, 1865-01-12


CHICAGO, Jan- :. 1855.
For several days past 1t has been more a les. in.
htructive. and sometimes rather amusing to read
the reports in the daily papers of the proceednss
OF committees Of various kinds all having IN view
most desirable object viz: the abatement Of 80
qfa all lands ID most ls8endous asisance. 70 oo On
It has occurred to your correspondent thatmueh,
perhaps valuable time and breath, not to mention
bodies whose duty OF pleasure It may bo to discuss
Or decide upon the 1natter, would ccase 10 mix mp
tic question involved IN tue Irregular fashion
most remarkable phase Of the discusslons, rcsola:
tIons, is, tint there Is much said dabout "scwcrs''
md .'scitnce" in the same connection. and that
the 1scwer'f Ia regarded as necessity by nil. not
w1thstaDding the Sufficiently notorious fact that
a'scienctn condemns the @'sewer" as one OF tho
gsayest Of mistakes Of both ancfent and modern
civilization.
1t seems 10 be generally admitted that the i'm.
pcrtaut geographical feature ofthe city called The
Chicago rirer. Is, In fact, not river at all, It
IL an P9tg
lake.
dt ftt Be 9e dsssFa9e deer r.. es9 o. rahes # Is deter
dth Of the city, It is apparent that Tho existing
nuisance must increase, and continue. to grow
more and moro horztble with every days addition
be done to convert the 'srlver' 1nto strcaua Or.
at: icast, into sever. through which TIC
tributary sesserage Of :es city may raes into
some new reservoir. So faE there seems to il
bodies discussing the matter; but beyond this
point there are different opinions; sorns directly
onposite to others: There may be said to BE- 4
is, one Party proposes the Lake q the grand . ra.
eeryior for the sewerage Of Chicago; the other
wishes to confer that dlsinction on the Mssissfp.
least talked Of and resolved shout BY both par.
ties; but neither seem to have thoasht
for moment that both plans are obnoxl-
ous to t1ue science. The object ona
strong enough to be insupcrabie. # il eood
deal worse than simple folly to look to Lake Mich
lgan a. dhe reservoir whence the city is TO be sup
reservoir of The city's lth It would seer seem that
there Is an fneompatfbility here that could never
be rcconciled, but would continue to grow more
md more serious. With the growth orthe city7the
w6is TIC oW ofth into a The iaEo would y neess ss
eaf1s SeErsatera a9d greater eyeEy year. 50 long
The Mississippi pun is not 50 objectionable.
Eot obleet1enab1e ut al; Is sewerage plan, pro
rdded It could be carried out on sufficiently large
Ecalc TO insure a strong and steady flow Of water
iaom the lake through the chicago river, and
be only to dilute the nuisance and spread 1t across
the State-a proceeding to which tie people Inter.
object
There Is another plan; hut before inviting pnb-
lie attention to it. perhaps it might be we'll to
proponnd question or two which the Common
Council and other respectable bodies may dtacuss
and determine:
j. Whether the hlth Of the city il absolutely
worthless1
. Whether It (the filth Of tho city) ought not to
he returned to the earth whence It caur, aud
which can be 20 beautifully enriched .herebys
5. Whether it {,he cIty's ftth) ought to be
poured into any waters except such as may be nc
cesEary to bear it to ita reservoir B.T.w,