The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1880-10-06
Public SanEt:ssio..--No. II.

Columbia:
THE SUB-SoIL AS a FILTER.-lt
is very certain We have put too much
confidence in the purifying powers Of
the soil. There is not only limit to
its powers, but there are also condl-
tions essential to its action as purl-
fer. The water of slops and sewerage
and human excrement buried near
our wells will not be made pure and
fit for drinking by hlteriug through
few feet of earth, except under most
favorable conditions What are the
conditions favorable to its purihca-
ton? The great and most essential
requisite is a free circulation Of air
through the ground. This, the chem
lists tell US, acts through its oxygen
upon the impurities which the soil
strains from the dirty water, and oxl-
dies or burns them. Therefore, to
get the best results as purifier, the
ground charged with impure liquids
should have an interval before wet
ting it again, in which it would be,
come so dry that the atmosphere
may follow the receding liquids and
destroy Rhat the filth has straloed
from them. But if no interval for
drying is permitted, if the ground is
kept constantly wet to saturatlon,
then it is quite certain the air cannot
enter, the Impurities are not oxidized
but accumulate; the ground no longer
acts as purifier, but on the other
hand the Increasing mass Of filth ln-
corporated with it takes on its own
chemical action and is prolific in the
production of mephitic and poisonous
gases, which ascend to the upper air
to work their unwholesome action up
on all who breathe them. It is easy
to understand which of these condi-
tions is maintained by these flsh, pits:
The exudation from their bottoms and
sides is uearly constant; the intervals
of supply are so regular and frequent
that no opportunity occurs for the air
to restore the fltering power of the
soil. Thus the fouling process goes
on, and after few weeks or months
there is no clean earth between the
we'll and these sources of pestilential
supply to it, and every drop of water
from them carries with it its atom of
filth.
IF we could for time enjoy the
powers of vision which the clairvoyant
orofesses to have, and could peer into
the sub-soil through dozen feet of
earth, revelation would be made
which now We little realize. Unsus-
pected infltraticns of filth, obstructed
drains, stagnant water and stagnant
air, subterranean channels radiatlng
from our cellars and wells to the va
rious filth. pits by which they are sur
rounded would meet our astonlshed
eyes, while many stenches, more con-
centrated and varied than the per-
fumer ever thought of including In
his list for the toilet, would assault
our disgusted noses, and thus through
our offended senses We might be con-
7icted of living in more dangerous
familiarity with filth than the bruteS
in their natural state.
This state CT sub-soil nastiness is
almost wholly due to tbeleakings from
the cesspools and privy vaults which
pollute our whole city, and which, by
your recent bylaw, you reqnire shall
in future be made water tight, in Or
der that the most loathsome ccrrup-
tion and deflement Of our bones
may not be increased. It is quite in-
possible to conceive any more scanda-
lous imputation upon our domestic
life than that We are frequent victims
of infectious diseases, which We incur
through the action of our own excre-
ment, which our extreme flthiness
permits to mingle with our air and
food and drink. The dangers which
attend the federation of these subter-
ranean reservoirs of foulness cannot be
computed. DR.. John Simon, the great
. sanitarian Of England, writing on this
subject, says: "The pathological stu
dies Of late years, including eminently
certain very instructive researches,
which Professor Sanderson has con-
Quoted, have clearly shown that in the
"common" septic fermeDs, or in some
ferment or ferments not hitherto to
be separated from it, there reside
powers of disease production as posi-
tive as those which reside in the va
rioloses and syphilitic contagia. "
There is but little doubt in the
minds Of those who best understand
the subject, that if it we're practicable
to effect the prompt and complete re-
moval of all excremental matters, and
all other organic wastes, to such dis
tance that We should have no futher
contact with them, then would simul-
taneously disappear from our midst
certain of our most grave and fatal
diseases, especially those OF the lnteS-
tines. We might also reasonably ex-
pect relief from malariai diseases,
which are, with remarkable unanimi:y,
attributed to emanations from the
groupd. IF the above views of the
dangers attendant upon open-walled
flth-vaults are well founded (aDd they
accord with the opinions Of the best
sanitarians,) then there can be no
doubt of the wisdom Of your action
in requiring that degree Of protection
which will be gained by making them
water-tight. It is quite apparent,
however, that such protection is only
partial, and that complete immunity
y