USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 15
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"In 1873, a year whose fame will long be connected with that of Asi- atic cholera, Nashville received another severe and costly lesson on the importance of sanitary common sense, and on May 27, 1874, the ordi- nance creating the present Board of Health became a law."
On the Ist of June, 1874, a meeting of those physicians elected by the City Council on May 28 as members of the Board of Health was held in the Mayor's office at 4 P.M. There were present Mayor Thomas A. Kercheval and Drs. C. K. Winston, J. D. Plunket, H. M. Compton, and J. R. Buist. After a temporary organization of the Board had been ef- fected, the members agreed that the permanent Presidents of the Board
140
HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
should be chosen in the order of their terms of service, beginning with the one-year term member. Dr. J. D. Plunket was under this rule elected President of the Board of Health, and Dr. J. R. Buist was chosen Secre- tary. Dr. Winston moved that the Mayor be requested to provide the Board of Health with a digest of the sanitary laws and regulations of past City Councils, and that the Secretary recommend to the Board a list of standard works on public health, and periodicals and reports of other Boards of Health suitable for the Board to purchase. A committee was then appointed to prepare by-laws for the government of the Board.
The second meeting of the Board was held June 3, when Dr. John W. Morton, at that time City Physician, was elected Health Officer. The third meeting was held June 8, when it was decided that the Board should hold its regular meetings on the first Tuesday in each month from the first Tuesday in October to the first Tuesday in April, and bimonthly for the remainder of the year. At the first meeting in June each year the officers should be elected. The Health Officer was required to be a grad- uate of some regular medical school, and the President, Secretary, and Mayor should constitute the Executive Committee, whose duty it should be to present and advocate before the City Council all matters and ques- tions which the Board might refer to it. On June 13 rooms for the meet- ings of the Board of Health were secured over Ambrose's restaurant, on the corner of Cherry and Union Streets, at $240 per annum. At the first called meeting, held June 24, the Health Officer made a report showing that twenty-two nuisances, in the shape of foul privies and back yards, had been abated, and some forty-eight others had been ordered to be cleansed, including cellars. He also reported that a large number of cellars on the north side of Broad Street, between Summer Street and the river, were flooded with foul water, and that they would refill as soon as emptied. It was considered doubtful whether they should be ordered emptied or not. It was, however, evident that a large sewer was needed along the north side of Broad Street in order that the cellars could be drained, and a resolution was adopted urging upon the City Council the construction of a sewer at that place.
In July, 1874, a case of Asiatic cholera occurred at Louisville, Ky., and the Nashville Board of Health, in order to prevent, if possible, that disease from reaching here, made a requisition of the Street Commis- sioner for twenty carts, to the end that there might be a thorough cleans- ing of the city. The city was divided into four equal districts, to each of which the Health Officer was required to assign one sanitary inspector with five carts, who was to proceed in an energetic and systematic man- ner to thoroughly clean each district. On August 4 the Signal Officer
141
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
at this point agreed to make his meteorological report end on Friday night at 9 P.M., to cover the same period included in the mortuary report of the Board of Health.
On February 20, 1875, Dr. W. J. McMurray took the place of Dr. Buist, who had resigned, and Dr. H. M. Compton acted as Secretary. Dr. McMurray became Secretary pro tem. May 4, 1875, and served a short time. On June 15, 1875, in accordance with the rule adopted at the organization of the Board, Dr. C. K. Winston became President. Dr. McMurray went out in October, having been elected Alderman, and Dr. Buist was chosen to fill the vacancy. During the same month Thomas A. Kercheval again entered the Board as Mayor. December 15, 1875, Dr. Plunket introduced a bill to establish two dispensaries, in which there should be a system of charity examinations and prescriptions by a physician recommended by the Board of Health to take charge of char- ity patients. This bill was sent to the City Council for their action. The Health Officer was appointed to procure vaccine virus, and on Janu- ary 4, 1876, was requested to prosecute with vigor the work of vacci- nating such as had not been vaccinated. On January 6 the physicians who had volunteered to perform this work were ordered to proceed in squads of two, accompanied by a policeman, through the streets of the city and vaccinate all persons who had not been vaccinated. These volunteer physicians were: J. A. Draughan, W. W. Gray, R. D. Win- stett, J. W. McAllister, J. W. Mayfield, B. F. Manlove, J. W. Light- foot, N. G. Tucker, C. E. Knott, P. R. Bailey, W. F. Glenn, W. D. Haggard, and T. R. Kimbrough.
