The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-30
sawaoe---Public Health.


nv .,-,,,;zea world has adopted customs |
srt,h regard to sewage that are every Vs.!
proving injurious both to coh'o ~. a, =. W.
health. Az populations increase t,li' y W
coming moro and more manifest. Inc Feee.,'
,,,neas Of the Prince Of Wales ana the aea'a
=, lord CHESTERFIELD. rs It Is now believed
nom the poisonous vapors OF the sewers al
Londesborough Lodge, have revived ahe"
the discussion Of the question and ehcited
rood deal Of information upon the SUBJECT
Tho distilled gas from the contents OF tue
sawers whose mouths are concealed by traps
Ga conceded everywhere to be deadly poison,
and vet thousands Of houses have these con-
oealed mouths, from which arc constantly
stealing this blighting breath.
The whole system Of water-ctosets I'D the:
bosom of the houses, connected wltha gen.
eral plsn of sewage, L. fraught with danger,
and is the Cause o. vast deal OF mortaihy
In society.
There Il an extreme fastidiousncss preva-
lent. allied TO disposition to Acknowledgements
.b,, fayors the system and llatters the VANITY
that would ignore the infirmlties OF nature.
We forget that in these matters we cannon
~trammel up the consequences" and that
our artful devices but return "to plague INC
Inventors" "Pve dons the deed; dldst
hear a noise?n said MACBETH. He was dread
fully alarmed lest somebody had heard even
tho noise. And yet the deed was blown into
every ear, and haunted him to DEATH Ana
90 these ingenious and elegant contrlvances
for luxury and yanity--the costly system by
which urban populations hide appearances
ofensive-caunot prevent the return OF the
plapue that impairs health and oilendS the
senses. The sewers and the pipes are traitors
in the houses, and the immense burden OF
offensive ofIal poured into the river will in
time rise up there to spread abroad disease
and to create offence.
No city, in our opinion, should have sew
ers for any other purpose than to drain and
keep dry the surface. Drainage Is necessary
% health. But if with the water TINT Is
drained all the filth of the city is combined,
the danger Is that the adjacent streams Will
be poisoned. The fish are killed or driven
away, the water ceases to be place OF re-
creation and pleasure, and dispen5es death
instead Of delight. These evils will increase
in proportion to the increase Of population,
and In time James river, now most horribly
outraged, will become uncomfortable.
Man Is prone to consult his own conve-
nience to bis own injury. A certain amount
Of exertion and exposure to the open air is
essential to his health. Disease is steadily
cultivated along with ease and inaction. 1t
will not do to be too con,fortable--to have
everything at hand without getting up or
walking little way after it. And this idea
of everything within doors is III error.
There are things that should be separate, and
that it will not do to bring too close together.
There is something besides eyes. There Is
the nose. 1t should be respected. Above
all, there are the lungs, that may inlale what
the eye cannot see; and that unobscrTcu
thing inhaled may be the enemy that VIII
take away the life. Let lis 10. be too artifi-
cial. We shall be the better Of Being Il little |
more FREQ and natural.
If we suppose that the deadly distilled
gases of the sewers are carried along TO their
mouths we make mistake. They arc light
The solid matter goes down; the gas rises,
and will not descend. 1t will escape In some
way.
In consigning all olal to the underground
sewers-a lazy and slattern mode OF getting
rid of tive not only befoul the streams,
which we should keep rs pure as possible,
but we throw away what Is Invaluable to
fertilize the land We are rohbing ourselves
and society of whit should be gathered to-
pether and returned to the land from which |
II was taken. 1t is manifest that if city popu- |
fations shall continue to throw into the sea
all the ofial That comes from their consump-
ton they will IN time seriously impoverish
the land and straighten themselves for the
means of subsistence Indeed, in time a
process like that would convert any country
into desert.
Then, let us remember tho uses to which
we adapt the river. First, and most impor-
tant of all, we get all orr drinking water out
Of the river. 1t Is excellent. No city has
finer. Let us suppose that other cities shall
20 on emptying their filth into the river, and
that the number of the towns on James river
shall increase, and their populations shall be-
come large, how would we like the thought
Of their making sewer Of James river with
reference to our drinking water9
Next, for purposes Of commerce we ex-
peet to sec James river full Of vessels. How
would II do In that case for the river to he an
offence md scandal to the city, 1t would
be q serious public injury, not to speak of
the effects on the health of the people. The
least Of all the bad effects is the interruption
Of the pleasures Of the water, such as boat
Ing and fishing. Yet these are not unimpor-
tant. Rivers are things of beauty-they are
lovely to look upon, refreshing to be upon,
and the air that rises from pure water Is deli
Sious.
All these matters will force themselves in
time upon city communities There must be
great revolution in the present usages.
Sewerage will be limited to drainage of water
alone. The oftal and the focal matter must
be returned to the earth. The earth-closet
will become popular. There is nothing like
the earth to preserve purity and to protect
health. The use Of the earth for this prr-
pose was prescribed in Deuteronomy xiii,
Is. 1t will come to be known that that is not
the cleanGest, wisest, and heathiest COM
munity that simply hides things, but that
which disposes Of all things properly with .