Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-01-29
THE HORRORS OF THE SEWERS
How the Cities are Poisoned.
From the London Times.
SEVgD GAG

SEWER GAS.
| TO the EdVoT Of ne Tines. Sir-It m own
! experience of facts concerning house DRAIN
/ age is, as believe it to be, a reliable indics-
tlon OF the serious risk 10 health which the
I'M aoitants OF many convenient and we'll
/ you will be, am confident. a true benefac-
4 tor 10 the public by admitting TO the Times
short discussion on the subject, thus elicit
lDg lacts and arriving at useful conclusions.
! wish nrst 10 tender brief statement OF
| what has occurred to me personally, or with
| In my own knowledge: My friend A bought,
IN country town, large house, which APP
peared TO be In thorough repair After sick
ness In his family, he himself fell III with
scarlet FEVER, and then, but not until then,
the drains were suspected and examined.
/ Under the kitchen floor were found an open
sewer pipe and pool of sewage.
| MY friend h, retiring for heal IN g sake to =
saIuorious watering place, bought a newly
putt mouse and established himself therein.
s Smtms and sickness soon suggested bad
| drains. Tearing up the floor, 1t was found
mat drain from the stable had been carried
under the basement; it had burst and they
were living over cesspOOl.
MY friend c, having sickness In his family
snu Iosing, alas, member OF 1t, caused his
mouse drains 10 be examined. 1t was found
mat under hags which seemed TO rest on the
| solid earth, but which really rested on brick
piers, an open pipe discharged sewer gas In to
the chamber thus formed, the gas percolatin
rom rom tnat chamber through chinks and floor
boards Into the house.
| Eleven months ago, assailed In in tempo
| rary put very comfortable lodgings by occa-
/
/ the house to have their drains examined. A
| sfX-1nch sewer pipe, broken through by age
| or rats In three places, was found lying d.
/ Tectly under the flooring of the hall, so charg-
| ing the whole house with sewer gas as at
| mospheric pressure what not urged I'D the
| gas from the main sewer.
| write this letter from house In q metro
| politan suburb, which Ihave occupied dur
ing some months, and on which the land
lord spent a large sum in repairs He wrote.
| upon my taking it, a kind and polite letter,
| hoping mat might enjoy In it many happy
| years as he had done. He little thought ne
was letting 10 me house standing virtually
| over n cesspOOl. Yet SO il was. i had been
| unwell before taking the house, and, most
| perplexing both TO doctors and patient, the
| illness continued long subsequent TO Occu-
| patton. So after time it happened that /
was absent a good deal, seeking health in
/ change OF air, never suspecting the drains.
IhOse who remained at home, however,
| complained, and /, on my returnl COM
! planned again and again of smells. We hit
on all sorts of expedients and explanations.
now III was the bath pipes; next the wicked
dealings OF our cook with the cabbage water;
again, II was Ill -ventilated cupbOards; final
~ IL was the rats. AT last, however, with
room in my house, determined within the
| last few days on a thorough examination by
builder on whom l could rely. The secret
| soon came out. Under the kitchen floor was
| the open end of a three inch drain pipe, vom-
| lung forth sewer gas; under the scullery
| both, and all within the four walls of the
! house, a choked, badly jointed drain pipe
which had flooded the soil of the basement
| and made IL a reeking quagmire. This han
| pens in modern house apparently in the
| incest possible order.
In my case, am told, the drains once ran
In another direction, and ignorant, clumsy,
! careless wOrkmen, In diverLing their course
| must have left exposed the dIsuSed counec-
| tons. Very possibly my neighbors right and
| left are i'll "A similar predicament.
! But have one more personal experience
| TO relate. Sitting the other day in a large
| room of handsome new building, subtle
m 81 8, fapfG cd hGrh nj \, 7
found that pi pes had been Introduced behind
| skirting board, from which, in a manner
! not difficult to account for, the eXhala-
! Ons which had affected me had probably
| prOcet ded.
Now, sir, my contention is twofold-1.
That there is no absolute security when
| drains are brought within dwelling house.
| ltmay be difficult-nay, impossi ble-in some
! case to do otherwise, but the fact remains
70 oe saie tney must be external. 2 That
! even with external drains, there is still no
| absolute security SO long any housepipe,
how, yer carefully trapped, communicates
| continuously with the sewer. There must al
| son point be break, protected below and
atove the break by any traps you please, in
the continuity OF the pipe. Then the exter-
nal atmosphere comes irto play, diluting
externally gas which might otherwise fild
It's way 10 the lungs OF the sleeping inhabi-
tants within, and against which two or three
IL ches of water is a poor and unreliable D o.
lection. These precautions taken, the only
source OF etiiuvia within tie house will be
81 ort lengths OF pipe, and the pans and traps
wiz III EtCtSsdT!ly Ttndln IQ6So, WIZ Pc
r.Cdical examination and the occasional use
OF dlslnfectants, can no doubt be kept prac-
Nay / repeat in two words my two fold
tonientit D?-Allow no drain to remain
within The house at any price; break the con-
tinuity OF the house pipes If possible, and
opportunity offers. am, sir, your obedient
servant, ODoRATUs.
From the R<port Of FTz John Porter, Commits
sioneT Of I'sbtsc Works Of Ne10 York
Many of the sewers, when touched for re-
pairs, show need of many thousands of dol
la TO be exp ended upon them. on account of
decay, from age and other reasons, In order
TO prevent the sewage material settling in
the ground, and making. under the streets
and near cellars, secret deposits, only made
known by sudden and alarming diseases. In
penetrated cellars, and our defective sewers.
am informed, have driven people from
many houses in some Of the best parts OF the
city.
NesU York;
During every year many sudden and dan
gerous breaks occur In the old sewers, which,
unless attended TO Immediately, become
rapidly worse, frequently causing damage
for which the city is liable. Besides, many
of the older sewers are In a broken ard
sunken condition, which impairs their eff
cheney, and becomes q source of unhealth-
fulness, and, though they may hold together
for time, should be rebuilt without delay.
A number OF old sewers which were laid on
marshy ground, without proper foundations,
have sunken for a long distance back from
their mouths, which are upheld by the bulk-
heads through which they discharge, leaving
elongated cess pools which can not be emp
TIED, obviously endangering the health of
the neighborhood.
In some parts OF the city entire sections on
the sites Of old ponds and marshes have set
tied, carrying down the sewers and pave
ments together, and In eXcavating the street
pavements have been met with at different
depths below the surface. In the present
construction OF the Center street sewer an
old pavement has been found near the bot
tom OF the trench, and in repairing the sew
eTs In Grand street and South Fifth avenue
they were found TO be laid on a former street
surface.
The unusual settlement produced great
irregularities in the grade of the sewers, and
they became mere traps for deposit; so that
1t would be cheaper in the end to rebuild
than TO be constantly cleaning them, to say
nothing of other advantages.
The old sewers were SO slightly built that
many caved in from heavy jars on the streets
over them, or after heavy showers. In re-
building the sewer on 5th street, for several
blocks, instead Of brick wooden bottom