Yellow Fever

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YELLOW FEVER.

Something like serious alarm is beginning to be felt, in Brooklyn and New York, on account of the yellow fever, which has already made a landing in the neighborhood, and spread with some virulence. It is rumored that the number of deaths, with the other strongest facts of the case, (the disease on board the U.S. Frigate Susquehanna,) have been hushed up. The ravages of this malady at Fort Hamilton summer before last, and its partial appearance through Brooklyn, have made our citizens pretty sensitive to these rumors, and to the danger of a worse condition of things, the approaching summer.¹

It is yet disputed among medical men whether the yellow fever is contagious or not. But public opinion has settled very decidedly on the judgement, that a rigid quarantine is the best way to keep the fever out of New York. That it is brought here, we think cannot be questioned. Ever since the present quarantine laws have been rigidly put in force, the city has been comparatively safe.

But inside of a city, through the houses and streets, are the most important requisites for safety. These are cleanliness, ventilation, and the like. Forthwith, before the summer sets in, Brooklyn should be thoroughly overhauled, all the bad spots found out and compelled to be purified. There should be a regular weekly course of disinfectants applied to the gutters of all the old streets in the city.

Brooklyn, in its natural position and advantages, is very favorably situated for health and for being kept clean. All that is needed is a little well-applied energy and a steady perseverance on the part of the authorities.

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