The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-05-03
street sprink1ing Viewed I'm a sani.
tary Light.

street Sprinkling Viewed In san
tary Light. a9
WET FILTH MORE DELETERIoUs AND PES
TIFERoUs THAN DRY-oTHERwIsE A
ANNOYANCE AND NUISANCE.
We continue to-day the communicate
of DR.. Dolley upon street sprinkling. Th
views are new, but coming from so high
professional source are entitled to careful
study +: 4gt
1t is unnecessary In this communication
to detail those particular disturbances t,
health, and serious diseases which resui
from breathing air made poisonous b,
gaseous matter, putrid and infectious OK
halations neither those which result from
the countless organic genus, both cry pto
gamous and infusorial, all of which are
products of matter in a state of ferment
and decay. 1t might be shown that
typhoid, typhus and Intermittent fevers
diptheria, and the whole list of zymatic
diseases, "born of putrescence," have been
reduced ten, and in some instances a hun
dred fold by surface drainage, the removal
of dampness in and around dwellings, and
by the adoption of such hygenic measures
as ensured purity of air. All this is
proved by statistics in Edinburg, Dublin.
and many other cities. .s5 ffe
II, then, it be true that street sweepings
undergo more rapid imposition when
kept moist, and that the presence of dead
organic matter or the products of its de-
composition are important elements in the
causation of disease, the question arises !:
What is the most effectual way of remov-
ing those causes or of diminishing or pre-
venting their effects Is it to allow the
filth to remain in the streets, and every
warm and dry day through the summer
and fall add to it constantly the only ele-
ment lacking THAT of moisture) to give it
the power to generate noxious gases and
myriads of infusoria and germs of disease
This is the course our municipal authori.
ties seem to have chosen Does it matter
not, 30 long as few men find it of pecu-
mary advantage to furnish and take con-
tracts to distribute canal water through
our streets, that a liability to many of the
gravest kinds of sickness is increased ten,
and luckily II not an hundred, fold?
Gentlemen of the Common Council =
The evils and abuses connected with the
system of street sprinkling in vogue in
our city are real, and of an Importance
demanding reform one of two courses
should be adopted. First, if sprinkling
is to go on, let provision be made for add
ing sufficient carbolic acid or other anti
ceptic agent, to each tank of water dis
tributei In the streets, to prevent putre-
scence in the moist filth, and to neutralize
and render innocuous the poisonous ex-
halations from the same; or, secondly.
adopt the plan Of night sweeping by
machines or otherwise, by which the dust
will be removed in quantities sufficient to
be source of Inconvenience plan car
ried out successfully in many cities. Y, =
After the early spring cleaning Of the
main avenues was allowed to accumulate i
and remain during the whole summer, and
through the long heated term, by the aid
of the sun and the sprinklers, was, in the
language of one of our most scientific and
worthy citizens, except stewing" day after
day and month after month Every
gentleman's carriage, if washed in the
morning, was before night while at his
door or elsewhere ia the street, bespat-
tered with filth. Every lady and gentle
man who attempted to cross street was
annoyed by the mud under foot aud the
splutter of filthy water and dust on one
side or the other. Then, to keep up these |
evils, this nuisance, the owners of real
estate are burthened with unreasonable
taxes without consultation or consent.
At much less expense than that re-
quired for sprinkling, the dust might be
collected and removed every twenty-four
or forty-eight hours, by sweeping machines
and brooms in human hands, and all the
evils. ii not the necessity of sprinkling
avoided. 1t should be remembered that
this dust and filthy dirt which accumu-
lates during the warm months, even il
made wet many times day by sprinklers
and allowed to purify and ferment hum
dred times over by additions, and the death
and decomposition of its myriads of short
lived organisms has all OF it to be taken up
and carried away at last. Why not instead
of allowing and assisting it to decompose in
our streets and under the windows
of our household gods, move it each
or every alternate night or morning,
ana permit II TO decompose and generate
Its noxous and septic elements under the
rains of heaven, away from human habi-
tation Then, instead of being nuisance
and curse, it would be source of profit
to nurserymen and farmers. | believe
that no intelligent citizen would demur at
an additional tax, even ifass much as that
now levied for sprinkling, when it would
accom- plish 50 much in the wav of puhlic
hygiene. think am fully justified in
adding that if property holders pay with
out protest and contest these sprinklng
taxes, and If all who have regard for the
salubrity of the city and the health of
their families do not seek for an abatement
of this sprinkling nuisance, then public
indifference and stupidity must be counted
at premium in our city. L.cp.
M ATRIMoNIAr-T lTanaohor.y fp,,.S