The Price of Neglect: Seattle's 1877 Health Crisis
As diphtheria sweeps through a growing Seattle, an 1877 editorial warns that city-wide sanitation failures and individual negligence are turning the climate's natural health into a breeding ground for disease.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The weather of the present winter has been exceptionally fine. The days have generally been bright and sunny, the atmosphere clear and bracing, and the temperature mild. In fact, it has been such as is generally considered conducive to perfect health, but, notwithstanding this fact, probably never, at this season of the year, have zymotic diseases been so prevalent here as during the past few months, and especially is it the case with the type of that class known as diphtheria. Our physicians assign various reasons for the unusual prevalence of this class of diseases here during the present season. Some think that rain has been needed to wash the dangerous particles from the atmosphere; others say there has not been sufficient cold to check the propagation of malarial matter; while some attribute it to bad drainage and sewerage. The sewerage and drainage of our city is certainly very defective, and our citizens have heretofore given the matter too little attention. There are many dwellings so situated in regard to cesspools and defective drainage that the health of their inmates is placed in constant peril. It is individual negligence in this matter to which we wish to call especial notice, but aside from this, the sewerage system of our city is unquestionably at fault. More disease has been produced here this season, directly from this cause, probably than heretofore, because our city is now more populous than in past years, and the sewers have not been thoroughly washed out and cleansed by water as in wetter seasons. Each citizen should look after the cleanliness and drainage of his own premises, and thus protect his own and his neighbor's health. We have every advantage here for excellent drainage and sewerage, and there is no excuse for negligence in this matter.
“Our climate is pre-eminently healthful, but this great advantage may be more than counterbalanced by a want of these sanitary precautions.”
In 1877, Seattle's rapid growth outpaced its basic infrastructure, leading to outbreaks of disease that the local press blamed on 'individual negligence' and poor planning. Today, this century-old concern echoes in modern Seattle's recurring debates over how density, aging utility infrastructure, and public health requirements intersect as the city continues to scale.
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