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Editorial
May 31, 1849
The Davenport Gazette
Davenport, Scott County, Iowa
What is this article about?
Editorial criticizes negligence and superstition causing cholera deaths, debunking contagion myths and divine scourge beliefs, using example of a man from New Orleans to St. Louis who ignored preventives due to fatalism.
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"CHOLERA A SCOURGE."
Shall we wonder that so many persons die of Cholera when so inexcusably negligent? The impression prevails among the ignorant that Cholera is contagious and that it has been sent as a scourge from God. Let the idea become universal and the number of deaths from the disease will quadruple.
We have an illustration of the effects of such ignorance and superstition. A man called upon us to prescribe for a severe cold he had contracted on the river, having just arrived from New Orleans. He casually remarked that he had a diarrhea, and upon being questioned, stated that he had had it for a number of days. Are you not afraid of Cholera? we queried. "No," he replied, "if it be to come it will come."
Thirty-six persons died of Cholera on the boat that brought that man to St. Louis, all were affected similarly to himself, and yet believing it a scourge sent from God, he refused to avail himself of preventives because, "if it be to come it would come!"
Shall we wonder that so many persons die of Cholera when so inexcusably negligent? The impression prevails among the ignorant that Cholera is contagious and that it has been sent as a scourge from God. Let the idea become universal and the number of deaths from the disease will quadruple.
We have an illustration of the effects of such ignorance and superstition. A man called upon us to prescribe for a severe cold he had contracted on the river, having just arrived from New Orleans. He casually remarked that he had a diarrhea, and upon being questioned, stated that he had had it for a number of days. Are you not afraid of Cholera? we queried. "No," he replied, "if it be to come it will come."
Thirty-six persons died of Cholera on the boat that brought that man to St. Louis, all were affected similarly to himself, and yet believing it a scourge sent from God, he refused to avail himself of preventives because, "if it be to come it would come!"
What sub-type of article is it?
Science Or Medicine
Moral Or Religious
What keywords are associated?
Cholera
Ignorance
Superstition
Fatalism
Preventives
Divine Scourge
Negligence
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Ignorance And Superstition About Cholera
Stance / Tone
Critical Of Fatalism And Negligence
Key Arguments
Many Die Of Cholera Due To Inexcusable Negligence
Ignorant Belief In Contagion And Divine Scourge Increases Deaths
Fatalistic Attitude Prevents Use Of Preventives
Example: Man From New Orleans Ignores Symptoms And Risks On Boat To St. Louis