Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1896 — Miserable Italy. [ARTICLE]

Miserable Italy.

From a hygienic standpoint, Italy is probably the worst off among all the civilized nations. According to statistics, collected and published by Professor Bodil, who furnishes authentic figures covering the entire Italian monarchy, there are among the 8,254 communities of Italy 1,454 which have water of bad quality or insufficient quantity. More than one-half of all the communities, or 4,877, have no drainage, and refuse matter is simply thrown into the street. The condition of homes are also very bad in Italy, as in no other country of Europe are there so many people living in cellars or basements. In 37,203 tenements situated below ground, more than 100,000 Italians live, eat, and sleep. In 1,700 villages of Italy, bread is not used as food, a mush of corn, called polenta taking its place. Corn being frequently sold in deteriorated condition causes many cases of sellagra, a sickness peculiar to maize-eating people,which annually causes 4,000 deaths in the provinces of Venetia and Lombardy. It is estimated that more than 100,000 cases of dellagra occur annually in these provinces. In 4,965 communities of Italy meat is not eaten, and can only be obtained from near-by towns, since meat is so dear that the poor people of Italy cannot afford it. Three hundred and sixty-six communities have not even a cemetery, their dead being buried in the churches, for they are too poor to purchase ground for burying purposes. Fourteen hundred and thirty-seven villages have no physician, a condition which is simply dreadful, for one-third of the entire area of Italy is subject to malarial fevers during one-half of the year.