Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-08-08
CHINA sLoUag DOES NOT SMELL.

EDS. RECORD. UNION I have read with In.
cressing interest the communications by diff
ferent persons on tbs condition of China
slough; but mona pleased me 30 well as the
last one, by John Eitel, which shows by the
investigations of scientifc mind that the
waters Of China slough do not smell badly
and are not obnoxious TO health. ] must
confess that until l read his letter | was IN.
der the impression that the water was green
with shiny matter; that all sorts of filth and
garbage had been thrown into It for years,
and that the statement made by Chinese was
trne-thas fish taken from it had putrid
SMELL I also had confidence Ia my olfactory
organ. for often when walking across long
bridge, IN the cleaning, an odor like the
breath of a buZzard or the exhllarating ira
grance Of . glue factory, assailed that pro-
boscis. It seemed an abls-bodied, vigorous
and aggressive HEnell. Ii did not sneak
around and crawl uBder the bridge,
or creep along the banks of the slough
on its belly in a weak, apologize way, but It
got up on its hind legs and howied like a
wolf, and smel,ed like last years birds
nest. AT least l thought SO then, but that
was before an analysis of the water had besn
made. People, whose business has compelled
them to cross long bridge four times day
for years, and who have worn hmburger
cheese in their hats il order TO accustom
themselves to the smell, and who have taken
to eating onions and garlic and drinking
China gin, must now conclude that no reli-
ance can be placed or the four or five senses
of nlan-that it was an olfactory delusiOp.
This also proves the necessity Of furnishing
the Health Ofic with an expert to Test the
contents of ceFspools when people complain
Of nimble odo;s, for often they may be
found, after scientific analysis, TO con.
tain the lower order OF plant life, whoa
nature has placed there to preserve and pu-
rify. Mr.. Eitel ibid not examine the
water by tbs aid Of his nose over the bridge,
but evolved the fact that " water taken right
behind house on Third street, close to the
bridge, where the liquid reflections found
their way into the slough, and in spite OF
tneir surroundings being filthy and tie smell
Of the soil most dissgreeable, the wafer itsolt
la the vessel used TO experiment with did not
smell" How is that for . scientific sn # =?
Several scientific men smeiled OF the water,
and that ought TO be sufficient for any reason-
abls man, aud for which we ought to be truly
thankful, for if they had NOS plaoed their
sensitive and uteiacisnt bulbs at the mouth
of thst bottle Of bilge water we might have
gone on until the cholera came, thinking that
the odorifer0us emanations of China slough
vera produced by this action of the sun on
water polluted by animal and other putrid
substances.
This also suggests the reflection that the
drainage canal matter should De let alone, FOR
If il gives eff offensive odors il is only way |
nature has of purifying it. Perhaps vegeta- |
bic life may be found III the vicinity putting |
in twenty-four hours of each day in poking |
oxygen into the liquid pestilsnce. Give it |
time enough, and it may evolve low order
of animal life, which may marry into the |
family, and by aid Of its mother-iE-law spank |
out all epidemics. Give it time to work it. |
self into the proper shape and it viii hold |
its own with ths scientists every time.
At one time l had a horror of drinkingsthe |
muddy water of the Sacramento river but |
that apprehension was entirely removed by a |
paper published in November, 1881, from the
pen of Mr.. John Eitel, in which he showed |
that the much abused slickens, instead of be-
ing deleterious TO health, by reason of earth,
clay, sand and organic snd inorganic mat
ter washed into tho river, it was bene-
fetal on account of the minerals it
held in solution, or ag near as | can remem.
Der, "minersl water YVES brought to our doors
for our daily use." 1 used TO growl at
slickens but now. when it gives me the
gripas, recollect with pride that it is min.
eral water, and put on mustard plaster in
order TO keep the stuff quiet long enough for
it to permeate my anatomy and do me good
u6N0E WOuiu DSN5 ieuAQ lAib OuJ HieAOus
the aid of science.
All the fuss and trouble proposed by the
Bosrd of Health viii not keep the cholera
away, and il annoys our oitizsns. l would
suggest that instead of putting people to the
expense of renovating their premises, a sci
enlist be employed 20 test them. Get one wi h
good two story-and.s. half, thyee-ply yard
wide and all wool refulgent beacon that can
detect, before breakfast, the difference be-
tween bilge-water and China gin, or glue
factory and bed of violets; arm him with
microscope, q set of test tubes and book
of wisdom, and turn him loose. Then let
the cholera come on if il wants
to. The rich and able-bodisd can
fee to the mountains and the poor, the sick
and the infrm, made so by the ssnctifying
and beneficial influences Of China slough |
aad Che drainage canal, esn go--well, it
might not be safe TO predict where they are
likely to go without consulting man of |
science. Probably not more than one out OF |
every twelve or twenty Of those who reunained |
would die. The remaining ones and ther !
descendants would be so hardened as TO en- |
Joy an immunity from such influences ever
afte-wsrd, and, as to strangers, we do not |
want them anyway. If they do not like
our slough, cur cesepools and our system Of
drainage, let them remain elsewhere. We
want to be let alone. RIDERE.