The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-02-20
The Pollution Of Rivers.

The Pollution Of Rivers.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION IN REGARD TO THE POISON
ING OF STREAMS SEWERAGE NOT TO FLOW
INTO RIVERS THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE AND
FISH TO BE PRE-ERyED.
Correspondence of the Philadelphia Prcss.l
HARRIsDURG, February Is. 1873.
One OF the most important Dills intro
duced during the present session OF the lie
gtslalure is that relating to the pollution OF
streams. which has now become OF suca
immense magnitude and serious effect
No TO demand the most effective -leg,s'
lation. in order not only to prevent the
destruction of fish, but to protect Whole
communities from disease. There Is not
stream in the State free from more or
less po!ution from artificial causes, corpora
lions. aud individuals engaged in manufac'
turing PURPOSES, and municipalities neglect
inc their sy stems Of sewerage draining, using
| them ia such manner as 10 renuer lneil
waters dangerousto the lives of people who
are compelled 10 drink them, and uDht lot
the fish which naturally abound therein.
We had an instance of this in Harrisburg a
few years ago, when an epidemic prevailed
which resembled cholera in many OF us
phases, from which many people ded suu'
! denly, and one-balf the entire popu'at'on WIS
more or less affected. SO serious was tne
matter alluded 10 that the Legislature appoint
ed committee to investigate the suoJect'
when 1t was discovered that the drainage
from the cess-pools attached 10 i'rSe iactoiy
ON the banks of the Susquehanna river
emntied into or near the wells from which
the water was pumped into the city reser-
yoir. Here and in other cities the sewage is
of character TO affect the water used BY the
10
along the Susquehanna, is occupied by pub
liz and private sewers. which frequently
render it exceedingly unpleasant to residents,
filing the atmosphere with an odor most
sickening. Many people have frequently
been seriously injured by this detective
sewerage. and the SUI jet has at length as
sumed a shape TO demand prompt legislative
consideration.
The object of the bill is to compel manu-
featuring establishments so to regulate the
disposal of the dregs Of their works as to
prevent them from passing into the streams
which are public highways and used for
municipal purposes. One of the first effects
of the pollution Of stream is the destruc-
ton of nsb. The fisheries Of the Schuylkil
river, the finest and pobest on the continent,
have been almost entirely destroyed by the
vast manufactures lcclted on both its shores,
while the drainage for the upper portion of
Philadelphia, above Paramount, must sooner
or later have Il deleterlous effect on the natu-
rally pure water now furnished to the people
of that city. The loss Of great fisheries is a
serious matter in its effect on the supply
OF cheap food; aud when we add this to
the loss of health, creating epidemics in
comm unities, the importance Of the bill now
before the Legislature can at once be tsti-
mated. The diseases which are frequently
attributed BIZ physicians TO miasmatic iEfll.
ences are the direct result of polluted waters.
TO such an extent has the pollution OF water
been carried in Europe that the subject has
become one of profound consideration by
scientific men, VINO consider it Of the utmost
importance in connection with sanitary
regulations. Indeed, the Queen of England
gave the subject prominent place in q
recent speech from the throne, where.
in she urged Parliament to devise
immediate means TO prevent the fur
Their pollution OF the streams Of the realm,
and to adopt the most stringent mea-
sures to regulate and restrain those using
their waters to facilitate manufacturing en-
;erprises. By the aid Of chemistry methods
have been discovered by which manutac-
turers can counteract the pollution OF streams
to certain extent, and the object of the bill
is to keep pace with the improvements OF
the times. The bill now before the Agrcu!.
tural Committee of the Senate is to secure
the adoption OF all means known to science
r and manufacturing to prevent The pollution
of streams in this State. Corporate and
manufacturing individuals are to be held
strictly responsible for the pollution OF pub
lie streams, and the application of scientific
knowledge enforced as soon as it is ascer-
tanned.
The more attention that is given to sub.
iects like this the sooner will it be a>certained
that, by system of special legislation, in
duIged in the most reckless manner in the
past, vast natural resources have been either
utterly destroyed or seriously inquired, in
order to build improvements which have
either completely failed or resulted IN bene-
fits that poorly compensate for the losses sus'
tanned. There was a time when the shad-
fisheries in the Su>quehanna extended al
most to its source; when the people along
its shores derived large revenues from this
product, and cheap food was abundant
Now it rs seldom that shad in paying guam
titles are taken above the Columbia dam, and
the effort on the part of the State to revive
these fisheries has been met by the protest OF
corporations who profess to have invested
rights to destroy the character OF the streams
tbeC were allo we'd TO SEIZE. PAXTON.