A CHARITABLE SUGGESTION.
4, Lyon's Inn, Strand, July 12, 1859.
Stn,—The age in which we live is characterized by its desire to prevent any unnecessary shortening of life, and if more has not been done by our Board of Health, the shortcoming certainly cannot be accounted for by any niggardliness upon the part of the public. Bad drainage, with the impuri- ties of air and water, have been and are now being attended to; but circum- stances have forced upon me the conviction that there are prolific causes of disease and death in existence which the Board of Health can never reach, • and which will alone succumb to efforts sustained by acts of private charity.
A month since, small-pox must have been extremely prevalent in and around Drury Lane; for it was by no means uncommon to meet in the neighbourhood persons who had recently recovered ; indeed, I myself know of upwards of a dozen cases within a few yards of each other in or adjoining Drury Lane. In one case it broke out at the dwelling place of a small tradesman, whose household consisted of eight persons, himself, wife, five children, and an apprentice. The wife alone was free from the chances of contagion. By great and exemplary care,—namely, by forbidding any per- son except the mother to go near the sufferer, on any pretence,—by admitting as much "free" air to the apartment as possible,—by seeing that no one drank from the same vessel, and such precautions,—the remainder escaped. Now, Sir, all these precautionary measures, successful to so remarkable a degree, may yet prove nugatory ; for the clothing of the afflicted and the bedding whereon the sufferer slept should undoubtedly have been destroyed. The sole reason why this was not done,—for the necessity was billy realized, —was the difficulty of replacing them. How are we to meet such difficulties ? Let a society be immediately formed, the object of which shall be to furnish clothing in such cases, upon the proviso that the clothing worn and hence likely to spread theeontagion, shall be given up or destroyed. The medical officer attending upon any case could grant a certificate, and thus imposition would almost be an impossi- bility. In most cases a pound would be a sufficient amount to restore all clothing, &c., necessary to be destroyed. In conclusion, let me suggest that donations of left-off apparel (children and adults') would be equally valuable to money itself in carrying out the object of an institution similar to that proposed. Should the publicity given by the insertion of this letter in your columns be favourable to such an enterprise, proceedings might be easily taken cally to realise the object.
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