On June 7, 1878, Dr. J. B. Lindsley was elected Health Officer for two years, to succeed Dr. J. W. Morton. On the 20th of this month the Nashville Board of Health recommended the appointment of a State Board of Health, which recommendation was afterward acted upon. On this day occurred the death of Dr. H. M. Compton, from sun-stroke, while answering a call. The Board of Health passed appropriate resolutions of respect next day.
At their meeting on the 20th Dr. Plunket introduced the following res- olutions, which were adopted by the Board :
" Resolved, That the meteorological observations made by the United States Signal Service here and at other points are of the greatest value to the physician, as well as to the agriculturist and merchant.
"Resolved, That the value of the observations here, in a sanitary point of view, will be greatly increased by proper registration of the variations of ozone in the atmosphere.
" Resolved, That the director of the United States Signal Service be
142
HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
petitioned to supply the Nashville station with the necessary means for such registration."
The Health Officer was directed to transmit these resolutions, and in response received a prompt reply, as follows :
" War Department, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce and Agriculture. Washington, D. C., July 10, 1876.
"J. Berrien Lindsley, M.D., Health Officer, Nashville, Tennessee.
"Sir : By direction of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, I have the honor to acknowledge and answer your communication of the 6th inst., communicating resolutions of the Board of Health of Nashville relative to special observations for the benefit of the public health.
" This subject has frequently been considered in this office. What it does in the domain of climatology is in addition to its regularly defined duties. and it is quite certain that to enter upon the kind of observations to which you refer would require a very liberal construction of the laws and orders relating to this service. It would, however, afford this office satisfaction to enter upon the additional field of usefulness, if authorized and provided with facilities; but every new observation would require more money and more force, whereas it seems probable that Congress will diminish both the money and force before allowed, thus rendering necessary an abandonment of work now performed.
"The proper course for the Board of Health would be to address to Congress resolutions showing the importance of increasing the appropri- ations and force of the Signal Service, and send them to the proper Rep- resentatives and Senators; also, one copy to this office, that it may be referred to. The present resolutions, however gratifying as showing ap- preciation of the work of the service, are not practically useful for the immediate object the Board has in view, as the facilities must be given by Congress before they can be used to comply with the request of the Board. Respectfully yours, GARRICK MALLERY,
' Captain and Brevet Lieutenant-colonel U. S. A., Acting Signal Officer and Assistant."
At a meeting of the Board, held July 20, acting upon the suggestion in the above communication, it was unanimously resolved that the following memorial be sent to the Senators and Representatives in Congress from Tennessee :
" The Board of Health of the city of Nashville do hereby respectfully memorialize the Senators and Representatives of the State of Tennessee, in Congress assembled, as follows:
" Whereas by an Act of Congress, approved February 9, 1870, it was made the duty of the War Department to make, register, and publish, by telegraph and otherwise, an extended series of meteorological observa-
143
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tions; and whereas the United States occupy climates and areas pecul- iarly fitted for solving the great problems connected with epidemics and public health, as well as intricate questions connected with the physical sciences which Franklin and Morse did so much to develop; and where- as this invaluable series of observations is utterly beyond State and indi- vidual effort, and yet is alike beneficial to all the individuals and States composing the Union ;
" Therefore we do earnestly hope that your influence and votes will be so used as to increase and extend, and not to cripple, the singularly be- neficent and peaceful workings of this small portion of the national army."
Many other Boards of Health took similar action, as did also several commercial, industrial, and scientific bodies; but Congress turned a deaf ear to their petitions, and the great work suggested by the Nashville Board remains as yet untouched.
On August 1, 1875, James Wyatt's plan for converting the island in the Cumberland River into a great filtering apparatus was resolved by the Board to be of the greatest importance and in appearance feasible. On September 5 Mayor Kercheval reported that he had visited the island, and that Mr. Wyatt, Superintendent of the water-works, had commenced the filtering process, and that the outlook was quite encouraging.
