, 1881-01-23

In HU tHSpRCt1O4 or r18 PtpE~St HltA4Q LIS
! mt, who slept IN smail. darK cnamoer OH IRON
the kitchen. that II he. wanted 70 enjoy good,
strong s,uc} he should give it little attention
Tho room vas found to be all TINT the servant
! had described, its atmosphere oefnE surcharEed
with an exceedingly trying naor nurntt.ng ~ tt per
| Srs~ was 4 box incosing the 1waste- water pipes
! which were disclosed by removing tho outside
Of the box TIE 1t 11e hc5 1Rss %as S
been n,cntied in half i dozen different places.
! The odor Increased ia pungency after the pipes
| thew disappca1ei beneath, The noor WIS re-
wardcd with the appreciation q IN : exeeGolnEsy a
| strong and nauscous stencil: me poctor
nteteht'b tlet 'beneath nea A1i 1he y flooring was a a
collection Of mar nVn1e OF IN a.
[ Iit cxIniatned % tnai Young colored girl who had
| slept in the room recently had been taken very
sich with tcusItfs which, t1e Doctor salo, was
| undoubtedly due to the c0ndaaon OF The atm05-
It was also discovered here that one soil-pipe
door, m economical plnn likely to bo followed
with the most disastrous results to tile tenants
Of both The lady h @ eopalInt naI1 e n maze aisq
failed to remove tho garbage from her premises,
! d complaint which, It may be mentioned. was
| shared BY all the housekeepers who were visited
Xii ii through s tho Block Of brow1-stone fronts
! the sanitatlon WAS found to pe sinlply horrl-
occupied by i, lady who sublets her apart
! ments to others. In this building, upon
| tho four tloprs, thsre have p been no less
! Than nina persons so sick US, to DC confined to
their beds with throat troubles within sfx weeks
Although there hns not been case OF dtphthe-
ria each nstanGo t9e ness nhs Deaa M
method Of attnck and in tbs progress or the dis
cnsc, About three weeks aso1t was apparent
and. upon making an Investigation, 1t was found
that tho CATCH basin, located in the SUBJ base
snent, was lted and ovefto"lng. Inc agent
was notified, but absolutely refused BY letter to
remedy the matter. and q sewer builder was
called In to correct tho condition Of the sewer
aye. This person remarked that be was witltng
to risk his business reputation on tho assertion
that s. the basin hud not bcen cleaned before IN
| five years. It was, he said, ovcrrunnins with
grease und wastes from the Ktcnen. ea a4h M Us con-
mcnt floor One Of the ladies. who had
Eastern city, said that her recent illness in this
house WAS itl every respect precisely like that
which occurred before, und was, IN her opinion,
It IS well enough to mention that In this case,
as in several uthers met with, tho contents OF
the catch ,bustn: utter rednosa., were turned m S
obnoxious place they had just been removed
from, und thnt, in ali probability, when sprlug-
time comes tho gases. which are certain to lind
their way through tho light covering Of earthly will
Asaliu continue to perrncate through the yurlouS
openings into the apartments above.
FURTHER WEST on WASHINGTON STREET
tho investigators paid sonic attendon to hand
some row OF f0ur-story marble fFUnts, the prop
erty Of Philo Carpenter, aud, from their frequent
use as boarding -houses. commonly known 1u
lTush Row. a fuct which IS interesting in con-
ncctiou with the helnvestfgatlou as showing that
the houses are npt to- hnse nj unusually full
number Of tenants In general WY, these
houses were found to be in a very unsats-
tlcfory sanitary condition The CATCH basins OF
seyer of the houses were exa%ned apd not;
been quite recently emptied, tho evidences were
very plain that they were still full. and in many
cases uteftIopnx and relolent OF uecomPos0ble
yi!encss, The catch-Dasin OF No :s56, where tho
evidences of mn abnormal condition Of affairs
were most apparent, was opened and found to
yc.ctal,e n,nttcr. i stick vas rtii into It TO the
depth Of about four. feet. Being Withdrawn,
tho stick was found to b. covered With q
ahtsm SFeasy wSz 1o fro 5ne the osf spes
where it had entcrercd m indescribably
disgusting stcuch Heated up to the nostrt!s or
the g,,s was that of stining, and Ihs Doctor or
derel the cover to be replaced immediately.
