USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 127
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" The number of interinents in this town from the 17th of March last to the 29th inst., in the several burying-grounds, amounts to one hundred and three, as appears by the following statement :
" Number of interments in the Catholic burying-ground from the 17th of March to the 29th of October :
100
1574
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
"Gen. Bernard Pratte was ealled to the ehair, and Dr. H. L. Hoffman appointed secretary. On motion of Dr. H. Lane, an address from the special medieal Board of IIealth of New York was read for the information of the meeting.
" Mr. Cohen, Col. Strother, Mr. Rule, N. Newman, Esq., Mr. Grimsley, and Dr. II. Lane severally addressed the meeting, when, on motion of J. Newman, Esq., the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :
" Resolved, That the chair appoint a committee of ten to re- port to the Board of Aldermen such measures as they may deem necessary for cleaning and purifying our eity, and such other measures as they may think requisite to avert the dreadful dis- ease now raging in our Eastern eities, and that Gen. Pratte be chairman of said committee. Thereupon the chairman ap- pointed the following gentlemen : Dr. William Carr Lane, Dr. C. Campbell, T. Grimsley, Edward Traey, Thomas Cohen, John Newman, Esq., Col. Strother, N. Ranney, and William K. Rule."
In a short time the disease invaded the town, and the Missouri Republican said, about a month after the town-meeting, that,-
" we had hoped to be able to furnish a complete report of the number of eases and deaths sinee our last puhlieation, but we find it impracticable. The physicians, whose duty it is to re- port daily, eannot obtain time from their professional duties to attend to this requisition. All of them are unremittingly en- gaged in the discharge of their cheerless lahor. The whole numher of eases reported sinee the 9th instant up to last even- ing is 93, of which 33 have terminated fatally."
On the 6th of November we find the following happy report :
" The ebolera is rapidly disappearing from among us, very few enses having occurred in the past week, and those few in a comparatively mild and mitigated form. Many of our citizens fled from the disease, and are seattered throughout the sur- rounding country. We hope they will find themselves in as mueh safety at home. Some of our eity offieers have thought it hest to retire to the country and take care of number one. As they no doubt take a lively interest in tho welfare of their constituents, and will he glad to hear how we get along without them, it is proper to state that the people of the eity have horne the deprivation of their serviees with fortitude. The remain- ing public authorities, aided hy the zealous charity of the rev- erend elergy and of private individuals, have done mueh for the interest of the eity and for the cause of humanity. The sick have been 'visited,' tho dying comforted, and the dead decently buried.
" The elergy have heen active and zealous in relieving the sufferers, and especially the Catholic priests have heen untiring in the work of kindness. Day and night they followed elose upon the traek of the destroyer, ready to administer to the sufferers the eomforts of hoth worlds. But, above all, that pious and self-devoted band, the Sisters of Charity, deserve and will receivo the thanks of the community. In addition to the regular hospital in their eare, they have volunteered to take eare of the cholera patients. and while many others, mueh more responsible to society, thought only of their own safety, these ex- eellent persons eourted the danger and labor and privation, and all for " the luxury of doing good.' Truly their reward is not here.
" We should he doing injustice to our own feelings, wo should do injustiee to the feelings of our whole community if we were to pass unnoticed the excellent eonduet of the medical faculty
throughout this trying emergeney. They were ineessantly en- gaged in tho duties of their profession, and most of them were allowed hut little rest during the two weeks in which the disease prevailed with the greatest violenee. They as cheerfully visited the abodes of infamy and misery as the residenee of the more wealthy eitizen, and to all who asked their time and tal- ents were assiduously devoted, without the prospeet of fee or reward. Their serviees will long he remembered hy our eiti- zens."
And at the end of the next week the last vestige of the disease had disappeared.
