, 1865-01-06
TAc River and It's Conscqucncoslf II not
HnNcEllY Ele6u6rda -

! EAc River and Its Consequences II not
Speedily Cleansod. ~. a.
Editors Chicago Tribune: :. =. 4.
In rcaaing another article signed by "E.C:,
L. concerning the river and its terrible state
Of water, I fcclpnco mole obliged to come
before my fellow citizens, If you will allow
me the space In -FOUR valuable journal. "
Tie principal difference Of opinion seems
to be tlic cause, as usua3, Of the filthy state Of
our river, and whnt can wc expEct Of the
! masses Of people who noror giro tho subject
thought. Whom we scc that man like
MIR. E. G. L." Il gentleman Of grcat learning
/ nnd wllo has undoubtedly thu prosperity Or
our city ut tcart, 1nl,ors under tho samo great
mistake ns to tho rcal cnusc of It, although
Ills article Of to.dny IL mora soothing tlian Ills
first. still I can tcad between thu lines That
"Mr. E. e. H." IL Of tho. opinion that tho
pnekcre nru tho principal II not tho solo causo
OF ctr present troublns. tienttulnon, lot III
oa 5.l3t 10 cauli other ntd my Tho ca,lsc where
It belongs.
III Tho first ilhco VIC t1lst corstt1ur Tint ttla
river, or branch of Lake michigan, has bum
oi1tnalye during tho ku.nnur months boforo
pny wltlto n,an Ind over shown his E,co OF
lts storcs. Tho best proof wo hayo, by tho ln.
dlans who once roanlel nl,out lloro baptlzlhg
ILLS rlrer Chicago r!yor," which means no
moro or loss In plnlu English, as aln told,
tban "skunk river"
That tho Indlaua had cnuso for calling It
80, know by my own oxpcrlcnce.'' was
hi:el In 1871, III California, by a n.ht, who had
tract OF lnnd about twenty-five nli1cs below
Sacramento, called 0corglana slough, to chop
wood. Having lad Ind luck III Thu mines, 7,
III nj @F
Ing living; but tho water III tho slough was
10 ottcnstvo, even In that hcalthy and bcauli-
FIJI cl!matc, Tint aisor ono duy's work w loft
our wator, IN n similar slough, lo sweet, with
tho kcwngo Of 200, GOV sooplo lowing into 1t
duilys But lct mo show you how tnuct sow.
ngo VIC are running Into our rlyor yearly.
hly aE!res may start!o you, but tnsy arc nv.
within fuw weeks past, That Tho cmlnelit
German chemist, Or, 1.lohlcg, or Munich, Da.
var!a, hns entered Into y contract with thu
city Of London for oil t!ie sewage, anl hc
estimates tho quantity OF that sownge at
II the city Of London, with 4 population or
two million 1--WE hundred thoasand Inhabl-
tunts, makcs five millions of tons Of sew
age per year, We must, consequently. with
population Of two hundred thousand inl.abl.
tants, make f9nr hundred thousand tons per
four hundred thousand tons Of sewage llnds
, lis way, yearly, into our river, and still We
ask ourselves what makes this water 80 bad,
when We ought to eay, to each other, Why
isn't It any worse I do not care whit the
and don't see why thcy should try TO shield
not The sewage that makes our
water bad. They say the best proof
Of this Is, that the North branch last yeaF was
| in a worse state than the South b anch, and
into which no sewer empties ct all! This
gard to the packers for We all know that
almost all the packing housea are situated on
the soutl. branch, and therefore If the pack
! crs were the cause, the South brauch ought
to be worse than TIE North branch. The dis
ti1lers haTo undoubtedly contributed cQnsid-
theff slop, which is entirely vegetable, into
the river, but am fur from saying that they
! were the only cause. Was it right In us to
attack them US We did Inst summer, charging
these gentlemen with everything. we could
think Of: Did their few tons Of slop and
into the river, and which is only tly speck
in comparison to our enormous quantities Of
| filth, befoul the air and water SO Us to eudau-
ger tue lives Of our citizenss I for one, say
no. We are very quick to detect the mote IN
our ncighbor's Eye: but the beam in our own
human nature, and that saviour has to come
yet who will deliver us from this selfish evil
l must return to my subject again. / have
| said that We run four hundred thousand tons
| Of vegetable matter into the river, aud I will
explain to you now how much water. BY this
I this sewage were thrown into one hundred
tons Of water in July and August, in less than
twenty-four hours this wafer would be so
putrid that no animal would drink It, and
nuw multiply one hundred with four hundred
thousand and you will get the net figure Of
iorly million tons Of water, or: eight billions
three hundred aud forty millions gallons Of
water annually made putrid by ,,s.
