The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-12-29
rFor the Dispatch.l
Jannes River water

We arr p; in recent issue Of the Dis.
a,ns Thc. subject is important, ana aus
Pp'.as;nn will be serviceablc to the puohc.
Ia concluding remarks border on tue PIC
,,,ncsn,et Near the east gate of the Capi,
.oi s1nare. on franklin street, IS smail
snr;n1 7 have seer at this spring during a
sa e rise in4he rarcr fifty persons
..a;t;nn their turpto get little water. Such
snnne, we read ofin Eastern countries they
orc shame to- our age and civilization.
Ono Iemnoraryt rise in the river subs,dea,
tho ,,nmos began to I'll the reservoir, the ny
S;ran,s cave forth supply, and the crowa
ssanarfcIi 70 fIl their stomacbs and their pans
Win riyer.water, well knowing its supe-
riority. Notwithstanding its muddy appear
unce. How is the scene changed. months
have e,a,sed, and the visitors to the spring
have been few and far between. Not even
solitary horseman appears to grace tue iouh'
tain. ,rotor
xlrawnfrom the well, will assuredIy make tue
coat Of a horse unaccuStomed 10 IL starc'
and IL will not unfrequentiy grippe anu o.hel,
wise jpjure him. Instinct or eHpeI'enos
I,ae made the horse conscious OF this, Tor ne
al, never drink hard water If he has access
10 soft-hc will leave the most Transparent
water Of the we'll for river, although tne
water may be turbid."
The instincts of our citizens tend in the
same direction: they prefer the common ny
tirant 10 the clearest cistern. Our rlver-Wa-
ter js soft. and its taste is but little altered
nv the clay. Some of the company at gen.
tlemon,s table were blindfolded,. and 1t was
found. bv experiment, that the dlst!nctlon
between filtered and muddy hydraEt-Water
cou]d not be accurately determined by the
palate. u.,o ,,or :, tho
water we now drink still retains the organic
and other matters which 1t has sepafaeeu: ~
and when the muddy or clay Ih'A'u'e -
m,mned into the reservoir we nave an aceu-
,n,,Iation of fifth" How can clay retain Or
.anic and other matters after 1t mas Separa-
ted them? If the writer means tnat Tue cray
has separated such matters TO 'tseg, then we
can understand that by decomposlng or UNI
ting with them it has destroyed all 'heir
noXious qualities. For proof that clay does
exercise such power we refer AGAIN 70 Tue
language already quoted from MlIier's Cneln'
istry.
Further. we read thus: If putrid matter
&c injected into the veins it produces death !;
If taken into the stomach it is modified and
rendered comparatively harmless by d'ges-
tion. So with water, but we know not at
what EXPENSE of vitality; and feel sure we
can f1isnense with the dirt until we have
giZzards."
If the author will not be offended we VIII
remark that we do not know whether this IS
.cierce. rhetoric, or logic. II 1t IS science
we did know that water was d'gested IN the
stomach if il is rhetoric, we do not under
stand the gizznrd smile; if it is logic, we
cannot find out the construction of the
syllogism. ,, -
II the organic impurities dissolved in
water can be " modified and rendered COM
naratiyely harmless by digestion then the
alarm everywhere sounded by the facuity
against bad drinking-water as cause OF
tSphoid-tever, yellow-fevcr, dysentery, ana
cholera is humbug. The sanitary history
of Nashville, Memphis, and Shreveport Tor
the past year affords sad commentary upon
the intimate relation that exists between
disease and contaminated water. Our
reservoir is forty years old, and We have yet
TO hear of the first Sickness traceable TO the
fluid which flows therefrom.
Galen (born 1911 warns his readers against
lead pipes 500 ce7'uSiam," and the writer's
Of later day cried nonsense, but during the
present century science has demonstrated the
saoatity of the ancient medcls, ana IN
many localities in Great Britain, France, anu
orr own land it is found necessary to pro-
feet lead piles artificay. The subject has
attracted the profound attention of scientific
men. "Tuckahoc" would make us believe
that the danger Of lcadpoisoning Is llSht
affair, and asserts, we think rashly, that zee
ell knc,o that there is little danger OF lead
poisoning except from new pipes; all lead
pipes become in short time coated on the
inside with an insoluble substance" We
all know" is not sufficient testimony. Wnere
is the proof that only new pipes are acted on
by pure water? There is no doubt that car.
bonic acid and the sulphates act on the lead
and afford some protection with coating
that is generally insolube. But it Is stated
by the highest chemical authority that many
of the salts, especially chlorides, which are
found in rivers and springs, act continually
ON lead;' and even the coating of carbonates
and sulphates is sometimes dissolved by the
palyanic action of other minerals accidentally
present, Dana says: "1ron rust diffused IN
water acts like q stream Of oxygen, and thus
il acts tO hasten corr0sion and solution OF
lead pipe.v Let us be thankful for our clay
coating, which is even proof against the ac-
ton Of ordinary oxygen.
Or. Christisop, the celebrated writer on
poisons, states that water which contains less
than about an S0O0th of salts in solu-
ION eapuot be safely conducted in lead pipes
without certain precautions.
DR.. Lambe relates that one Of his neigh
bors sagaciously ordered his plumber to
make the lead pipe Of his pump Of double
thickness, 10 save the charge Of repairs, be-
cause the Warwick water ate the lead away
so soon. We are at some pains to point out
the truth in this matter, because we are pro-
fouudly Impressed with conviction that if
any successful attempt is made to furnish
clear water from our reservoir lead-poison-
ing will be matter of common occurrence.
No perfect reservoir for filtering clayey
water has been constructed on large scale, |
and il popular clamor should compel the |
City Council to attempt such work it |
would probably be q failure. 1t wohld be !
very costly, and would add abundantly to |
our burden Of taxation, which is now two |
per cent.-an amount already sufficient to
prevent the incoming of capital and capital |
lists. Why should anybody desire the ex-
pendtute of a large sum Of the public |
money when by the use of simple, cheap,
and harmless means every man and woman |
may provide for themselves IN abundant sup |
ply OF water as limpd as the morning dew. |
Before closing this communication we
wish to potce tlllacy quite prevalent in
our community. Mr.. Blank, a respectable |
citizen, says that drinking this muddy water |
gives people stone in the bladder. If Mr..
Blank understood human anatomy he would
know that there is no communication be-
tween the alimentary canal and the kidneys
and bladder except through the crcuatory
system and that it is impossible for any
solid substance, however minute, to pass the
obstacle which nature has provided. Urin-
AIRY catcuk have been examined with unn-