The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1877-02-24
Philadelphia, September, 1876, the 4th o

Philadelphia, September, 1876. the 4th of
which is as follows:
Conditions sufficient for sanitary secur-
ity are afforded by the discharge OF sew
age at considerable distance from town
into the sea; or into a large and RAPID
riUer, when water, at least tor many nllleS
below the exit of sewers, is not used for
drinking"
Dr. Kedzie, whose very able address,
delivered before the Section of Public
Hygiene, at the meeting of the American
Medical Association in Philadelphia last
June, was recently published entire in
The ARGUS. saws: \ "a grain of
arsenic under any and all circumstances, in
or out of the body, can only be grain OF
arsenic" This was said with regard to
fixed poisons. THE other class OF poi
sons | will call germinal, capable, under
appropriate conditions, of indefinite repro
| ductiOn. Germinal matter is
not destroyed by dlution, but only by
death or oxidation. Men wondered how a
| single morsel of trichinous pork could fill
every muscle mot by boring through the
lintestines, eide UniOn) of man with these
parasites, until the Psychologist, with the
microscope, demonstrated their enormous
power of reproduction So the
poison of cholera, or typhoid. whether VIC
call it germinal, septic, or neutrality-suspicious.
which act by propagation not proper
,ionally diminished by dilution and mag
poison large bodies of aodter y In our di,
arrhea We find this cumulative fact,
think, fully verifed,-else why does the
disease return again and again after pa
tents are apparently cured2
In Switzerland, recently, OBJECTIONS from
three typhoid fever patients were thrown
into brook, which, after irrigatinl
a meadow, filtered through mile OF eartl
and reappeared in a spring from which
the citizens of Lausen derived their suppl
Of water. The water Of this spring re
tanned enough Of the poison to strike dow
more than II per cent of the inhabitant
. with typhoid fever. Such facts show u
!, that, for sanitary reasons, We should care
fully guard and watch that our water SUP
} ply is not contaminated with such pOlsons
: which, in my opinion, cannot be don
where our supply is now pumped from.
THE beatitude of the sanltarian is
blessed is the man aob0 IS not thanked!
: | ask no thanks; | expect none; but h
: who gives his neighbOr a drink of pur
water, clear as crystal and pure as the Wa
) ter of the river life, shall in no wise loos
t his reward" We want no bigotry in thi
matter, but facts as they exist. On th
facts as presented to me, from clinics
observation, | have formed my opinion
7 have not written to Wisconsin to fin
that typhoid fever is prevailing Their,
or to Chicago to learn that seal
/ let fever is prevailing there, bU
) am combining myself to Rock Island wher
: our people have been terribly Athlete
I from using impure, noxlous water. con
, menced keeping a record OF cases OF tn
, diarrhea, on the 23rd of January, an
have treated 1919 cases since that time.
e have made particular inquiry OF every pa
: tient as to the water used. All, exceI
two, used the hydrant water, an
+ the two exceptions used W;
D | ter hauled from the river Wit
e such evidence before me | am compelle
r to attribute the cause to use of the rive
b water, taken from our shore, and that il
poisonous quality is the same, whethe
=, drawn from the hydrants or dipped frol
t the river in front Of the city.
e have given the testimony of some {
D our higlcsl authorities as to the poisonoJ
o qualities of sewage, in what they cousis
and their euectS; ana nave SHOWN tilt
/ these poisons, or the proofs of their ext
9 tence, have been found in our water; tn;
y we have sufficient existing cause for the
, production; and that we have, beyond
f doubt, had their results in the epidem
o diarrhUa that has been so prevalent fc
/ the last two or three months,
i And now | would respectfully ask tn
e gentlemen VINO contend that the water
\ not the cause, 10 be kind enough to tell |
e what it is. and to give US the proofs
{ mere statement that typhoid fever is pr
II vaihng in a certain locality 10 Wisconsin
e or that malignant scarlet fever Is prevail
# ing in Chicago is no evidence that disea;
d prevailing at Rock Island is the result
e atmospheric conditions existing a hun1re
2 OF more miles distant from US. But
;. do believe il this disease had made i
IS descent upon US in warm instead Of co
le weather our scourge would have bet
IT malignant cholera instead Of cholorine.
J. Letters have been written to ditfere
at places, where it was stated the disea
re prevailed. and all the answers Except OIL
from Milan say that no such disease
n prevailing except in instances where tt
patients have visited Rock Island al
l. used our water.
OF Y ours very respectfully.
I'd S. G. PLUMMER, NJ. d.