New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-02-22
ROUSE SEWERAGE.
REPORT OF THE CITY SANITARY INSPECTOR
Cheap BUILDERS AND SHODBY PLUME
FE--pAyAGEs OF SPOTTED FEVER.


REPORT OF THE CITY SANITARY INSPECTOR
Cheap BUILDERS AND SHODBY PLUMB
EE--RAYAGEs OF SPOTTED FEVER
Or. Moreau Morris, City Sanitary Inspector,
submitted to the Board OF Health, yesterday, long
rcnort on house sewerage and drainage lie sets forth
the difficulty which BARD OF Health experiences in
enforcing the Tenement House act He says:
or Iate.years system OF building has been introduced
IN this city by speculative operators which, und.r tue
pressure or competitive contracts aud subcontracts has
produced universal tendency Ia cheapen CONSTRUCTION
aud rs consequence accepl re 1 ~ ,s re c,
Under this system, whole blocks o. DWELLINGS, le con
struced at time the various parts being iarned ot
or su-lct TO various persons, under contracts WINCH
bv competition. taken at the lowest prices ana W
in most instances. il literally compile Wth WouIu rum
the contractor the temptation, therefore, ~ 10 HO
the work in the most superficial manner 70 elpioy We
y detects and finish the job at the earliest possible
a. tb. nIentivc of the original specuator being to
make the buildings available soon as possible IN Ofuer
tn avoid the accumuatve interest on borrow Ell capital
If ia by this system that detective sewerage and house
DRAINAGE becomes universal The plumbing, when the
ouse finished, Is necessarily out nI ,eut- 10 'Al
nToncr traps 10 westeppes, whether joints are
PROPERLY ceinented loaded whether thtr cOnnrc
with the perfect having ue5 70 pItE ~
escape Of sewer gases through the waStepes into the
dwellings. In this particular branch OF business tne
greatest frauds are dly pclpetI't.t', al I'm ~
active competition among this class Of mechanics man
ufactnrcrs Of plumbing materials nave 81 iae m
duced what may be termed aAoddy supplies VI ~ ~
kinds lead pipe that Will hardly sustain Its own weight
much less the OF CrOCOn water pressure tocOCks
that always leak ana leadcn and iron tlaps tt naIy
hold water and much less gas stone WIt MR. an a ar m
porous and brittle, that no skill IN workmanship can
make them tight. , ,..o. o.o .o,
nected by drain leading TO the street sewer and ny
pe the capacity OF which s scarcely suIneleut ior
obstruction take8 place in the common drain an the
houses connected tLerewitl suffer rom the poisonous
sewer Is ses which have no other outet In the con
struran Of trays there arr also radical deIects some
nnee have so shallow bend that very small quantity
Of water is retsiued in them others are nted win an
iron cap, which i3 fastened by eaf-Ileses WORKING
on SANDER; Others again have simply nat iron cap,
me
only by theR we2ght, and there II 10 PcAhg useu
Snyeeu the can and pipe and being made OF rough iron
nere u nothing to prevent the escape OF the
cases dreetly from tn sewer into t'le dWthg' Oteh
inc loose cap is separated from the Fpe and not unfre
onenty the screT-cap found unscrewed ana merely
act upOn the open pipe. Iron sewer i W NC
enve ~ coyer the shoulder OF the Joints Cement or
stoneware pipes are rarely found with joints securely
In the cellar bottom email cesspool Is found without
stencil trap, connected directly Win INC scWeIppe,
perforated with one more holes Tor the purpose OF
allowing any accumulation OF water tn. t3 UcGur
In the cellar bottom, frGm springs OK othsrWlse'
70 flow of iuto the sewer. These are dancer
Gus openings though which the po eISpate and
insdiousy permeate the dwellngrooms eonet f
The cold air for the furnace or heater = taAe , .o
the cellar having no shaft boz leading TO the
atmospheric and through this not only tne lou az VI 9
openings are carried directly into the dwelling sns
and sleeping rooms'
RESULTS OF POISON IN THE Alb
To the inhalation of poisoned air from these sources
DR.. Morris ascrlDes INC pre'hlonce vi i"is -,
Of feyers and other endemic diseases ana also minor
evils Ike languor sleepessness. and want OF appee'
Several instances death from spotted FEVER reSd
from defective house drainage and sewerage
have come under his observation. IL PRIV"
ho,,n atone dwelling In West FOrty-thrdst where
little child died from spotted fever last week ter an
iinsss of only few hours, found N the cellar DOT
tnr two separae cesspoOls having direct pipe connsc
ton with the main sewer, without any traps ~ scyer
beng In fact a ventilatng ue for the escap " 80
oses directly into the house. In the same huusr "s
found an open joint, where the pipe from Wy 49,
closet entered the Eewerpipe aud III the iou %
zine itself an open hole II inches in diameter -
Tbe examination OF another brOwn-stone dWelhs -
r., Forfveighth-st, disclosed fourinch non scWc
nine having the main waste pipe u Inches dhieei,
liInnIv entering IL without closing the al IN tnS
house child died last week. age years. arr lnit
Tepksi illness OF spotted fever. In tenemehnou'e, ia
WashIn gtonst., where two deaths Oh chilish {oht