The great questions with which the Board had to deal were those of water supply, drainage, sewerage, and night and day scavengering. On January 2, 1877, ten physicians were appointed-one for each ward-to collect facts regarding the prevalence of disease in the wards. The ten physicians were W. J. Sneed, W. F. Glenn, T. L. Maddin, Gustavus Schiff, T. A. Atchison, A. A. East, W. J. McMurray, John B. McCon- nell, N. G. Tucker, and James B. Stephens, named in the order of the number of the wards.
Dr. J. R. Buist was elected President of the Board June 19, 1877, and Dr. J. B. W. Nowlin Secretary. At this meeting the Meteorological Committee of the Board of Health was made a permanent committee.
On July 12, 1877, a contract was entered into with Hasley & Wyatt, of the Odorless Excavating Company of Baltimore, to do the scavenger work of the city, at 7 cents per cubic foot for all matter contained in boxes, and 912 cents for all matter contained in vaults, pools, etc.
On July 13, 1877, an ordinance was passed by the City Council, cre- ating an efficient scavenger force for the city. By this ordinance the city was divided into three scavenger districts, District No. I comprising all that part of the city south of Broad St. cet; No. 2, all that part of the city between Broad and Cedar Streets; and No. 3, all that part of the city
144
HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
north of Cedar Street. The force was divided into two classes: kitchen garbage scavengers and public scavengers.
Dr. J. D. Plunket was elected President of the Board of Health June 4, 1878; Dr. J. B. W. Nowlin, Secretary; and Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, Health Officer. On August 16 the following resolutions were adopted :
" Whereas the existing prevalence of yellow fever in neighboring cit- ies and towns to the west and south of us, and its tendency to be propa- gated northward along the routes of travel, give rise to reasonable appre- hension that travelers from these infected districts may arrive here while suffering from this disease; and whereas there is a possibility that this dis- ease, imported thus early in the hot season, may find foothold and spread through the community; and whereas the ordinance creating this Board forbids its placing any quarantine restrictions upon travel or merchandise ; therefore be it
" Resolved, That this Board of Health respectfully asks the honorable Mayor and City Council to invest it with legal power and authority to put in force such restrictions and regulations upon travel by railroad and oth- erwise as in the judgment of this Board the protection of the citizens and the exigences of the occasion may demand; and, should the Council ap- prove of the above request, that they further indicate what amount of money shall be at the command of the Board for the purpose named."
The above resolutions were sent to the Council with the following com- munication :
"To the Honorable Mayor and City Council.
"After much anxious thought and free conference with the medical profession of the city, the Board of Health have reluctantly concluded to apply to you for the enactment of a law authorizing the establishment of an efficient quarantine. While they are impressed that the actual outlook does not warrant radical measures in that direction, yet the stream of travelers which has set in to our city from the infected districts makes it necessary to adopt and put in operation measures to prevent the importa- tion of the disease into Nashville. Therefore your prompt action is re- spectfully asked upon the following preamble and resolution."
The Council approved the proposed action of the Board of Health, and appropriated $2,000 to be used in case the yellow fever appeared in the city.
The Council, however, could not approve of the adoption of a rigid quarantine. They permitted all parties from infected districts who wished to do so to make Nashville their city of refuge. But while they did this they at the same time exercised the most sleepless vigilance and activity in the use of all precautions which experience had shown to be effective
145
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
in preventing such an epidemic from gaining a foot-hold. The escape from quarantine was, however, quite narrow, and was mainly owing to the exertions of Dr. Thomas Menees, Professor of Obstetrics in the Nash- ville and Vanderbilt Universities, who thought that so extreme a measure as rigid quarantine for protection against a problematical danger would savor too much of fear and inhumanity. The course of the Council was . determined in part, also, because of the elevation of the city above the ocean, they being governed by the opinion of medical men that yellow fever seldom prevails above an altitude of four hundred feet, and never above an altitude of five hundred feet.
On August 27 the Health Officer and Mayor were appointed a commit- tee to select a suitable place for a yellow fever rendezvous; to ascertain what a physician could be employed for to take charge of the same, etc .; and the Board said that the energy and efficiency of the Health Officer dis- played during the few months then past had been superior to that mani- fested at any previous epoch in the history of the city.
