The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-04-30
AN OPEN LETTER.
To the Honorable Mayor and city
Council Of Salt Lake CITY,:

OOtCItJCC " -tCLLC LLJflE = IVY
Geptlemen-The question of pub
lie health and sanitation, the thor
ough development of all healthfu
conditions and the abatement Of
every and all factors detrimental,
thereto, are items worthy of the
most profound consideration.
would suggest to your honorable
body the prOpriety Of appointing
Immediately a board of sanitary
officers empowered to put ia force
every measure that will prevent the
spread of unWhOlesOme influences,
and in every way possible surround
our dwellings and public places
with all the sanitary safeguards
practicable.
1t has been, and is yet, the Gus
tom of intrusting matters Of health
and sanitation to committees of as
semblies or city councils, composed
of men entirely ignorant Of SAM
tarY science, and little or nothing
has been accomplished in the way
Of sanitary reform. There is no
doubt q great necessity for the or
ganizati0n of a board Of health for
our fast growing city, and that
same should be composed of men
capable of judging on all matters
pertaining to the sanitary wants of
the community. 1t has been truth
fully averred that we only know
things by comparison, and if we
take some of our older and more
populous cities for example, we may
not go amisS or be without a proper
guide in our calculations. Many of
The larger cities few years ago,
were at certain seasons so I'M
healthy, and their sanitary cOndi-
ton so bad, that to remain inu them
during the hot weather was copsid-
cred almost suicidal.
The City of Washington, D. c.,
furnishes us a good example. In
1897 the District Of Columbia was
set aside for the seat Of government
of the United States, and General
Washington made the plan for the
city which was named after himself.
The plan was on Il magnificent
scale, and may be taken as Wash
ingtOn's prophecy of its future
greatness, and the wonderful growth
and advancement of the new coun-.
try. Under the auspices Of the gov
eminent the population from that of
1000 in 1897 has attained the re-
remarkable proportions of more
than 10000 inhabitants.
In 1871, says DR.. Bliss, (See report
of the board Of health for Washing
ton, d. c., vol. ., 1875: The board Of
health found a fragrant nuisance
known as the Washington Canal.
which, in the words of Professor
Henry, was an open cesspool, receiV-
ing the sewerage direct in its
midst and a frightfuI source of dis
ease and death. This same canal
traVerSing the city from Rock
Greek to the eastern branch of the
Potomac, passing within a few hun
bred yards of the White House.
the war, navy and treasury depart
ments, through the agricultural,
Smithsonian and Botanical gardens,
to the very doors of the capital
itself its shores Astounding in ma
larial poison, and the people aban-
doning- its neighbOrhOOd as the
Romans fled from the night mantle
of death Of the Campayna. 1t more.
over found hundreds of lots below
grade, covered with stagnant pools !
hundreds Of alleys, recepticals of
house offal, giving rise to dangerous
effiuvia that found it's way into the
inhabited dwellings; hills of ashes
and filth in open lots; thousands of
priYy boxes in bad condition and
overlooking, subject only to an oc-
casiODal cleaning by most barber
GUS and crude system; the opera
ton of which, awOke our citizens in
the dead Of the night to shut out the
stencil by closing the windows
of their sleeping apartments;
house offal and garbage accumu-
lating in and around private dwell
ing no inspector Of food so that I'M
meats were constantly |
label to be sold from the butchers,
and green grocers.
Taken altogether the capital city
o. our nation was a place undeSlr-
able to live in. Finally, in 1871, |
Congress came to its relief. 1t Gre
ated Il board of health and public
works who at once instituted san
itary reform. They built hundreds
of miles of sewers, vast number
of pavements, planted thousands of
trees, and in every way changed the
and condition of the
city. The deadly canal was the first
to come under their ban, and was
buried like a carrion beneath fifteen
feet of earth, and over it was built
q grand road thanked with trees and |
gardens. The aisIes were daily in
5pected and kept scrupulOusly clean.
The heaps of dirt and ashes hereto.
fore seen on vacant grounds were
speedily removed and not allowed /
again to accumulate.
PriYy boxes were constantly in
spected, and were cleaned by an
orderly system, and in the day
time, without giving offence to the
most delicate olfactOries; under the
,,,,Noy-uiciOY, Of tho hAorJ Of hooltn