Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-02-21
CITY COUNCIL.
special Meeting Last EvenlnS-!The
Sewerage Quession. .t,

A special meeting Of City Counci
was held last evening, with Presidcn
Conrad in the chair. Mr.. Talley SAT
that he was under the impression thu,
Mr.. McCorkle would have been pr, se,,
TO state the object Of having Hazlct
street extended, but hf had lcarne'
that he was too unwrll 10 appear AM
Mr.. Cnmmins would represent him. =
AS Mr.. Cummins had not arrived COuI
Gil, on motion Of Mr.. Talley, took u r.
cess to examine a map of the proInset
sy'tem Of sewerage. When Connil re
assembled Mr.. Tailey Mid that atou
one year ago Council appointed spe
cial committee on sewerage and they
had employed Mr.. Herring, prlpe
tent engineer, to give his ideas on tn,
matter. He made ont report whicl
the committee would like to have ret1
as theirs. On motion Of Mr.. Talley, Mr.
Herring was granted permission TO rea'
his report and explain the propose,
system as shown on his map.
The report Is quite lengthy and thu
following extracts are given :
In compliance with your request
herewith respectfullysubmit the follow
ing report on a system of sewerage TO
the city Of Wilmington
The first question TO which you hav,
desired aM answer is whether yOur cit,
ut the present time needs system .
sewerage, whether, both from q sani
'ary and economical view, the intrmlIc
tion of ore can be- recommended TO you
citizens as offering more advantage
than "A continuation of the present mode
of disposing of the organic waste mat
ters OF yonr city.
This question | must answer entircl )
in the affirmative for the following rca
SONS:
FIRST. CesspooIs which now receive
the cXcr"men'S of your population art
rarely tight enough TO prevent leakage
They cansc the snbsoil, which in your
city is to a great extent gravelly and
porous, To be- polluted with putrid fluids
and to carry them over a large par, OF
tir territory upon which your residen.
rcs are built, which fact has been oh.
served in other large elite, under siIni.
lar conditions
SECOND. The waste water from
Kitchens, bed roc ms and bath rooms
now runs away IN the cutters. 1t will
not be ncccs,ary for me 10 dilatc on the
OtfrnsiyrncSs due To this in summer,
when the heat causes its rapid dccOInl,O-
sifion, and In winter when CUTTERS are
filled with ice and the waste water con-
sequciItly spreads over the paveInents
THIRD. The rather hilly surface of
the main part Of your city, which is
Skirted by the Christiana and Brandy
wine rivers, has prevented you from
suffering aS much from the want of
sewerage rs would have been the case
under less favorable conditions. AsIhc
city has extended westward, and the re-
fuse water has been taken up by the
Shipi"y and Ra,tltsnakr !uns before
entering the river, the want is being
much more fclt through the natural
fulling of these streams.
II is clear, therefore, that an early
provision should be made to prevent
I heir injuripgthe health Of the neighbor-
hood they pass through, which also can
best he done by proper system of sew
rrage.
Fourth. There ran be no doubt that
yodr present water supply is exposed +"
the danger of being polluted by the
DRAWINGS of the territory sloping to-
ward the Brandywinr. In fact it is
almost certain that some of the sOakage
from ccsspools and frou the cemetery
reaches the race which supplies the
pumps.
An iutcrcepting sewer, receiving not
mly til" sewerage from this area, but
also its Sub.sOil drainage, will readily
guard your water against this Contami-
nation.
FIFTH. II the conditions as just
stated show it t" be Of great importance
from sanitary point Of view to replace
,y well planned system OF sewerage
your present system Of storing filth IN
'csspools about the houses, in the
cutters of your streets and in the runs
which flow through the western and
northwestern part Of your town, and to
protect your drinking water from IOllu-
ion, it will further be clear that with a
growing population each one of these
wills will be- constantly increased. The
ground will become more and more fill
d up with filth and poison, and both
he air you breathe about the house and
he water you drink will become less
nd less healthy.
SIXTH, 1t remains to refer TO the
Iuesti II of economy. The cleaning of
he ccsspools in your city is said to cost
he owners Of houses about $4,000 per
mum, which, at five per cent Sintercst,
a capital uf $500, 900. | will
tate now, but show more in detail
urther on, that sum less than this can
urnish the lmilt up PORTIONS with a asys-
EN- of sw,'ragc which will not only
axe the place of the cesspools, but give
nu clean cutters and yards, prevent
he pollution of your water supply and
he s,bsoil, and remove the ground
water from your cellars, and therefore
end 10 raise the general sanitary con-
ition of ourthriving town.
The rcnort then proceeds to show the
atural advantages possessed by this
ity from tlc ground slopes to the Chris