But St. Louis did not escape so lightly when vis- ited by the cholera in 1849. The epidemic of that year was terribly fatal, and we do not think that even the records of mortality from yellow fever in New Orleans can show a parallel degree of severity in an attack of pestilence. This year was one which " old inhabitants" will not soon forget, for it was fraught with peculiar disasters. In London the great fire followed the plague and did service as a purifier, thus making amends in some degree for the havoc, ruin, and calamity it wrought. But in St. Louis, in 1849, the plague followed the fire. At least, although the cholera had begun to rage before that disaster, it did not rise to its greatest height until several weeks after. The day of the fire was the 17th of May ; the cholera had made its first appearance in the last days of De- cember, 1848. The first week of January, 1849, there were 8 deaths from cholera reported, onc-eleventh of the total mortality. In the weck ending July 2d there were 903 deaths, 619 from cholera, showing a very sickly season independent of the epidemic. For the week ending July 16th the deaths were 867; from cholera, 639. On the 10th of July the deaths from cholera alone were 145, a very high death-rate indeed, if it was ever equaled in any city of the same popu- lation outside the tropics. The large increase of deaths from other causes besides cholera proceeded from malaria, nervous and physical exhaustion in consequence of anxiety, loss of rest, and nursing, and from what the doctors called bilious diarrhea, doubt- less the well-known choleraic disorder of the bowels, modified by climatic and malarious complications, which always seem to attend upon an epidemic of cholera. During the week of the maximum intensity of the disease-that ending July 16th-the deaths from cholera alone were at the rate of 36,400 per an- num, 57.3 per cent. of the entire population. The deaths from all diseases were at the rate of 47,944 per annum, 75.5 per cent. of the entire population.
The contemporary journals give what is probably the best, certainly the most graphic, history of the ravages and desolations of this epidemic. But, pre- liminary to quoting these, it will be best to give an
1575
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
abstract of the corrected mortality statistics as they are given, in a revised form, in the Western Journal for 1851, pp. 264-65 :
Week ending
Total.
Cholera.
Deaths in 1850. Total. Cholera.
Jan.
8.
77
S
72
7
15.
68
3
44
...
22.
77
17
57
2
29.
49
5
53
1
Feh. 5
37
4
45
3
65
11
37
1
Mareh 6.
59
3
39
1
66
13
64
7
36
...
20
92
26
44
...
27
79
25
49
...
65
17
51
2
66
9
74
16
55
2
23.
106
27
53
2
30.
41
44
..
May
7.
135
78
72
22
14.
273
185
111
33
21.
192
127
65
9
June 4
144
75
73
24
18
510
404
100
40
25.
763
589
144
44
July
2
903
619
196
67
66
9
773
591
244
83
66
23.
442
269
391
210
30.
225
93
217
69
Aug. 6.
1.52
35
169
25
66
20
94
4
167
15
Sept.
3
71
4
74
2
10.
66
3
84
4
17.
88
1
71
8
24
80
5
66
9
Oet.
1
77
62
2
8.
69
59
...
66
15
63
2
64
3
22.
44
...
39
8
29.
57
...
51
7
Nov. 5.
53
1
49
6
44
72
17
66
19
53
...
146
5
Dee.
3.
47
2
38
3
66
10
42
1
41
2
17
16
2
46
1
24
31
...
47
...
Total
8445
4285
4595
872
The first mention of the appearance of the disease is in a journal of the date of January 19th, in which we are told that,-
"Sinee our last we have aseertained that five deaths from this disease have occurred in this eity during yesterday and the evening previous, and one new ease on Collins Street, reported to the health offieer. Two of the deaths were in a family on Sixth Street, between Loeust and St. Charles, one at the corner of Eiglith and Wash, one on Wash, between Eighth and Ninth, and one at the Sisters' Hospital. From two of the families whore death oceurred several members were sent to the hospital, prestrated with the disease; these, wo are informed, are eases of loeal cholera. In view of tho appearance of this disease in our eity four additional street inspectors were yesterday sworn in by the reeorder."
But there was no panic; the disease was allowed to run along. There is no further mention of it until
May 5th, when it is simply said that the sexton of a single cemetery reported to the register ten interments of persons dead of cholera in twenty-four hours. On May 11th the fact that the disease was making progress was recognized :
"The physicians report to the register the existence of twenty-six new eases of eholera from seven o'oloek P.M. of Wednesday to six P.M. of Thursday. During the same time nine deaths from cholera were reported to the register, hut we are inelined to believe the entire return at the end of the week from the several places of interment will show a greater mor- tality than is here set down."
May 13th,-
" Forty-seven eases were reported to tho eity register yester- day, of which twelve proved fatal. Nine of tho ahove eases were taken from the hoats, of which three have died."
May 14th,-
" At six o'eloek last evening twenty-four eholera eases had been reported at the register's office, six of which terminated fatally. This is a falling off from the average mortality of last week of four per day.
