Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-05-23


prescribed for sanitary Improvement were
numerous and varied, and that the construc-
ton of sewers was only one item of them. l
know only in 4 general way the extent to
which the recommendations have been car
ried out; but the following are the substan-
tisl facts: The chief sanitary officer is not
independent of control as the committee
intended that he should be. The chilling
of houses, ETC., was either reasonably well
performed, or it's effects have been secured
by lapse of time. The city has not OBJ
tanned control of the waterworks, which are
still in the hands of private company,
which still supplies muddy water drawn
from Wolf river dangerously near to the
temporary outfall of the sewers and TO the
filthy BAYOU Gayoso and to the drainage OF
slauehterhouses and other sources OF Infec-
ton in its immediate vicinity. Wells
have been closed, cisterns have been largely
dispensed with, and this vile water ID fur
nished for the domestic use of its citizens
1t has been pointed out from time to time
that it Is subject to probable contamination
from all the sources above named. The de-
struction of houses reported by the health
officer unsafe has been very partially car
ried out, the authorities having allowed
many of them to be repaired with less thor
oughness. than the spirit of the recommends
tions would have required. The filling OF
privy vaults, and the improvement OF the
system of dealing with excrement, has been
carried out substantially as recommended.
The system of sewerage, except as to the
outlet, has been carried out in substantial
accordance with the recommendations as far
as the failure to Improve the bayou leftit possible
for this TO be done. One OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE
SEWERAGE
as recommended was the delivery of the
whole outflow into the Mississippi river well
below the mouth of Wolf river. For i'm
mediate purposes during construction, and
for use during high water, the main sewer
was connected with existing outlet into
Wolf river, but the plan included and was
based upon the Mississippi outlet The iron
pipe for its construction was ordered, and
the location Of the line was established. This
outlet has never been constructed, and the
disposition that has since been made of the
land through which it was to pass, indicates
that the intention has been given up. The
subsoil drainage has been carried out prac-
tically only TO ee-fhird the orient recomnitnded-
the recommendation was for one drain in the
trench with the sewers lin the alleys, and
another at each side of the streets-in very
few cases have these street drains been
constructed. The drainage OF houses
and their connection with the sew
ers has been admirably carried out
under strict regulations faithfully executed.
The bayous are mainly unimproved except
for the removal of the privies which used to
overhang them. They are most foul and
dangerous. Their banks are not under proper
control, their waterway is entirely unim-
proved and they are still subject to the inva-
sion of the high water of the Mississippi
river with its many attendant evils. This
condition renders IL impossible 10 extend the sgs
TEN Of scUerdge and house. drainage to one Of the
trorst sections Of the city, almost IN its heart,
Which is today as serious
A MENACE TO THE HEALTH OF THE TOWN
as 1t erer has been. There has been no general
compliance with the recommendation that
low buildings should be raised and free VEN
tilation furnished under them. The re-
moval of garbage, ETC., has been reasonably
we'll done when the weather permitted. Con-
tinued rains soon put most of the streets in
the city into such condition that the trans
portation of refuse matter is practically i'm
possible. These then impregnate the soil to
a greater or less degree, and establish a con-
dition which must be regarded as seriously
bad. Except in a few specisl cases there
has been no improvement IN the roadways,
save in those streets used for the transporta-
ton of merchandise. Sometimes for many
weeks together nine-tenths of the thorough
fares of the city are slsughs of mud and
mire.
make the above statements without con-
with my associates of the commit
tee, and entirely on my own responsibility.
make them because the repute of my own
work seems likely to suffer from the failure
to supplement the sewerage with other work
important and from the failure to
or not the government of Memphis can
afford to carry out the full recommendations,
l do not know. They probably will garry
them out after
ANOTHER EPIDEMIC OF YELLOW FEVER,
and they will probably have another cpl
demic if the disease again invades the Mis-
,issippi valley before they have carried them
out. The work yet remaining undone is as
important for the general health of the COM |
munity as it is for the prevention of an cpl |
iemic of yellow-fever, and until it is exc |
suted it is fair to suppose that, with the |
growth of population and with the growing |
Indifference that immunity from epidemics |
will foster, the general sanitary conditions of |
he town will gradually grow worse and |
hat its death rate will gradually increase. |
Even had it been possible to sewer the low |
district near the bayou, and had the whole
outflow been delivered to the Mississippi |
liver, the unfavorable conditions would only
De mitigated. Sewers are an essential ele-
nent of municipal sanitary work, but they
ire only an element; they cannot take the
place of other necessary things. There are
n Memphis, and everywhere else, number
# causes of i'll health which are not affected
~ sewerage and house drainage.
So fas as the system of sewerage adopted
It Memphis is concerned it has been
AN ENTIRE ENGINEERING SUCCESS
IS system. The capacity of its main lines
ave proved TO be too little for the duty i'm
,osed upon them. The basis on which the
apacity of the sewers was calculated was a
of forty gallons per head per
ay for the whole population; this would be
N an average about 250 gallons per day per
ouse. The Wolf river water supplied by
rivate company owning the works ia 30 far
hat pipes can be kept clean only by the wa
er being left to run. 1t has been intimated
hat the company is not popular among the ,
eople, and that many keep their taps rum
ing in order to increase the cost of pump
ng. Be this as it may, recent investigations
ave shown daily consumption in the
ouses connected with the water works of
bout $500 gallons per house. With this i'm
tense flow the main sewers never the six
1ch laterals) sometimes run full, and several
elief discharges into the bayou have been
,und necessary.