The daily gazette., 1882-03-01
nor ssARs or ~ADn.
MEETING LAST EvENINe-KEPoRT OF
COMMITTEES -oTBER MATTERS.

1 Hxchaage Y ~ ldingE there waf q good
Astendahce aud In the- -ahsdneei Of The
President, Job. Ii. jackson was called
to the chair, II ~.
The Committee appointed at Q pre-
Vlous meeting on ie Nerage, made the
following report which was adopte !:
To the Board Of Trade of Whining
ten, Del 10 8ENTLEAEN Your Com
Tittee on Sewerage respectfully submit
the following report, IS 10 the result Of
its Investigations TO this date: As the
utility Of sewers may be questioned by
naby who haye hot given the matter
attention, and who thlLk the present
system "good enough" 1t may be well
TO give some reasons COLLECTED from the
best Ruthorities), why cesspools should
be abolished and the wastes of the
bou, ehold conveyed away by, other
Ineatis than The CUTTERS. III OFT
First. Unless the cesspool Is water
tight the drainage from II gradually pol
lutes the soil after its dIsini Getting prop
city (Which 10 limited) Is exhausted.
10 time its diameter incleA Ases many
feet beyond Its percolating walls and en-
croaches upon the foundations Of the
house. Evidences of this are almost
daily brought to light in investigating
the causes of damp cellars, when the
startling fact is revealed that the foot-
ings Of the foundation walls are salura
ted with the foul overflow from the cess
pool. In vet weather this is intensi-
fed by the rainfall passing down
through the soil and flowing towards the
house. In addition our ample water
supply facilitates the absorption OF the
contents Of the cesspool by dilutien, a
| condition which cid not exist be'ore the
introduction Of water9uiUsetsy w hen IL
10 considered that there are 5000 TO
5000 cesspi'7 In our city in constant use,
besides as many more which have been
abandoned, We eau easily understand
that the subsOil is undergoing a proces S
| Of slow poisoning. This condition of
the soil fAvors unhealthy emanatiohs In
dry weather, because then tie evapora-
ton Of The subsoil fluids Is rapid; in
warm, gIltrv weather, rs then the at
mosphere Influences promote decompe-
sitlOn, and in winter, when the warmth
Of the house causes an indraught Of
ground air, coBdltien which is partie-
ulaIly unfsvorable when the cessplt is
located in tie cellar, OF where the house
stands on made ground.
Second. II it were possible to con-
struot water-tight oesspools, their
presence would bo obnoxious and
detrlmentatto health, inasmuch as the
storage Of fecal matter for any length
of time occasions decomposition and
the production Of gases injecting the
atmosphere.
| Third The. rarnouaI NJ tbo onn
tents of cesspools by the methods now
in use is Objectionable and costly,
contrasting strongly with q system OF
rapid and clsanly water-carriage.
Fourth. In regard to che kitchen
and bath wastes, which, now fill our
cutters, and 10 the odors Arising there
from We can only say that the abate~
ment Of such nuisance would be q
blessing.
Fifth. Statistics prove that whore
house drains and sewers have been
well designed and executed decrease
of sickness and reduction of the
death rats have resulted. An English
authority mentions twenty five cities
and towns in which the death rate
has been lowered 30 to 30 per cent.
after the introduction of sanitary
works, and that the general health
was much improved. In addition to
these reasons, which are general and
applicable to different localities, We
have with us the pollution OF Oul
drinking water by filtration from cess
pools and by surface drainage to con-
slider a matter of vital Importance. i
Is now pretty we'll established tha'
typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever
cholera and malarial diseases general.
} ly, have their origin in the decompo
sitien Of organic matter. The deatl
record of cur city for the past yea
demonstrates the fact that we hav'
arrived at an alarming period of eartl
saturation, and that the atmosphere
is loaded with emanations, which whel
breathed lower the vitality Of tho sys
tenn and predisposes us to the attack
of fatal epidemics. This matter
!, very ably discussed by the presiden
e of the Board of Health in the recen
/, report of that body to CouHcils.
In view of the foregoing, we believ
q that it is very essential that all hous
refuse should be quickly and effioientl
I. removed, and that the considerable
of a system of ewerage and subso
drainage should have the early an
l. earnest attention of City Council.
Your COMMITTEE, after inVestigatin
the differ ent systems now In operatio
IN this country and Europe, is OF th
- opinion that what Is called the s'sepAra'
system" improved recently by the II
h PRODUCTION of automatic flush tank
would be the one hest adapted to III
topography Of our city and calculated
IL meet our present and future wants. Th
system commends Itself
30 Fist. BY its economy Of constructio
By separating the sewage proper fro
~ the surface water and rainfall we hay
;. only to provide tor moving Quantil
:. of fluid matter equal to about one-hs
10, of the water service supply. This ca
%, be done rapidly through mains of ter
u Gotta pipe, from twelve to twenty inch
~ In diameter, with lateral branches of s
and eight inches in diameter. To tho
", unacquainted with the capacity of plp'
having smooth Interior surface, to |
l.. move liquid wastes, we refer to repC
on the Memphis system, where 1t
shown that the tWenty-inch outfall ma
with fall Of in 500, carrying the G
tire sewage of population of $500
Az ganged about two-thirds Of its capac
" At the time of the greatest Aow. II
main was proportioned to dischar
forty gallons OF sewage per head die
Ill The rain fall could be provided
NO where necessary by few large surfs
LOO water conduits In the valley lines,
existing large brick sewers freed 1rI