The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-06-22
CITY SEWERAGE

we avs IihN W hubW sAas sASio a." A"''''
members Of the city counci, VINO are awake
to the importance, the sgperla.ve impor-
tsoce, the urgent necessity, Of - thorough
system Of sewerage, and we regret 10 know
that there are some members Of that body 30
T behind tina age, so uninlerssted as TO thu
requirements Of the city, a. TO be opposed TO
it. This opposition that ia being urged to
this move is iIl.timed and injudic!ouss AID
unsupported by experience. Here in Dallas,
city with twelve or thirteen thousand peo-
Pile within its corporate limits, and Ave ar ak
thousand more in its suburbs, igat beyond its
corporate limits, and most Of wh1m are en-
gagged in business within them, and IL has no
system Of drainage or sewerage. There ish
way to carry off its refuse matter and every
street, alley way and back ya'd IS becoming
saturated with the sccumlations Of filth that
are fostering and fermenLing Ia this not
weather, breeding contsgion and death in
our very midst. Are health and life 70 be
weighed ia the balance with mere eXpedi'
ency, with dollars and centsl Some Of our
leading phyciciens have already most en-
phaticslly asserted tina; unless the city is
thoroughly cleansed and disinfeoted against
the reeking filth that rises up from the very
ground, filing the air with it, poison TO be
taken into the lungs Of our people, that
typho-rnaaria fever will prevail again this
summer and fall, and in more malignant
forms than ever heretofore. One Of these
physicians AYERS that the city proper
ought TO be- indicted at once as a nuisance.
Ia II better for disease and suffering and death
and Oscillation 10 come 10 our households
than 10 incur an expense that must in the
end DO met, and that will be heavier the
longer It Ia put off! Look at Memphis. A
great commercial city, but with policy too
niggardly 70 provide proper system of
sewerage, It became but cesspool OF rotten
ness and the hot bed Of epidemic. For two
summers the yellow fever held high revel
there, sweeping thousands TO their graves, dill
ing the hearts of thousands OF Others with woe
and Anguish and running the commercial in
terests Of the city. This year Memphis has
inaugurated and carried into effect mag
niacent sewerage system, but at cost fully
three times what it would have been
had she not waited SO long, TO
say nothing Of the disasters wrought
by her two epidemics. Must Dallas
because few men in her midst are
afraid of the cost Of the thing, are
afraid to spend few dollars, think more of
the sheen ola silver dollar than they do the
groans Of the sick and suffering must Dallas
stand as still as Memphis did, boarding hor
money, till peStience comes to blight her
people and drive her into doing her duty,
and with tho terrible example of Memphis
staring US in the face? Is there not progress
siveness enough in this city to make OF it
what it ought 70 be despite the walls and
groans Of the croakers2 This plan on foot
in tho City Council to give TO the city sewer
age is a proper and humane one, and let the
record DO kept of those in the council and
out of it, who are opposing it, that it may be
referred to hereafter if this measure fails
Keep tho record of all those who prefer to
500 tho city become a cesspool OF corrup'
ton to generate disease and death hereafter
rather than have il drained and provide the
means for keeping it pure and clean ano
sweet. 1t is better that Dallas should be-
como as the Augean stables, muck bed, the
foul breeding place of typhus and malaria
the fragrant garden OF death than that
little money should DO spent! Why, says
one, here is the City branch coursinq
along Main street and winding its way into
the river; it is sewer sufficient for all the
city south of Elm street. Yes, it runs
through good portion Of Main street and II
carries of tons of oilal, but tho stencil thai
arises from It's foul bed is awful, tainting the
broezes that blow over it, and poisoning the
blood of all who inhale its noxious odors
| WIN CONoTCu uIhih Ilpo Va pi''" VI ~
fetal stone down its beds and lateral sewers
emptying into it, this branch
would drain all tho city soutl
of Elm street. But it is not our purpose
in this article to discuss any special plan OF
system. Tho idea We arc trying to convey
IL that tho city has arrived at that stage il
lis existence when it absolutely needs IN Of
fcctive system OF sewerage and drainage. l
is sanitary measure that is imperative, AM
opposition to ii, however sincere in thei
convictions may be the opponents, is suicidal
Ia the extreme of folly, if not OF a piutu
: parsimony. Look at tho question MS yo'
will, as you may, 1t is simply the weighing
in the scales dollars and cents with healt
: and life and human suffering. Which viii
tho people Of Dallas do? Do they prefe
safety and immunity from fevers at the cos
, of A few dollars, or sickness and death 8
D tho saving of few dollars?
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