The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-27
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=. s' the country. The eontrasssis fair, and
should not be altered. 1 w
Sewage and Sewers.

Mr.. Ross WTNAHs Is doing nuHaui'' =
,,,oa,,, he war mon the custom of cities o'
passing all their offal and feca ma..ei
seyyers into the nearest water. ! nc o"''vn
i abominable in every light, 1t Is slosen's ,
and law, because tits imperfect anu o.aI :.
it Is adopted for no other reason .,l'l, '' w.
~ .,,o e,s,est wav to dispose of refuse. let,
| ,so,- ~ baltimore. Docs she dispose OF IL!
,y . sr,,l, mort Is rendered iutolerabiy ofien-
sive by that refuse, and instead Of getting rio
Of Il through the sewers, it is only coneen- !
,,,tcd where II Is an offence In the very cen
| ire of her large commerce.
Recent discoveries have proved that TINS
mode of disposlpg Of refuse Is one OF the most
fruitful sources of poison to the human sys'
tenn, and the faculty in all great cities cry out
against it. 1t cannot be long before tue au-
thoritics of the cities will be forced to diiect
their attention to this great evil. "
Richmond is small city; but yet tne
m,an,itv OF refuse and offensive matter
driven through her sewers into the river Is
| r;ving Inconvenience and annoyance. Al
ready. we doubt not, the public health mas
suffered detriment from this cause; ana as
tho population increases its effects must DC
stronger and more widespread. Inc s"'9ce.
;s therefore, one of great interest to her. Ii
the emptyins of so much filth into the river
did not endangcr the public health, thcfe Is
| vct nm objection to this mode of dlsposliiS Oh
refuse that should be of itself decisive. " heh
wc consider that all of our drinking, COOKING,
and bathing water, comes out OF James river,
we should not set to the towns tliat arc a''o
ore to he above us on the river the bad cA'llli-
ple of poluting its waters, by emptylps our
filth into il. We should know that we cai'-
not complain of this custom III others il W.
nurs,,e il ourselves. We cannot claim the
RIGHT to pollute the river and object TO It's
pollution by others. And what thihk tne
people of Richmond of drinking the waters
poisoned by the refuse of fllty to"nS' 's
there will be in years to come upon the shores
of james river?
Eor the matter of drainage Richmond
needs sewers less than almost any other city
in the Union. As the Mayor states III his
message lust sent to the Council, she has
twelve water sheds. Therefore she could not
suffer except in some limited areas from
miasm caused by excessive moisture, even
though she had no sewers. But sewers are
useful Notwithstanding inasmuchast they SUD
divide the floods caused by the heavy rains,
and carry oil large part of the water under
ground, thus diminishing the injury from Its
wearing and tearing of the surface. And to
this service the sewers ought to be confined.
There should be no such use for them rs the
conveying away Of solid refuse, filth, and
fecal matter. These should he returned TO
the earth as fertilizers, and should never be
permitted to befoul and poison the river.
Rightly considered, it is shame to our civil
cation that such thing should be allowed in
any respectable community.
Our neighbor Manchester has no sewers,
or rather no system of sewers, for cmptylnS
things into the river which ordinary indus
try and decency should keep out of it, and
we hope her authorities will never entertain
the idea adopting any such system. She may
think that it is just as well that she should
bcfoul the river as Richmond; but then her
example may assist the causes which SO
strongly oppose the present system of sewer
age and help in inducing Richmond to
abandon it at some future day. Her authori-
ties would do we'll to direct their attention
to the subject and investigate the new plans
for the disposal Of sewage without burthen-
ing the rivers with it. Mr.. WINANs. Of Bal
timore, who is using all his influence in
pressing this much needed reform upon So
ciety, has devised a plan for the Use of Il
large number of tenement houses he has
built, which he says acts admirably well. He
deserves the thanks of city populations; for
their health and comfort are deeply involved
in this important question.