Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-02-26
Y'he Poisoning Of Wells.
(Rcral New Yorker


triets are the resale of;p5ison absorbed
into the system either from the stom-
ach or the lungs. The blood IS manu-
featured in the digestive organs from
the food, passes in great part through
the liver, and all of it through the
lungs in both of which it is filtered
and purified, and in the latter it is
brought directly into contact with the
air which is breathed by inspir; ton
and is subjected TO any delet erious
matter which may be contained in it.
As the food and drink are the mater
ials Of which the blood is formed. any
unhealthful or poisonous influence at
this prime source OF course poisons the
stream; and as the junction of the
lungs is to aerate and purify the blood,
anything wrong in the purifying mater
ial interferes with this vital process.
But we propose here ouly to call
attention to what we believe to be the
most prolific source of rural diseases.
malarial, functional and organic in
their character. This is the water
supply. A case in point appears in
our column of inquiries and answers,
and we have taken the trouble to illus
trate it for the purpose of showing
distinctly how wells are poisoned In
this case, cesspool eight feet deep
receives the excreta Of family, the
wash from a bathroom. water-closet
ard sink included. Thirty or forty
gallons day, equa! TO nearly $4,000
gallons, or 1900 cubic feet per year
Of the NEST poisonous kind of filth,
ale poured into this pool only eight
feet deep, aud Of course soak into the
soil and saturate it. Twenty feet only
from this deadly sink is the well,
which is probably several feet deeper
than the cesspool. The drainage from
this cesspool will flow then in every
direction in circle of twenty feet ra-
dius only, before it pours into the we'll.
For each foot in depth of this area
there are about 1900 cubic feet In a
year the 1000 cubic feet of waste will
completely fill this space Of twenty
feet around the well to a depth OF
more than a foot and half, and in
two years to- depth Of three and a
half feet. But two things cannot oc-
cupy the same space, and this filth will
then be distributed over 2 much larger
quantity Of ground in proportion to
the ratio of solid soil to the small in
terstices. or spaces among the gravel
in the mass. Taking this ratio as on
ly ten to one, the 1000 cubic feet of
VI ste will saturate 20, 900 cubic feet
of earth in one year.
1t is true that the soil near the
cesspool will retain the largest portion
Of the solid matter, and the first
water which reaches the well
will be filtered to some extent But
it is only question of time the
lapse Of which will depend upon the
nature Of the subsoil-how long or
short time will elapse before the
poison pours undiluted into the WELL
and from it into the stomach of the
unfortunate and unsuspecting victims.
IF a bed of clay lies close to the bot
tom Of the cesspool there will be no
escape downwaris, and the period re-
CURED to reach the well will be probably
SIX months IF the soil is gravelly
and the waste sinks downwards, there
is the absolute certainty that a stream
Of water which flows into the we'll will
be reached sooner or later
A similar frightful certainty, slowly
but surely approaching in thousands
of cases. threatens in time to sap the
life Of unsuzpectIng people, who will
by and by exhibit every symptom Of
insiduous but fatal disorder. The
hectic cheek, swollen glands, dry, hot
skin, disordered digestion, bilious de-
engagements, headaches, tremors. diar
rhoea, dysentry, cutaneous eruptions.
tumors, coated tongue, foul breath,
and all the varied symptoms by which
blood-poisoning first becomes apparent
and the final deadly typhoid and NAL
ignant fevers are predicted, alarm the
Consciousness, while the source of the
poison itself is hourly used to allay the
fever and thirst occasioned by it.
We do not desire to be sensational,
or to make too much Of this, The
danger exists and it is everywhere.
The case before us to which we call
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