n each INSTANCE IN these hogses s whose tenants
been specially troubled, they had often suffered
from scwer-t.ns. the catch-basins were found
tc,,nutx seemed 10 rely for ifsnunity from gas
eous exhibitions and tho resulting sickness. Tho
Doctor OK planned the failncy Of this BY showing
that the tcrnetricai sealing Of the catch basi1
was detrimental rather thnn otherwise, rs much
OF the Eas finding an exit through Its lid, might
escape FROM tae stto-basementfnto the open air,
whereas, :a5 it Tas. they were forced back
through tho pipes and distributed through the
rooms 1T the house.
Dr. Williams Informed the reporter who ac-
companicd him that In largely attended church
OH the West Side some. OF the congregation,
much to tha disRust OF tho trustees, COM
plalned that tho atmosphere Of the building
was not what 1t ought to be: III order to prove
thar nothing was wrong with the sewerage Of
the building, a sewer builder 'yns cled IN to
sewer-gas directly he entered tho nlnce, but ne
Trustee present laughed Ut him. He proceeded!
ta MS s re- s any esac wss ycfy So 1e %
basin from the sewer was clo2gce and the sew
erage Fcncrnlly In a bad condition. Another
large church was found I" have its sewerage
equally at feut, and it Is unnecessary to state
that the Trustees Of both congregations i'm
n.ediate!S had all NECESSARY repairs made
basins the Doctor cx planned. WAS their not being
sufficiently lnrge. The Washington street
boarding, houses being fnlt ot % oecqpans, wou1a
size than rhose trey arc provided with, and,
filling up, as they do in short time
stant menace to tho health Q; tho occupants Of
the immediate residence and OF the, neighbor-
hood III large. 1t wns very improper, too, for
the majority or them were found yesterday. 1t
was much better for them to oe in the yard, and
where they were placed beneath fhe % house they
6fi3till be provided With vent leading to tho
tu, of tho house and providing the seWer-gas
with I'LL exit iuto tho open air.
D1pI1rnEKLt.
DR.. ]. II. Fleming, who resides on tho corner
OF Washington and Dcsp!niues streets. is rcspon-
sbe for the following statement to Il TRIBUNE
investigation, in which ne very elnphatcnlly de-
uoulccs the n,cthCtl which he claims tn pe In
yoSuc in preventing the spreNd of infectious
and contagious forms of disease. The Doctor
said:
VI au1 ready to verify the following state-
ment: MFR. Arnold 0f the firm Of Arnold 4 Bros,
resides at M. @ North Pcoria street. He has had
two deaths from diphthcria fiji his family re-
snting. In my opinion, from imperfect sewerage.
The buildings facing south % @ Kan
nola's premises, and not being provided
with any system of sewerage the contents OF |
tue sinks and other wn9tes. EHrbhge, etc., are
permitted to be discharged. into tue basement !
helow or beneath the buildings. The odors ELL ]
Nnating from these dccoEuposable substances
are positively fearful, that U.s. when the weather
Is warm, ind render the atmosphere absolutely
nuuscous in the neighbOrfood oT MR. Arnolds
windows. DR.. Dc Wolf wns notified Of the un-
sanitury couuition by Mr. Arnold ut the time Of
the Illness Of his family. but DO. attention was
r"id 10 tho complaint. Two months afterwards |
Dc Wolf was ut;ain notified, but with the same
nppurent ctcct, When postal card Wns mailed
to hin, asklng for investlga don, 1t met with
the same result. Finally, Il Ward Inspector was
approached, who stated, upon hearfng the com
pluint, thAt although it was ouL OF bis district,
tic would report it to DR.. De Wolf. The
premises are at present i'll d horrible con-