"The eity having purchased of John A. Stephenson the steamer ' Hannibal' for the purpose of using her as a quaran- tine or a hospital hoat, she was towed down to the quarantine station on Wednesday evening hy the steamer 'Whirlwind.' One great difficulty which has heretofore heen much complained of has been the trouble of landing steamboats at the island, and on this account boats have sometimes violated the quaran- tine regulations. This move on tho part of the eity will ohvi- ate this difficulty entirely, as it will be as easy to land beside the quarantine hoat as at the wharf. It is intended, we are in- formed, to use the hoat as a hospital in ease of an epidemie. She is to be moored at a point near the foot of Dunean's Island, where there is plenty of water for the largest elass boats at any season of the year. The price paid for the 'Hannibal' was ten hundred and fifty dollars, which, in addition to the expense of towing her down and mooring her, will make her eost about eleven hundred dollars. The machinery of the 'Hannibal' had been removed previous to the purehase. Dr. Leavenworth, quarantine physician, is having his laboratory and lodgings removed to the boat, so that at all hours of the night and at all times of the day he will be on hand for the examination of ar- riving steamers."
May 16th,-
"The eity register makes the following statement in regard to tho health of the eity :
"The whole number of deaths from all eauses for the seven days ending Sunday night, the 13th inst., was 273, of which 181 were fromn cholera. The interments daily from the last dis- ease wero as follows :
Monday, May 7. 16
Tuesday, May 8 36
Wednesday, May 9 25
Thursday, May 10
30
Friday, May 11. 33
Saturday, May 12
19
Sunday, May 13 ..
22
Total in seven days.
181
From other diseases
92
19
70
4
35
..
26
69
...
45
1
April
2
80
24
56
2
28
185
115
57
7
11.
283
191
77
13
16.
867
639
212
77
66
13.
117
12
227
20
27.
73
3
129
7
12
...
75
11
26
39
1
46
1
31.
36
...
Whole numher 273
"The number of deaths reported for Monday, the 14th inst., was twenty-one, heing eleven less than on the 8th, the heaviest
Deaths in 1849.
12
16.
131
...
..
1576
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
day, showing a decrease in this particular disease. The entire number of deaths on Monday was thirty-six. This is really frightful mortality, and although it may he argued that the pestilence is ahating in the number of its victims and in its virulence, it still has terrors enough to alarm most any one."
Next day after this, May 17th, the great fire took place, and public attention was so exclusively directed to that as to leave the cholera out of sight. Indeed, in a narrative written next year, it was said that, --
" As at the battle of Ahoukir the hlowing up of the 'L'Ori- ent' had the effect of causing an utter suspension of hostilities for the space of half an hour, only to he resumed with in- creased fury, at least on the part of the British, so this confla- gration had the effect, for a few days, of so far drawing public attention from the presence of the cholera as almost to cause it to be generally helieved to have heen actually superseded hy the fire. But this delusion was of but short duration. In a few days, the excitement caused hy the fire having suhsided, the cholera again hegan to command the public attention hy, not a return (for it had not disappeared, heing only tempo- rarily merged and lost sight of in the accompanying great calamity), hut an increase of virulence."
The next current mention of the progress of the disease is on June 15th :
"The sexton of seven cemeteries, viz. : the City, Catholic, Methodist, Holy Ghost, Christ Church, German Protestant, and Lutheran, reported fifty-nine interments during Tuesday, forty- seven of which were reported as having died of cholera."
On the 19th of June the following was the report :
" For the week ending Sunday the number of interments, as reported to the register, was as follows :
" Monday, 8 cemeteries reported 48 in all, 40 of the cholera.
" Tuesday, 7 cemeteries reported 60 in all, 47 of the cholera.
"Wednesday, 9 cemeteries reported 83 in all, 65 of the cholera.
" Thursday, 10 cemeteries reported 68 in all, 58 of the cholera.
" Friday, 9 cemeteries reported 74 in all, 62 of the cholera.
"Saturday, 9 cemeteries reported 74 in all, 61 of the cholera.
"Sunday, 8 cemeteries reported 85 in all, 69 of the cholera. "Total, 492; 402 of the cholera."
