Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-08-09
To the Citizens i'm the Vicinity oi
Luter Pond, on Green
wood Avenue.

TO the Citizens ina the vicinity Of
; Luter Pond, on Green
wood Avenue.
Shall the said pond be drained
without afterwards removing the
accumulated filth in its bed? The
drainage of this pond has been
more than once urged by a few in
dividuaIs who appear TO believe
that all the sickness of their families
proceeds from its water-a very
grave mistake on their part.
The question, however, as
sumed a definite shape by reason
of the Health Officer of the city OF
GAINESVILLE declaring the pond a
nuisance, and, on this individual
declaration, its drainage, By ga
Tor process" was commenced.
By your united protest, made to
the City Board of Health, the work
was ordered suspended, as we I'M
derstand, till frost. What then ?
Go on with the drainage? We
shall continue our protest against
removing the water, your only safe
guard against the danger of those
accumulation Of filth in the bed of
the pond which, if not removed be-
fore hot weather, will prove a source
OF pestilence far more destructive
than has ever been witnessed by
any of the present complainants.
Here, however, we are met by the
freezing theory, which is only an
other fallacy. Freezing only holds
in state of inactivity or non-devel-
opment those germs, whether ami
NAL or vegetable, which will be sure
to spring into active life when the
! required change takes place in ma
/ lures laws for development; and if
these germs are detrimental to hu-
man life, pestilencemay be expected
to accompany the development of
these iqftLSoriCe. While on this sub
ject we will quote few words from
the Memphis Avalanche of late
date: "Capt. John Ross, while on
voyage i'll the Arctic regions in the
year 1910, procured some crash ice
of yellOwish brown color which
he had Theoretically sealed and for
warded Ito Berlin) for scientific in
spection. Myriads of animalcul@
were developed iRracuO, and were
still living in 1914 without food"
So much for the freezing theory.
The same paper speaks of infusori@
having been taken from the waters
of boiling springs and subjected for
twenty-eight days to mixture of
suIphuric and other strong acids
combined at a temperature of 228
degrees without destroying the life
of these animalcules. We think
lime hardly sufficient for such pests
as these.
We shall here ask your indulgence
till we give one instance of our own
professional experience of sickness
caused by one hOg-pen and other
accumulated filth. This hog-pen
was about forty by sixty feet, and
Joined the residence and kitchen on
one side. The pen had been built
in this close proximity as matter
of convenience in feeding and water
ing the hogs, the Stops being emptied
through the kitchen window, and !
water was furnished from the well,
which also Joined the pen. Result
We were called in the following |
July (185D to this family, and of
all the sickening sights we have
ever witnessed, we then saw. The |
family, composed of eight or ten
persons then at home, were nearly |
all sick. One son was a corpse in |
one room; one daughter, a married |
woman and mother of two babes |
only a few months old, was dying
and passed away in less than an
hour after our arrival; the blood |
was OOzing from the throat, tongue,
mouth and nOstrils another daugh-
ter died the following day, and
another son and a grandchild died
the next week. Quickly as was
practicable the dead were buried,
and the sick and entire family
removed to a church some half /
mile distant, where pure air and
pure spring water were procured.
No new cases occurred after this
change was effected. There was no
sickness of this grade in the COM
munity outside of this family.
What was the disease, you ask?
Typhus fever in its most malignant
type, and we have no hesitancy in
saying that it was caused by this
filthy hog-pen after a season of ex-
posture to the heat of a summers
sun, bad water and badly ventilated
sleeping apartments. You can
make your own application.
In conclusion we will say, if you
permit the pond in question to be
drained, yOW should require the re-
moral of the mud from its bed, as an
ultimatum TO drainage, and the
outlet closed in time to secure a
good depth of water before the hot
weather begins, as nOXious gases
would otherwise be generated from
this accumulated filth, whether
charged with animalculp or not,
and you should in that case be pre-
pared to expect typhus versus chills.
Respectfully,
J. NJ. LARKIN.
\ New Mill.
Our energetic and go-ahead friend,