degree as the last ; 

 therefore there was not the same outflow of 

 sympathy and substantial aid. The Howard 

 Association, fully organized, pursued its labor 

 of charity ; but the efficiency of its work was 

 cramped by lack of means. Yet the necessity 

 was great. The mortality in proportion to the 

 unacclimated population was greater than dur- 

 ing the summer of 1878, and the suffering was 

 unprecedented. The population when the fever 

 showed itself is estimated by the superinten- 

 dent of camps at 38,400 ; of these 20,000 were 

 sent into camp outside the town, within a dis- 

 tance of ten miles. This prompt depopulation 

 left within the city limits about 18,500, of 

 whom 14,500 were black. The following table 

 shows the number of cases and deaths as regis- 

 tered by the Board of Health to the middle of 

 November : 



CASES. 



The unsanitary condition of Memphis is ad- 

 mitted, and is in great part attributed to the 

 disorganization occasioned by the plague of 

 1878. Sickness and death did their work on 

 the personnel of the Board of Health itself. 

 Sanitary work, suspended during that epidemic, 

 was not recommenced until the succeeding 

 February. When reorganized, the Board of 

 Health was in a measure paralyzed. The char- 

 ter of the city of Memphis was abolished by 

 the Legislature in January. The Legislative 

 Council, as the new government was styled, 

 accepted neither the assets nor the liabilities 

 of their predecessors, thus beginning their ad- 

 ministration with an empty treasury and with- 

 out credit. The operations of the Council 

 were further suspended pending a suit to as- 

 certain its legality. Thus for seven months a 

 city claiming a population of 40,000 was with- 

 out power or means to enforce the most ordi- 

 nary health ordinance. Its condition needs no 

 description. The necessity for sanitary work 

 was so apparent that, once begun, it was pros- 

 ecuted with vigor. Much was accomplished 



through individual effort. It is said that in 

 July the condition of the city compared favor- 

 ably with that of the preceding year. Streets 

 and alleys had been cleansed. Proper garbage- 

 carts had for the first time been procured, and 

 they were in daily use. But the evil is beyond 

 the reach of superficial cleanliness. Situated 

 on a bluff, with the current of the mightiest of 

 rivers sweeping below, nature has offered every 

 facility for proper drainage and sewerage. No 

 advantage has been taken of this. The Gayoso 

 Bayou is a fruitful source of miasma. The sys- 

 tem of vaults is noisome. The water in wells 

 and underground cisterns is contaminated. 

 The Nicolson pavement is in a state of decay, 

 and a large portion of it had been torn up pre- 

 paratory to a substitution of stone. The fever 

 has been attributed to the work on this pave- 

 ment. The uncovered earth and rotting wood 

 may have generated malaria, but the relaying 

 of the pavement can not be the cause of the 

 fever, since it was begun on the 29th of Au- 

 gust, after the fever was epidemic, and only on 

 a short portion of a business street leading to 

 the Charleston depot. Much opposition was 

 made to the order prohibiting the traffic in 

 cotton. It is a common opinion that cotton 

 does not carry infection. The French code 

 ranks it also among the second or less danger- 

 ous class of f omites, on what scientific grounds 

 is not known. The question was hotly de- 

 bated, local interests being bound up in the 

 decision. 



The yellow fever spread from Memphis to 

 many neighboring points. At Buntyn Station, 

 where it proved severe, there is some doubt as 

 to its importation, a child having died there on 

 June 27th of continued fever ending in black 

 vomit. This case was reported to the Shelby 

 Medical Society on July 2d, but not pronounced 

 yellow fever. Five similar cases among chil- 

 dren in Memphis, resulting in recovery, were 

 reported at the same meeting, six days before 

 the first acknowledged case of yellow fever. 

 Near Oak Grove, Miss., thirty miles southeast 

 of Memphis, the outbreak is traced to goods 

 wagoned from that town. A young lady, 

 whose wedding attire was brought in this way, 

 was the first victim. After five days' illness, 

 she died on September 22d. Unfortunately, the 

 disease was not recognized, isolation was not 

 attempted, and it spread rapidly among her 

 relations and friends in this thickly settled sec- 

 tion. At Forest City, Ark., out of the first 

 thirteen deaths, nine were females. They at- 

 tended the funeral of a victim of this unrecog- 

 nized malady, and probably contracted the dis- 

 ease in the close room where the services were 

 performed. At Vidalia and Concordia the 

 fever ran a short but severe course. In Mem- 

 phis it gradually declined until October 25th, 

 when pickets and inspectors were disbanded, 

 and the epidemic was declared at an end. 



New Orleans. The year opened with a 

 novel but welcome sight. During several days 

 the pavements were almost impassable. In 