There was complaint at the showing of these fig- ures, and a disposition to charge neglect. It was said that,-
" The cholera is still sweeping off its scores of victims every day, and this at a time when the atmosphere is pure and elas- tic, and there appears to he no good reason for the prevalence of the mortality. It seems to he well ascertained, however, that the epidemio is confined to particular localities, and that efforts of a sanitary kind must he directed to these districts, if anything is to be done at all, to arrest the progress of the mal- ady. St. Charles Street and Washington Avenue, west of Eighth, parts of North St. Louis, and some localities in the southern part of the city are represented to be the principal seats of the pestilence. Efforts should now he directed to the purification of these quarters."
Junc 24th,-
"The week previous to this the mortality was 224, and the deaths hy cholera 173, showing an increase of 49 on the whole numher, and 26 on deaths hy cholera.
" The cholera proper appears to confine itself entirely among the newly-arrived immigrants, who are compelled by their re- stricted means to lodge in the city suburhs or in low, unhealthy places in the city, where disease very naturally is most readily contracted. The strangers who visit us from the neighboring States may, if they take the ordinary precautions, do so with impunity. Nearly one-third of the deaths, it will he seen by the above tahle, occurred among children five years of age or under."
But this did not satisfy the citizens. They deter- mined to take things in their own hands, called a public meeting, and appointed a committee to look after the proper sanitary measures which should be adopted in an emergency of this sort. On June 26th, as the current report informs us,-
"The committee appointed by the chairman of the mass- meeting, at least a portion of them, met yesterday morning at the Planters' House, and an address to the mayor and City Coun- cil, and an ordinance embracing the provisions of the recom- mendations of the mass-meeting were adopted, and forthwith the committee in a body waited upon the mayor at the town hall and laid them before him. In response to the address, the mayor assured the committee of his hearty wish and entire willingness to co-operate with the citizens and the Council in any measures that might be adopted to stay the ravages of the disease, or mitigate the sufferings of the destitute who might he attacked with it. He gave some painful and frightful ac- counts of what he had already witnessed, and his inability to do more than he had done. The two boards of the City Coun- cil having adjourned over until Wednesday evening, the mayor instantly summoned them to meet at four o'clock P.M. yester- day.
"Said ordinance was then taken up for consideration, and after slight amendment, read three several times and passed, the vote being ayes eight, noes one. The ordinance as passed by the aldermen is in substance as follows :
"First, that in order to cheek the future spread of the chol- era now raging among us, and to carry into effect in the hest manner the views of our citizens, as expressed by them in puh- lic meeting, touching said disease, a committee shall he and herehy is appointed, to be termed 'the Committee of Public Health,' consisting of the following-named persons, heretofore named at said public meeting, to wit : T. T. Gantt, R. S. Blen- nerhassett, A. B. Chamhers, Isaac A. Hedges, James Clemens, Jr., J. M. Field, George Collier, L. M. Kennett, Trusten Polk, Lewis Bach, Thomas Gray, William G. Clark."
But nothing could arrest the headway of the dis- ease now. On June 28th the report said,-
"The official reports of interments for the weck ending Mon- day last, and including all the cemeteries in the neighborhood of the city, shows the total number for that period to he 763, of which 164 werc children from the age of five and under. The deaths from cholera for the same period are reported at 589.
" In view of the terrible pestilence now prevailing in our midst, the officers of Washington University have deemed it expedient to hring their scholastic ycar to a rather sudden and premature termination, and permit those students residing at a distance to return to their homes.
"The clergy of the Presbyterian Church in this city have set apart this day (Thursday) as a day of public fasting, humilia- tion, and prayer. All persons are affectionately invited to join with them in the religious services of the day.
1577
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
" At a meeting of the committee designated by the ordinance passed by the City Council, held yesterday evening at the Planters' House, were present Messrs. Gantt, Chambers, Clark, Field, Hedges, Gray, Polk, and Blennerhassett. Absent, Messrs. Clemens, Collier, Kennett, and Bach. On motion, T. T. Gantt, Esq., was called to the chair, and J. M. Field appointed secre- tary.
" The meeting being informal, they not having been officially advised of the passage of the ordinance, the following address and proceedings were had :
" Resolved, That the public school-house on Seventh Street, in the First Ward; the public school-house in the Fifth Ward, on the corner of Ninth and Wash; public school-house near Mound Market, in the Sixth Ward ; and the St. Vincent school- room (Catholic), in the Fourth Ward, be and they are hereby set apart as temporary hospitals, and we request that all destitute poor be sent to those places. Arrangements will be made in the other wards as soon as the city can procure proper tene- ments.
