Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-01-07

iOhOfdl Vi eAcISmenI from all
premises not connected with sewers.
and should insure by frequent and
trustworthy inspection the proper
condition of the receptacles so used.
In those houses which are to be con-
nected with sewers and in which the
privy vaults are discontinued, there
should be used in the interval be-
tween closing up the vaults and max
ing the connection with the sewers
some form Of simple dry earth removal.
This embraces all that was said by the
sanitarians to justify the ordinance
and the clamor for earth closets. The
ordinance passed was a sweeping one.
Iherear not wagons enough in Shelby
county to remove the contents of all
the privieS in Memphis between now
and spring. The legislative coun-
Gil, composed Of sensible, prac-
cal men, who saw that
tney had undertaken an impossibility
and therefore they receded. Ifall the
recommendations of the sanitarians-
who, by the way, outside of DR.. RELY,
probably never saw a case of yellow
fever-are to be observed to the letter,
we would call attention to the follow
ing recommendations in their report:
There is large amount of sanitary
work to be done in Memphis, the de-
tails of which must be left, to a great
extent, discretionary, in order to pro-
cure the best results without unneces-
sary expense, but this discretionary
power should be entrusted only to a
competent health authority indepen-
dent Of politics, and unless it be pro-
yided we do not think that the efforts
Of the authorities and citizens of
Memphis to make it healthy place
will be successful.
There was no discretion used or al
lowed in the enforcement of the
earth closet ordinance. 1t had to be
observed to the letter or not at all.
There are from one hundred and fifty
to two hundred offensive privies upon
the public property of the city. The
experiment might have been com
menced in these but it was not
The citizen, who had new vault in
good condition on the outskirts of the
corporation, was required to clean out,
fill up and use an earth closet, the
same as the owners of the worst nui-
sances in the heart of the city. DR..
Porter's hobby is earth closets, and
unless the other members of the legis-
lative council let him have his
own way he will not serve any longer
Not only has no discretion been used,
but no move has been made to place
the sanitary affairs of the city in the
hands Of such an officer as the santa
rians suggest-entirely removed from
politics. We have great respect for
the suggestions of the eminent gentle
men sent here by the National
Board of Health - that is for
some of them. But we hold that cit
izens who have been here through
one epidemic after another have a
right to their opinions also, and that
possibly we know as much about yell
low fever as these gentlemen, who
indulge more in theory than practice.
This whole question turns on the
earth closet theory, which has never
been adopted in town or
city of any size. Those who favor
the system for Memphis will condemn
the legislative council: those who be-
lieve that earth closets will not answer
the purposes of a mixed population of
forty or fifty thousand people will
sustain the legislative council.