Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1853-10-07
From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
Water Supply of Modern Towns.

From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
Water Supply of Modern Towns.
We moderns boast of our superior civilization
and justly in some respects, but in others quite
foundedly. What, for example, are we to think of
our arrangements for supplying American and Eng
lish cities with water, when, according to late
traveller, ancient Rome furnished with forty
three times as much water per head, as is Boston
now by the Cochituate? Yet the traveller in ques-
ton is reliable man, familiar with the past aswell
as present. and therefore speaking l" by the card"
We know, from numerous other sources also, how
lavish was the supply of water in imperial Rome -
Baths for the people, capable of accommodating
thousands were distributed in various parts of the
city and many of the inhabitantssit is said. were
accustomed to bathe two three, or even four and
five times daily, fact not incredible. when we re-
member that the Roman citizen, however poor, nev-
er worked for his lving but had the whole day for
lounging, while, even in the heat of summer, he
wore woolen next to the skin. Every freeman in
ancient Rome bathed, at least, once daily. The
consumption of water, for the bath alone, must,
therefore, have been enormous. Add to this its con.
sumption for all other purposes and some idea may
be formed of the superiority of that old world me-
tropolis to towns of the present time.
Nor was this superiority confined to the imperial
city. Wherever the Romans carried their arms
there also they erected their acqueducts. There is
not a town in Southern France, nor in Spain, which
dates back to the Romans, that has not its ruined
acqueduct to show. Well did that ancient people
understand the hygienic qualities of water In
modern times not half the towns. in civilized
England and America have adequate supply of
that indisdensable liquid. With the exception of
London and few other cities, Great Britain is sad
ly destitute of a water supply for her towns. in
the United States more attention has been paid to
the subject, because Americans generally more
cleanly people, in personal habits than the English
but in the United States, the water supply of
towns is on the whole, lamentably deficient. In no
city, for example, is bathing common in Phil
adelphia Yet there are as many dwelling houses
in Philadelphia without bath tubs as with We do
not, perhaps, exaggerate, when We say, that, at
least one half of the population never bathe more
than week. Yet, in ancient Rome, every
adult bathed once daily on an avearge, as we have
seen and this though the climate of Rome was but
little hotter than that of Philadelphia. But if
Philadelphia is so much inferior, what becomes of
other cities?
Water cannot be made too cheap commodity
It ought in fact to be furnished for comparatively
nothing: and whatever legislation tends to this re-
suit is wise. If every householder could have wa
ter brought to his doors in unlimited quantities,
there would be no temptation to a scanty guam
tity, or to husband stale water. We need not re-.
call the ravages which the cholera made at Cam
den, few years ago, in consequence of impure wa
ter being used by portion of the inhabitants for
our readers, wo presume have already remembered,
in connection with this subject so striking an illus
traton of the baneful effects of bad water. But
not only should towns be supplied with sufficient of
this necessary liquid for health, they ought to pos
sess the element in quantities large enough for pub
lie fountains In the heats of summer what is
more delightful than Fountain throwing its bright
jets towards the sky, and alike cooling the atmos-
phere with evaporation, and lulling the nerves with
its musical sound But we moderns act as if foun-
tains cost too much. We admire their beauty we
admit their beneficial effects but we shrug our
shoulders, when asked to erect them and say they
do not pay. They do pay, however, and in two i'm
portant ways. They pay by refining the people,
they pay by purifying the air. The ancients under
stood this better than we do, and acted consequent
ly on larger, broader, and wiser plan.
Perhaps one reason why Americans generally use
so little water is that they still follow the customs
of their ancestors, forgetting that they live in eli
mate very different from that occupied by the Ang-
lo-Saxons. The atmosphere of England is humid
and the summers less sultry than in the United
States. What would be copious use of water there
would scarcely fulfil the mostindispensabe necessi
ties here. Our dry atmosphere requires more vapor
in it, and this can only be supplied by evaporation
The frequent sprinkling of our Streets full of
water in the house, and fountains playing in all the
public squares, would give US this desirable condi.
tion of affairs. Yet, general rule, Americans
cling to the habits ofther English forefathers the
employment of water. 1t is true water can be used
to here, and it is equally true that ma
ny persons do so use it but nevertheless the gener
al fact is as we have stated it, that the Americans
use tco little. In this PARTICULAR repeat, modern
civilization is behind the ancient. We may add
that America is, perhaps, behind Southern Europe
also The French and Italian towns at least, are
generally better supplied with water than our own
though the personal habits of the people are proba
bly, not more cleanly than those of city populations
here. Everywhere, however, we moderns are be-
hind the ancients in the employment of water
They were wiser in their generation" in this mat
ter than we.