" Resolved, That Messrs. Blennerhassett, for the First Ward ; Polk, for the Fifth Ward; William G. Clark, for the Sixth Ward; Thomas Gray, for St. Vincent's school-room, in the Fourth Ward, be appointed to carry out the above resolutions, and provide for the temporary accommodations of patients until other provisions are made.
" Resolved, That two physicians be appointed to attend to each of the temporary hospitals hereby established, and that they be empowered to procure all the medicine and attendance neces- sary, and establish a medical depot not only for the sick in the hospitals, but also for all destitute poor in the ward."
This was the way to fight the epidemic, but it would not yield to any such measures at present. On June 29th we read,-
" We have been flattering ourselves that the prevailing epi- demic was abating, but on collecting the facts our hopes are dissipated. It is, in fact, on the increase, and now becomes a serious, and the only question, ' What shall be done to stay it ?' By the report below it will be seen that, according to the returns of eleven cemeteries, there were on Wednesday 132 interments, of which 109 were from cholera, only 23 from other causes. These returns do not include the Methodist cemetery in an authentic shape, nor the Hebrew. We learn indirectly that there were interments in the Methodist cemetery, 6 of which were from cholera, and 2 from other causes. If this be true, it gives a total for Wednesday of 140 deaths, of which 115 were by the prevailing sickness, considerably exceeding the reported mortality of any other day. Even if the report from the Methodist be not correct, those which are known to be so show that this disease is on the increase, and give just and sufficient cause to awaken all good and humane men to prompt and effi- cient action."
June .30th there was a wail of querulous despond- ency,-
. "An examination of the daily reports which have been published for some weeks past of the ravages of the cholera in this city presents the melancholy fact that at least three-fourths of the mortality is confined to emigrants from foreign countries. We think that this is quite a reasonable estimate, and we call attention to it now with the hope of inducing some effort to improve the condition of those who seem, from local or other causes, doomed to the grave.
"At least one-third of the population of St. Louis is com- posed of foreigners. They have been increasing every year,
bringing much wealth to the city, improving their own condi- tion, and enhancing the value of everything around them, con- tracting too many of the habits and enjoying the comforts of Americans. Within the last few months, however, a greatly increased number of foreigners, principally from England and Germany, have arrived, and thus they have unfortunately brought disease and death with them to such an extent as to carry alarm whenever an arrival is announced."
July 1st the Committee of Public Health was vig- orously at work, employing every means in its power, as evidenced by the following :
" Resolved, That the special block inspectors observe the following regulations :
"1. To visit and thoroughly examine each tenement and the premises in their several districts at least once every day, and notify the occupants, and also the owners thereof, forth with to remove to the most convenient street or alley anything that they may deem injurious or offensive, or that ought to be re- moved. And if the same shall not forthwith be removed, then they will immediately remove the same, and charge the ex- penses thereof to the occupants first, if they be able to pay them ; if not, then to the owners ; and if neither the occupants nor the owners can pay the same, then shall the same be paid by the city.
"2. That such examination be made at least once every day.
"3. That they procure a sufficiency of scavenger- and slop- carts to remove all the filth from every part of their district once each day.
"4. To examine and ascertain the number of persons occu- pying any tenement and their condition; and whenever the number and condition is such as in the opinion of the inspec- tor endangers the health of the occupants or the neighborhood, to report immediately the facts to the president of the com- mittce, or to the members of the committee from the ward in which it exists.
"5. To cause forthwith all sick, destitute persons to be re- moved to some one of the hospitals selected and designated by this committee.
"6. Keep a strict account of every expense necessarily in- curred in removing nuisances or sick persons, and report the same to this committee.
"7. They shall have power to engage the necessary vehi- cles and means for carrying the sick to the hospitals above specified.
"8. That all the matter carried off by the scavenger- and slop-carts be hauled to the scavenger-boat near the foot of Walnut Street.
"9. That such inspectors immediately report to the mem- bers of the committee for their ward all such persons as may either neglect, refuse, or oppose any order or step given or taken to effect the objects of their appointment, in order that the members of this committee may effectually enforce the provisions and objects of the ordinance of the 27th June inst.
" NOTICE .- The attention of the block inspectors and citi- zens generally is particularly directed to the order with regard to the disinfecting fires to-night, so that the whole city may be thus purified at once. The materials should be procured by the block inspectors to-day, and deposited in prescribed quan- tities at the proper places ready for usc at 8 o'clock P.M.
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