In connection of the swamp, is being thrown off, unceasingly, from
the whole surface, in and around the city, one dense sheet of thick
malaria. And to thicken this up, and add to its qualities, the whole
city, from one extreme to the other, is filled with the most filthy
masses of stench and corruption, that were ever suffered to remain
above ground in a community claiming to be decent or civilized. In
proof of this, go to that part of the city where you would certainly
expect neatness and order, and look for some place to locate, to escape
the steam and odor from piles of filth, and you will find on one side
or the other of almost every dwelling, a horse stable, a mule yard,
a negro pen, or piles of offals, from some lane or alley, which have
been there from time immemorial. Again, you may look for a desirable
dwelling, but none can you find, unless on one side or the other is a
miserable shanty or hovel, filled with the most degraded human beings,
either black or white. In further proof of what New Orleans is, in this
respect, the following incident will give some idea of what is found
there. In the summer of 1847, during the rage of the yellow fever,
when hundreds were dying daily, the citizens and authorities, from
some cause which I believe has never yet been made public, and perhaps
only known to but _few_, got an impression, that filth and corruption
_might possibly_ beget disease. Consequently they appointed a committee
of examination to search the city, to ascertain if any thing could be
found that would have such a tendency. In this arrangement, a very
worthy and efficient gentleman, Mr. N., was assigned to Gravior, one of
the principal streets in the second municipality. While on his mission
he went into the _chamber_ of a house, but a few rods in rear of the
St. Charles Hotel, occupied by an Irish family, and while conversing
with the _lady_ of the house, his attention was attracted to another
room by a noise like the grunting of swine, yet for the moment, he
concluded it could not possibly be _up chamber_. The report, however,
soon came again, and was so convincing that he arose and opened the
door, and to his astonishment met an old sow nursing five pigs, which
she had reared in that room, until they were almost large enough
to become _gentlemen_ hogs. And this is _life_ in New Orleans. In
connection with all this, every mouthful of food a person gets on the
table is a mass of poison, disease and death. I refer now to meats,
of every description. The animals of all kinds, to supply the city,
are brought down from the upper States, bordering on the Ohio and
Mississippi, in Steam Boats, and are, generally, from ten to fifteen
days on the passage. They are forced into a change in food, water and
other circumstances, during the passage. They eat but very little, and
when they arrive in the city, are in a state of starvation; and in this
condition are killed, and taken into the markets. Now this meat is as
improper for the table as if the animal had died of ship fever; for
the whole body is in a state of feverish inflammation, produced by the
change of diet and the starving condition in which the animal is when
killed. Consequently, the meat must produce a deleterious influence
upon the health of those who eat it.
To present clearly, the condition that meats are in, when taken into
the markets, the following facts are given. The Steamer Dove, in her
trip to New Orleans, in Oct. 1848, was completely covered on her deck
with coops full of chickens, as thick as could be crowded in, amounting
to several thousand. The passage was long and tedious. For two days
after being taken on board, the poultry began to sicken and die. The
number dying daily increased, and for two or three days, before we
arrived in the city, a large number died. On arriving, those living
were immediately sold, and the next day, many of them were on the
tables of the Hotels and boarding houses. Now if these chickens were
wholesome, and proper food to be eaten, and would promote “health _and
long_ LIFE,” then may we look for health in consuming the pent up damps
and vapors of the dungeon or an emigrant ship. It is also in almost a
putrid condition that butter and preserved meats are received, and they
both have generally a rancid and forbidding taste and smell. Vegetables
may be classed with other things, for they are usually produced by a
forced growth; consequently, cannot become healthy and vigorous plants.