﻿78 
  History 
  of 
  Durham. 
  

  

  CHAPTER 
  III. 
  

  

  Durham 
  Fires 
  — 
  The 
  Methodist 
  Female 
  Seminary 
  — 
  

   The 
  Lyceum 
  — 
  The 
  Post 
  Office 
  — 
  The 
  Revenue 
  Of- 
  

   fice 
  — 
  Newspapers. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  an 
  ill 
  wind 
  that 
  blows 
  no 
  one 
  good. 
  Five 
  or 
  six 
  

   years 
  ago, 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  North 
  Carolina 
  thought 
  Durham 
  an 
  

   unhealthy 
  place, 
  attributing 
  the 
  fact 
  to 
  surface 
  wells, 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  of 
  soil, 
  tobacco 
  dust 
  and 
  absence 
  of 
  shade 
  trees. 
  

  

  While 
  we 
  admit 
  that 
  Durham 
  was 
  not 
  healtiiy 
  then, 
  we 
  

   do 
  not 
  admit 
  the 
  causes 
  assigned, 
  for 
  the 
  following 
  reasons 
  : 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  wells 
  dug 
  were 
  shallow 
  and 
  surface 
  wa- 
  

   ter 
  was 
  the 
  result, 
  but 
  the 
  great 
  mass 
  of 
  water 
  used 
  by 
  pri- 
  

   vate 
  families 
  comes 
  from 
  streams 
  struck 
  below 
  the 
  lime 
  stone 
  

   formations 
  which 
  characterize 
  the 
  soil, 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  is, 
  

   therefore, 
  mineral, 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  dangers 
  of 
  surface 
  and 
  rot- 
  

   ten 
  lime 
  stone 
  waters. 
  It 
  is 
  conceded, 
  however, 
  that 
  Dur- 
  

   ham 
  has 
  some 
  bad 
  wells, 
  and 
  if 
  this 
  were 
  not 
  the 
  case, 
  it 
  

   would 
  be 
  different 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  from 
  any 
  other 
  town. 
  

  

  tobacco 
  dust. 
  

  

  Could 
  its 
  unhealthfulness 
  be 
  attributed 
  to 
  tobacco 
  dust? 
  

   Certainly 
  not. 
  A 
  stranger 
  entering 
  the 
  town 
  can 
  smell 
  to- 
  

   bacco 
  because 
  the 
  air 
  is 
  tainted 
  with 
  it, 
  from 
  the 
  immense 
  

   volume 
  of 
  dust 
  that 
  quits 
  the 
  windows 
  of 
  the 
  factories, 
  but 
  

   so 
  far 
  from 
  being 
  an 
  injury 
  to 
  the 
  town 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  blessing, 
  en- 
  

   joyed 
  b}' 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  places 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina 
  which 
  boast 
  of 
  

   their 
  healthfulness 
  compared 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  Durham. 
  These 
  

   minute 
  particles 
  of 
  dust 
  diffused 
  through 
  the 
  atmosphere 
  

   are 
  not 
  calculated 
  to 
  be 
  deleterious 
  to 
  any 
  individual 
  ; 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  hand, 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  that 
  they 
  tend 
  to 
  destroy 
  to 
  a 
  

   great 
  extent 
  germs 
  of 
  fever 
  and 
  miasma 
  generally. 
  The 
  fact 
  

   may 
  be 
  partly 
  demonstrated 
  by 
  the 
  comparatively 
  few 
  cases 
  

   of 
  fever 
  known 
  among 
  those 
  who 
  use 
  tobacco. 
  

  

  shade 
  trees. 
  

  

  HoW' 
  often 
  have 
  we 
  heard 
  it 
  remarked 
  that 
  Durham 
  is 
  

   the 
  hottest 
  place 
  this 
  side 
  his 
  Satanic 
  Majestie's 
  dominion 
  ! 
  

   an 
  opinion 
  largely 
  imaginative. 
  

  

  