280 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MOBILE PAVED WITH SHELLS, &c, 



sent lliree or four months this year on bxisiness. 

 In 1821, tliere was less sickness tliaii llie previous 

 year. That year, the government sold the site of 

 Fort Charlotte, (now near the centre of the city,) 

 and the citizens tlius can;e in possession of an im- 

 mense quantity of material for tilling up. The fort 

 was a very strong Spanish built one, with walls 20 

 to 25 feet high, and 1.5 to 18 feet thick, made of 

 brick and stone, strongly cemented with mortar of 

 shell lime. It had an outer wall, and a glacis sur- 

 roimding the whole, of pure earth. All this, during 

 the latter part of 1821, and in 1822 and 1823, was 

 carted and spread over tlie flat, together with an 

 immense quantity of earth taken from the back 

 parts of the town, w'hich went very far towards 

 filling up the flats above high water. But this 

 filling was put in the streets and lots, and the foun- 

 dations of liouses already built, were thus made 

 lower than the surrounding land. In 1824, similar 

 im])rovemcnts were carried on, and up to (and in- 

 cluding) that year, there was no epidemic disease: 

 but bilious fevers were common, and the place w as 

 counted unhealthy. 



In 1825, similar improvements wont on, and the 

 place was healthy up to the 25th of June, when a 

 wet spell occurred that lasted through the most of 

 July — showery, with intervening hot suns. That 

 year, the old burying ground, which is now in the 

 heart of the city, and interments in which had been 

 discontinued the previous year, being the projiert}' 

 of the Catholic Church, was laid oti' in building 

 lots, and let out on long leases; and many who had 

 friends and relatives buried there, were permitted 

 to disinter them, and remove them to the new grave 

 yard. This operation was carried on during the 

 months of June and July, and the old graves were 

 left open to the influence of the rain and hot sun, 

 to evolve the noxious eflluvia that had been engen- 

 dered by the decomposition of the bodies they had 

 contained. jMost of the subjects that were removed 

 were of those who had died in 1819 and subsequent- 

 ly; and I doubt not the miasmata that were exlialed, 

 partook of the nature of that which produced the 

 disease of which the subject died — it may be it was 

 identical. This year tlie yellow fever raged again 

 like a pestilence, and, unless 1 have already assigned 

 the real cause of the fatal sickness of this year, I am 

 at a loss how to account for it from any local cause 

 that would not have operated as powerfully any pre- 

 vious or subsequent year, anterior to the shelling 

 system. It is to he admitted, that the deep loose 

 sandy streets, and back yards, would serve as re- 

 ceptacles for an immense amount of animal and 

 vegetable matter, thrown out from kitchens and 

 shops, which, in a dry time, was trodden in and 

 hid, and yet the substance remain to be operated 

 on by heat and moisture: and that the effluvia thus 

 created would co-operate with the cause before as- 

 signed. There is another collateral cause worthy 

 of notice, that exposed many a poor creature to the 

 influences of the general causes of sickness, and no 

 doubt accelerated its progress. That year is re- 

 membered as the " gambling year." The legisla- 

 ture, by careless legislation, in a very laudable zeal 

 to suppress that pernicious vice, by a sweeping 

 clause so framed a law as that it admitted a con- 

 struction to license gambling, instead of suppress- 

 ing it. Many gambling houses were opened iTTi- 

 der a $ 1000 license, as public as taverns, and such 

 scenes of dissipation have rarely been witnessed in 

 any country. Exposure to uight air, loss of sleep, 



loss of fortune, loss of character, drunkenness and 



debauchery, (all fruitful exciting causes,) no doubt 

 had tlieir full elTcct in swelling the list of morta- 

 lity. 



lu 1826 and 1827, many brick buildings Avere 

 in progress, and the sites of them exposed by re- 

 moval of the old wood buildings. This, with the 

 general absence of cleanliness produced by the ca- 

 pacity of sandy streets to retain filth, as remarked 

 above, caused sickness these two years. There 

 were several cases of yellow fever in both years; 

 l)ut nothing to be compared with 1825. In Octo- 

 ber, 1827, a fire occurred that swept the whole 

 business part of the town, and hardly left a house 

 standing, wood or brick, in all the flat below the 

 blutf. The legislature, at the next session, which 

 commenced soon afterwards, passed a law prohi- 

 l)iting the building of any other than fire-proof 

 buildings within certain limits that included the 

 business part of the town; and here begins a new 

 era in the history of Mobile. In 1826, a brother 

 of mine, w ho is a physician, then residing here, 

 urged the importance of improving the health of 

 the city, (which he deemed perfectly practicable,) 

 botli through tlie medium of the press, and in con- 

 versations, upon all suitable occasions. Nothing 

 w as done while he I'esided liere ; but his opinions 

 took root, and were finally acted on. The shelling 

 the streets w as the prominent means, with various 

 details regarding police and individual attention to 

 cleanliness of yards, &c. Since 1827, the improve- 

 ments in filling up, building, graduating, and shel- 

 ling the streets, and paving the side-walks, have 

 gone on so rapidly as to defy details; but the effect 

 on the comfort and health of the place is abundantly 

 obvious. In 1822, the first brick tenement was 

 erected, and most of those that were afterwards 

 built prior to 1827, were then burnt down. Now 

 there are between 300 and 400. One entire new 

 street in front has been made, having encroached 

 on the river to the depth of 6 or 8 feet of water : and 

 from thence back to the bluff, the ground is well 

 filled up — every street shelled — all the alleys — 

 many of the yards — all the public warehouse yards, 

 and the tavern yards, are shelled — several of the 

 streets are shelled for half a mile back, and one that 

 meets a leading road is shelled over a mile — many 

 of the cross streets are shelled, and ere long, every 

 street in the city will be shelled — it is, indeed, the 

 settled policy, and without any constitutional bar 

 to its exercise. Mobile has been uniformly heal- 

 thy since 1827 — and I have been particular in my 

 details, that you might the better judge whether it 

 resulted from the shelling system. You will, no 

 doubt, give due weight to the circumstances of all 

 the flat being well filled and mostly covered with 

 fine brick buildings. Last fall and this summer, 

 while the cholera raged so fatally in New-Orleans, 

 iNIobile was visited \s ith very few cases, and they 

 excited little or no alarm. In the first instance, 9 

 or 10 cases were reported : the deaths were 4 or 5. 

 In the last instance, no public reports were deemed 

 necessary, and I cannot say, with an}' precision, 

 how many cases occurred. I heard of some few 

 deaths among the blacks — and the city continues 

 perfectly healthy up to this time. The shells that 

 are used ai-e cockle, or sea muscle, as some call 

 them. They are the size of a half dollar, to that 

 of a dollar, of the form a clam shell, and they are 

 pretty thick and solid. They abound about the 

 shores of the bay, and are contained in large banks 