These, gentlemen, are tguresanl will not Tic.
Is it necessary for us, then, to look for auy
other causey Why have We not figured be-
fore? And now think Of tha uliasma or ma-
iasia which must naturally aaisc daily and
hotriy from such cess pool, ten miles long
an and rom forty to two hundred feet wide, and
On IN average twelve feet deep. Wcro 1t not,
ielloT.citizens, for our favorable location, and
blessed with continual brcezcs; were NC sit
uatcd like Cincinnati. for instance, surround
"a " 1lgA blntls, no man could live In this
city: Rcad, for instance, Dr.. Hcnry'e letter
1857, wherein l,e speaks exclusively OF ttccon.
posed vegetable 1natter md the miasma or
ma1arfa arising from It, and That lctior viii
CONVINCE you that wc need not thauk cur
river 1or our small pcr cent Of morality, con-
pared Win our population, or tint or my
otnSr CITY. bt't even should not person die
u ellicago n year, VIC ought not allow this
river to bu In the stntc It s now, for ai,y long
Il ~ o 'aan ~ LIN, ~ necessary 20 have
II IL M. Et,,'o. ",.u ostt.ia ", au ufgeu
in,r n;,,r,1ta tciv n i1jscmss ~ t,,nt.a XIII.
nrsat ',c ,",i,ftn n,,1 ,,,9 ~ ~ H. ILL.,. !s,
imrn AMI, T., Il ,t,.,s' uu Us ~ !ne ln'ng go
t%r,nnn "t'' !" Ia ~ sI nhn lt1an
- ,',,.,, H., "oo WIN nut H' y. -
~ t,,~,,F Fasn 1"9 tmattGr wien oHr LcgisiA.
ini ~, .ra mn, " kram. ne c'lartcr i9r Tho
mi ,u "" 1s. . mceetenriiy ;snfo 10 '!I4 tlis g.
:.1t - Ut ,,t ,Icr 10 lslo lake' Anu tlson Mr.
~ ~, roll!u 20 t'loso ts0t'i tllsi my utt,cr
it ,"n ~! ~ ~n.aKo in; !ot ~ ~ 10 work don't
;"ns 10 !us" wy "hutt. ~ us lack OIL lio
~. " ~, "tehs M ~ the tako !oi III survey 1t ut
t"r H. vr,,,tn "w'nH, ~ W'ietl thq c!snr.
-. ~ ~ III .. %nN F! 'tnse no aottis IL VIII
~ w. w., INV no%"v'k ~ w out 70 ul5 our IN.
rnnIi r ",iH .n n"',,, M nvs tSe People ntpelnt
SV.c0 xs'a s!,, 81 ihaeh!lHl men 70 ~ u Sprtng'
tsn; m'.Ss !t 'no ieks'atnEe u III session, 70
aun!c ". n sncm 40 19nE until Thy aro glad Ia
~. .1 u. tosin. 1.ot III sHFe{ltu tn 4 fluid to
Ivy ~ hreessaFy cxlonses, 20 bc refunded
"tas' IT,! MNeA p"e property ~ 70 he tnxe1 FOR
u.as a !M.{uau. ~ NOT 10y lt5 eae, drink or
sTel rs nAhoua asRi!'G ourselves have We done
- I'M Wy Soulo ~ III tlis river 1nlttor. And
~. ~ you, n'1.hess. appoa! principally. Know
s,a.. ansu tnat MI1,argaS ol your bnbes, for whom
5on ase Wr'!!nF m 20 bear VI! tliat mother Is
f1J. In Oh ~