The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-30
SEWERS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO
HEALTH.

glance at the columns OF our daily papers
will make it evident that this question re-
eeives considerable attention In this city at
present.
Whether water carriage, comprising the
convenient water-closet, and an elaborate
sewer system ls TO be preferred to one OF the
so-called conservative systems, promises to
furnish q subject for animated discussion for
some time to come. Believing that facts, no
matter what theories they may support, are
always in order, purpose to group few In
this communication to show some Of the evil
effects OF q sewer system, as contrasted with
the advantages Of the Rochdale "pail sys-
tem," SO strongly recommended by Drs. Holt,
Pratt and Loeber In their report to the New
Orleans Medical and Surgical Association.
In purely sanitary point OF view, the en-
cheering difficulties in the way Of properly
sewering New Orleans are OF subordinate i'm
portance. II the work was urgently de-
manded all these difficulties could most pro-
badly be overcome. The real difficulty
aside from the financial one which certainly
deserves consideration-lies In the radical de-
feet OF the system itself. In no city In the
world has this defect been overcome. The de
feet alluded to is the decomposition Of sew
age, and the formation and diffusion In streets
and houses of one Of the products Of this de-
composition, known as seuer gas. That
sewer gas has been successfully kept out Of
houses In Individual instances, by means Of
more or less complicated engineering devices,
may be conceded This in no wise nyaIidates
the assertion that on a large scale auch sue
cess Is improbabla, and that 1t In fact has
hitherto been found impracttcable.
Mr.. Samuel Leavitt, in an address before
the New York Public Health Association, Oc-
tober %, 1878, says OF the sewers Of New
York: ''Through these conduits pass annu-
ally about 100000 tons OF human excreta, with
an iDcalculable amount OF organic refuse from
stables, kitchens, Slaugher- houses, etc, moist
ened with tho constant flow from baths, wash
tubs and other waste-water supplies, and gen.
Grating mephitic vapors, which must regurgi-
tate into the houses somewhere. For, be 1t
noted. that while the sewers are made to de-
cline toward their outlet In order to accele-
rate the passage OF their solid and liquid con-
tents, the gases arising from these form a
counter-current, and accumulate at the
higher points Of sewerage, where they exert
an enormous upward pressure, sufficient,
when aided by the suction-power OF house
| fires In winter, to force q way through any OF
the traps pronounced infallible by 'praeti-
| cal plumbers This pressure, OF course,
| bears an inverse ratio to that Of the atmos-
phere, So that g. fall Of one inch in the baroIn-
y
gaseous contents OF the sewers. These con-
siderations may serve to explain why many
householders have learned to predict the ap
proach OF rain from unusually percertibie
whiff5 OF sewer-gas In their premises, and
why, in some houses built on the highest
ground OF our most fashionable avenues,
every wash basin and bath-tub must be kept
carefully plugged; the nuisance being even
then only mitigated, not altogether abated."
ssa Of the Mtr9Ro af 1sas
68). "In the best class Of dwellings, the sewers
are frequently so imperfectly laid as to be at
all times charged with sewer-gas. This
would make very little difference ii the sew
ers and the many waste-pipe arteries connect
but II has been found that the best laid and
connected pipes get out OF repair and leak
from minute places and at points often be-
yond control" and Inspector Sanborn says, In
the same report: "The water-closet, especial
Iy when In the tenem ent-house, Is decidedly
Objectionable. have found them almost In
variably out OF order. The soil-pspe becomes
choked, or the flushing apparatus is disar-
ranged, and 1T becomes offensive In the high
In the report OF the Boston Board Of Health
for 1875 1t is stated that ''in may sections OF
| the city the foul odors OF the sewage nave
been at times almost unendurable.. Many OF
| the sewers are so foul as to emit from the
| man-holes, when opened, stencil 80 offensive
| borhond," and in the report OF the same body
for 1876 we are told that ''house-drains
when perfected to the last degree Of our pres
ent knowledge OF traps. will avail but little
against the force OF sewer-gas.
It is generally agreed among san1tarlans-
though the general public does not appear to
fully realize the danger-that the gases re-
sulting from sewage decomposition are
among the most fruitful causes OF disease and
death. Prof. Fleming Jenkin, who 1s In
/ 70 Of 20 SvSfpm- Efatpl
danger to health from the absorption OF this
poison in these words: "Poison germs enter
from without chiefly by the agency OF
and drinking water anaIence ahs +
is we'll ascertained that serious
illnesses may be contracted by breathing air
containing an almost infintesimal quantity
OF tainted gas. tainted sc seWer-eas s
duced into bedroom-so little as to pc quite
| imperceptibie to the nose-shall certainly
give typhoid fever to patient sleeping there
| The germ is spark the Effects OF Whicn may
be unlimited. We do not content ourselves
with excluding the great majority OF sparks
/ from powder magazine, we DO our Dest that
not one may enter. So our endeayor must De
| that not one germ shall enter from talnted
sewer into our house drains. Az toTn serers
| must, moreover, be treated ds tainted, since at
| some time or other the tdtnt Is sure to dfTlre.
| Within the last ten or fifteen years branch
| of medical science, known technically as
| estate medicine, having IOf It's 0Dlect tne
prevention OF disease and preservation OF the
public health has obtained considerable de-
velopment While there have been consider
able differences OF opinion as to methods, the
great Importance OF the end to be attained has
Deen fully recognized by all. An immense
| body OF facts has been collected and coiiated
| by the most competent men in the medical
chemical and engineering professions, and q
stage has been reached at which it Is Unsuitable
to esta blish certain propositions and formulate
| certain conclusions. One of these propositions
| is that class of the so-calIed zymotic dis
eases is the result of air, soil and water pollu
ton, and ara hence called filth diseases
The conclusion logically follows that the pre-
vention OF such accumulation OF filth in the
air, water and soil is preventive OF those dis
eases. That cholera. diphtheria, typhold
typhus and scarlet feyers belong to this Gas
Of preventable diseases Is generally admlIIsdI I
It becomes more and more probable, as yesa W..
VI attested facts accumulate, that yellow rsce
Il m,1st nIsn ha enrufad In this class. HEINZ