The first case of yellow fever that occurred here that year was that of Mike Cady, and was reported by Dr. Briggs. Cady was a recent impor- tation from Memphis, and the case was reported August 31. The Bar- row house, on Barrow Hill, one mile north-west from the corporation limits, was secured for an infirmary, at a rental of $350 for the first month, and $roo for each month after the first that it was used as a hos- pital. Dr. W. G. Ewing was engaged to take charge of it. The first application for admittance into the infirmary came on September 7, the case being that of Mrs. M. P. Martin, of Martin's Station, Weakley County, Tenn. Mrs. Martin died on September 10. Michael Cady was taken to the hospital on September 14, and was afterward removed to the Medical College hospital, convalescent. The total number of cases of yellow fever in Nashville during that year was but twenty-four. None of them originated in Nashville, and the disease did not spread. There were fifteen deaths. The experience of the city during that year proved that there was no danger of the disease spreading, even when taken by a resident of the city.
Dr. R. Cheatham became a member of the Board of Health in June, 1879, and Dr. J. R. Buist was elected President and Dr. Cheatham Sec- retary. On July 9 the Board expressed its appreciation of the value of the meteorological reports furnished by the Signal Officer by paying him $2 per month for his monthly table and $5 for his annual table.
During this month it began to be feared that yellow fever would again visit the city, and rigid measures were taken by the Board of Health to prevent it. They resolved that, with the consent of the City Council, they
10
146
HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
would at once prohibit the importation of any goods into this city from any infected district. On July 23 the Council adopted the suggestions of the Board of Health, and appropriated $5,000 to carry them out.
On July 24 quarantines were established at the following places: On the Nashville and North-western railroad, at Woodward's Spring, twen- ty miles from Nashville; on the Nashville and Decatur railroad, at Owen's Station, twelve miles from Nashville; on the Louisville and Nash- ville railroad, near Edgefield Junction, ten miles from Nashville. Mayor Kercheval, Dr. Nowlin, and Health Officer Dr. J. B. Lindsley were ap- pointed a committee on quarantine stations. Dr. E. L. Drake was ap- pointed to the position of Medical Officer on the Nashville and North- western railroad; Dr. M. Campbell, on the Nashville and Decatur railroad; and Dr. D. R. Butterfield, on the Louisville and Nashville railroad. On August 6 the services of the quarantine officers were dis- pensed with, with the exception of Dr. Drake, who was retained for some time longer.
On January 13, 1880, Dr. J. R. Buist, President of the Board, read a paper making certain recommendations with reference to the sanitation of the city. The prime necessity, he said, was an ample supply of pure water; the second was a well-constructed system of sewers; the third was a better regulation of surface privies; the fourth was a radical change in the system of medical attention to the indigent sick; and the fifth was a change in the system of street pavements. Broken limestone should be no longer used, as in dry weather it filled the air with fine particles of dust, which were very injurious to both the lungs and eyes.
On May 25, 1880, Dr. T. L. Maddin was elected to the Board of Health, in place of Dr. Buist, resigned, and was elected President of the Board. Dr. J. B. W. Nowlin was elected Secretary. Dr. Cheatham suc- ceeded Dr. Lindsley as Health Officer. Dr. Frank Holloway was Sec- retary a short time, and was succeeded by Dr. Deering J. Roberts.
On September 28, 1880, the Board of Health submitted a communica- tion to the Mayor and Council on the health of the city, in which they took the ground that pure air, pure water, and good food were essential to health, and said that Nashville was sadly deficient in the two former. The air was rendered impure by the imperfect sewerage of the city. This was radically wrong, being violative of all sanitary science bearing upon such subjects. There was not an under-ground sewer in Nashville that was not a shame upon modern civilization, and if the most expert engi- neering skill were brought to the task, it could not devise a better system for producing pestilence and disease. There was no system about it. The sewers were constructed of rough masonry, and hence there was no protec-
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tion from their outpour and the open mouths along the streets. The solid matter of the sewage was delayed and underwent decomposition, thus gen- erating poisonous gases, which escaped everywhere into houses, and were breathed by all the families, who were constantly being poisoned, and that during the hot months constituted the principal cause of infant mor- tality. The liquid sewage passed through the open masonry of the sew- ers into the soil, polluting it with decomposing organic matter, and also poisoning the atmosphere. A thorough system of sewerage was .there- fore a prime necessity, if the people were to enjoy tolerable health, and the Waring system was the one heartily recommended.
