Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-12-31
The Sewerage question Again.

| thlru annual report OF tue Board OF Health
of the city Of Boston, 1879, must we'll nigh
be convinced that the statements 1 have
made are consonant with very high author
| ity; that is that the High st. sewerage rs
constructed, so far as gas enters tho main,
is perncous and dangerous, aud that its
damage cannot lie iorelold that every one
who 50 connects is only another partner in
the smells of the sewage /; it is only anoth-
err invitation for the entrance Of disease, if
not the grim monster. l wish to quote
from these sources some facts which seem
10 me to be well authenticated:
"The baueful tendencies 10 disease aud
| discomfort resulting from generation and
the escape of noxious and poisonous gases
from sewers are well understood. not only
| by all sanitarans, hygienists, and practi-
! TONERS of medicine, but by the iateiitgcRt
| public at l1rIc in all ciUiised countries"
| "From this cause, not only do individu-
| ais and families, but whole communities
| become affected with diseases of low type
and by their general depressing tendencies
they diminish the vital powers and capa-
| bilities Of resistance to other diseases, and
thus throw open the doors for the spread of
fatal epidemics."
"Recognizng this constant presence Of
| sewer gas in the sewers, and the evils wiich
would inevitably arise from the inhalation
| Of the potsons which ii contains, all build
| ers endeavor TO have the house drains and
| pipes so constructed that the air from the
| sewers cannot pass upward in their dwell
| ings. With this end In view various kind
| of traps have been devised 10 prevent this
accident. Practically tie conferences are
of but TILE rdiue. n trap which prevents
the escape Of gas at one place only adds to
| the pressure cXerted by The gas at another.
The more perfectly, therefore, the traps
| connected with sewers are constructed, the
| greater becomes this pressure, and in some
way the gases, which are being constantly
formed, will force their way outwards."
"The gas given Off by sewerage has a
| lighter specific gravity than the atmosphere,
and its temperature il usually higher.
Now both of these conditions increase its
| tendency to pass upwards into dwelling
| houses to the serious impairment of their
| sanitary condition."
"Experience has demonstrated the i'm
possibility OF constructing traps capable of
| preventing under certain conditions, the
| driving OF sewer gases through the drains
| and pipes inio houses and chambers"
| 1.-The sewers are continually breathing
| At times they draw in air with considera-
bic force at other times they expol the air
with force great enough 10 displace the eat
| Of any trap i'll use"
'The labors and researches of Boards of
Health have come to the conclusion that
many forms Of zymotic diseases which now
scuurge cities, are directly referabe to
| blood poisons lurking in sewer gases. The
| problem is therefore not merely how to re-
| move, but also to destroy these pOsOns.'
| "If we would escape the result of sewer
age there is bu; one way, and that is not TO
| make il, or in other words not 10 have a
| conduit for il to our Eouses, for we may be
well assured that so long as we do we shall
| pay the penalty in the deaths of our dear
| little ones who twine so closely round our
sympathes and imaginations, and in u GER
| tain loss of vitality To ourselves"
| mo matter how skillully connections
may be made with currents of heated air
| through chimncys and furnace pipes, the
enemy is not destroyed, but turks under
| the streets and the cellarage, waiting FOR its
opportunity. A cold hearth, an unused
kitchen range, give him the chance for
| which he waits, and then some bright-eyed
child, the Golden-haircd darling of its
! parents, is lying in its cot burning with the
| fires of slow fever, senseess with the coma
of typhoid, or dying with diphtheril. All
these ingenious remedies arc palliatOIs, are
| mild anodyn9s; or, to De moro correct, are
clever lodges of an enemy who ought to be
met and slain outright"
| Another speaking of houses being shut
up for a tune TO give is occupants an OPP
! portunty for visiting or travelling, says:
THE water in the traps gradually eNapo-
| rates then comes rush OF air or sudden
flush of waters through the sewer, and our
| old enemy, the sewer gas invades the
| house and foltities himself in ii, taking
| possession OF every nook or corner. The
| house becomes u storehouse of all those in
| visible seeds of disease which many believe
arise from the fermentation of animal aud
vegetable matters. There, as in \ hoibed,
seeds of typhoid are growing, aud sporues
| of diphtheriA and the winged germs OF
scarlet fever are settling or fitting through
the rooms. The first experience OF the
owners, returning healthly aud cheerly
from their recrelti ons, is OF depressed
nerves and low feVers."
From all these sources not word IS said
in favor OF sewers of the High street pat
tern, bu. they are thoroughly and totally
condemned. Various methods have been
proposed to remedy or mitigate the evil,
pumping the gases from the sewers or car
rying it of through the chimney, furnace
pipes, shafts, and other means of ventila-
ton by flushing, &c, but each in its turn
has been abandoned. All agree that safety
as yet, consists only IN its reproduction,
the milizati0h Of the refuse Of our Dwellings
or its immediate removal before decOmpoSl-
ton to distant places from them. Reference
has been made in reply 10 "Citizep," by
"Z.," in your paper, TO the compatibility
|
Brooks House. The advantages to these
houses 1 do not know, butts oflensiyencss
to others do. Aside from its seriousness
it has seemed at times singular to observe
after a bull lin rather large type has beer
issued by the haiiiis, how busily persons
are employed in removing the filth from
the bank east, opposite these houses, con
ssting perhaps of little pool of dish-wa
ter which some careless housewife has
thrown from her window, of an old hoop
skirt, dead cat or rat, or the emptyings
from old slop pals, &C., all well as far as
goes, while just below, untouched, lie ia,
grand seething cess pools formed by thu
outlet of these sewers, near where SO many
dwell, and from whence arises the chic
stencil Of the neighborhood. The dweller
on the east side of the street are often neces
STATED, on the warm mornings of July Of
foggy mornings Of August, or when thu
wind is easterly, 10 close their back NHn
dows to prevent the noxious emanation!
from these sewers, which empty near thu
river just back of their dwellings, entering
their stores, shops, &c. 1t is the opinion o
more than one that there was no known
agent more potent than this which produc
ed the sickness and demise of one in tina
stricken household which has recently anC
Justly excited So much of our sympathy.
In the same category is the sewer which
, dssemnates its foul odOrs over a small
neIghDorhood in Elliot street. 1t is the tes-
, timouy OF more than one physician who
attended those three sisters in their las
sickness, who SO quickly and successfully
| followed each other, that they know of NJ
, cause 50 likely US this to have been strong
err condition in II is otherwise mysteriOu,
> event Thus it il with all sewers Except
e ing under tina most favorable circumstanc
, es) on these principles; they will sooner