The Portland daily press., 1879-09-23

creasing cause of complaint on this score; and
now for a wear Or two past, the stenches have
become frequent and horrible, often so intense
as to awaken people from sound sleep, and ne
cessitate the closing of windows even on the
hottest nights Men, women and children are
nauseated, lose their appetite, and suffer from
lassitude and depression. Strange as it may
seem, as very general rule the complainants
had never taken pains to observe the direct ion
OF the wind and the state OF the tide at the
times when the eff1uvia were most distressing;
but number had done so repeatedly, and
from these there was general concurrence OF
testimony to the effect that the stencil was
worst when the tide was low and
the wind blowing from the direction
of the Cove Or Mill Pond A few had
noticed that the smells occasionally came
when the tide was high or nearly so; but at
such times the odors were less general, and
obviously came from the culverts. 1t had
often been observed, too, that, when the day
had been sultry and mist hung over the
Pond in the evening, a particularly offensive
stencil might be confidently expected in the
night if the wind was not southerly. The
smells came often very suddenly, lasted from
few minutes to.a few hours, and then as
quickly ceased Those witnesses who had
lived in the eastern and then in the western
portion of the district considered the latter as
much more afflicted than the former. On
low tide, the wind, blowing into the mouths oil
the sewers, sometimes forced the traps in the
from the flats into the dwellings. The charac-
ter of the odors was differently described by
various complainants, some being most I'M
pressed with a fecal element, others emphasiz-
ing it's putrid nature, others still regarding
the smell of tannery or slaughter house as
most prominent, and quite q number content
ing themselves with calling it indescribably
dreadful, Many declared that they would not
allow their families to remain another summer
exposed to such influences, but would feel
OH 10 1icrpca of thai 1atnfp
a sacrifice and move into a salubrious locality,
unless the nuisance were abated. Most of the
complaints related to the vapors from the Cove
and Pond; but few were made against the
pig-sties stable accumulations, offal carts,
old-fashioned privies, and tanneries. We will
consider each of these alleged nuisances in
turn, beginning with =
THE MILL POND.
This is the name applied to what was origin
ally the western extremity OF the Cove; but,
being cut off from the great body of water by
the solid embankment and the gates of Deer
ing's bridge, and being utilized for the grind
ing of corn, it has long been known as the Mill
Pond. Into this naturally runs the surface
water from a very large area in the northwest,
ern portion of the city, and from ithe small
part of Deering Immediately opposite. AS
long as this was all, il could not be a very
great nuisance, even though the tide was not
allowed free access to it. But when the pub
lie sewers began to discharge into IL, there was
commenced a difficulty which has increased OF
late years with rapidity commensurate with
the growth of that part OF the town and the ex-
tent to which water-closets have replaced the
common privies. 1t receives the centre sew
age from Portland street nearly its entire
length, from the Aims House premises, from
parts of Arsenal, Bramhall, Vaughan, Grove
Neal, Bracket, Congress, State and High
streets, and from the entire length OF Deerlng
Carleton, Mellen and Henry streets. Besides
the two tanneries which discharge their liquid
waste into one or another of the sewers on the
streets named above, one tannery empties all
its Washings directly into the pond close by the
bridge. The sewage from Ithe extensive re-
gio indicated is discharged into the property
known as behring's Oaks, at four different
points, namely, one each opposite the foot OF
State and of Mellen streets, and two near
Grove street. The High street sewer, after
crossing Portland street, runs through private
lands in direct course to the Pond. From the
Aims House sewer, and those from Grove,
Mellen and State streets, the sewage runs IN
natural water-courses towards the Pond. Open
wooden troughs guide the liquid for some dis
tance from the extremities OF the Mellen and
State street sewers. The streams, at first rapid,
soon become sluggish, and, at a point near the
tannery premises, the current becomes 1mper-
ceptible, and the filthy liquid accumulates and
becomes a stagnant pool The odor in this re-
gion is extremely vile. At various places IN
the Oaks, sewage has formed small collec-
tons which nave putrlneu anu emu an oiieH
sive smell. The bottom of the Pond displays,
when the water has been let out, a thick cover
ing of peculiarly disgusting mud, the sediment
of the sewage and of the tannery refuse, The
stencil from the Mill Pond and the adjacent
territory is, at times, terrific. When the POND
proper is full of water, as it is large portion of
the time, the opportunity for the escape OF
odorous emanations is very slight; but the
water does not cover nearly all of the extensive
morass formed by the deposition OF sewage,
and it can and does emit its effiuvia without
reference to the state of the tide.