Since this time, and in accordance with these suggestions of the Board of Health, the city authorities have begun and completed a most thorough system of sewerage, and now Nashville is as well protected against nox- ious gases from this source as any city in the Union. The results of this and other improvements are plainly indicated in the table below on death rates.
On June 13, 1882, Dr. Deering J. Roberts was elected Secretary of the Board, and Dr. T. L. Maddin was afterward re-elected President.
On March 15, 1884, Dr. R. Cheatham resigned his position as Health Officer, and the present incumbent, Dr. Charles Mitchell, was elected to fill the vacancy, and he has retained the position ever since.
In 1883 the Board of Health was chartered by the Legislature, and since that time it has been composed of the Health Officer, who is Pres- ident; the Mayor, who is an ex officio member; and R. Ewing. The Secretary, under the new arrangement, has been Mr. F. E. Kuhn.
The following table shows the number of deaths among the whites and colored population of Nashville, from 1875 to 1889, together with the death rate of the two races, by sexes, each year.
WHITE.
COLORED.
DEATH RATE.
YEARS.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Total.
White.
Colored.
Total.
1875
25.78
49.69
34.55
1876.
26.31
45-35
33.25
1877
21.82
38.72
27.81
1878
17.43
33.50
23.1I
1879
195
1 59
162
183
699
20.26
35.92
25.80
1880
258
226
205
241
930
19.98
36.47
25.53
ISSI
310
305
274
256
1,145
20.63
32.87
25.27
1882
262
245
282
296
1,085
17.82
35.50
24.11
1883
312
291
260
312
1,175
18.68
31.29
23.50
IS84
300
279
260
267
1,106
16.77
26.94
21.94
1885
303
262
275
311
1,151
14.69
27.07
19.10
1886
267
250
287
330
1, 134
13.44
28.50
IS.82
1887
289
286
280
313
1,168
13.74
25.43
17.92
ISSS
255
263
265
283
1,066
12.38
23.50
16.36
1889.
292
237
241
253
1,024
12.66
21.18
15.71
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HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
By reference to another page in this chapter it will be seen that the citizens of the town were in 1823 divided into two fire companies, and the engines assigned to the two companies. On November 25, 1829, the members of the fire companies were exempted from the performance of military duty, and on January 9, 1830, each company was limited to one hundred members. Subsequently the number of fire companies was in- creased to three, and on the 12th of February, 1847, the Mayor and Al- dermen of the town provided that each of the three companies should receive $300 per year for their services in protecting the city from fire. The money was to be used in uniforming and equipping the companies, but in order that the companies should be entitled to the money there must be at least fifty members to each.
On the 23d of November, 1836, an act was passed by the Council pro- hibiting the erection of wooden buildings in the city without the consent of the Mayor and Aldermen, and authorizing the destruction or removal of wooden buildings in cases where such buildings were a menace to the safety of other property. This act also required the erection of fire walls to brick and stone buildings, and that the fire companies should re- port annually to the Mayor and Aldermen the condition of their com- panies. On January 22, 1852, the " Nashville Fire Police " was estab- lished, and was declared to be an integral part of the Fire Department. They were invested with full police powers during the continuance of a fire.
From time to time improvements were made in the efficiency of the Fire Department, which up to the establishment of the steam Fire De- partment, July 29, 1860, was wholly voluntary. But while thus voluntary, it was composed of the best citizens of the town, men who were property- owners, and interested in the mutual protection of their property. Prizes were given to the company which should first reach a fire and have a stream of water playing upon it, and there was always great emulation among the different companies, and much pride taken by the companies themselves in their success and efficiency, as well as by the citizens of the place. Deluge Fire Company, No. 3, was one of the most remarkable companies of ante bellum days. It was composed of fifty-two men, twenty-six to each side of the engine. Their engine, too, was a remark- able one for a hand engine. It was made especially for the company, and at a test threw water two hundred and fifty-six feet nine inches, which is seldom equaled even now by the best steam fire-engine. How- ever, the steam fire-engine has much the advantage in endurance.
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