Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-10-15
NUISANCE ABATEMENT,
Red Tape and Sanitary Reform-what the
People are Saying About the slough

Red Tape and Sanitary Reform-what the
People are Saying About the slough
Nuisance.
On the 4th Of August the Board of Health
| of this city, acting within the scope of its
authority, passed an order requiring certain
property on the line of China slough, then
and now partly covered with stagnant water,
and giving forth stenches offensive and health.
destroying, to be filed in above water line.
On the 9Th of August the Board of City
Trustees approved and adopted the order.
The preamble of that order reads:
WHEREAS, In view of the approach in the near il-
ture of an epidemic of cholera and that TO limit the
disease to the least possible minimum the city must
be placed in the best sanitary condition practicable
by the thorough and frequent cleansing Of all
streets, alleys, courts wharves private and public
buildings and empty and low lots, the abatement of
all nuisances daily removal Of offal, efficient sewer
age, the cleansing, ventilation and disinfection of
cesspools and water Closets and the humiliation o..
the most significant of all signs of danger Of the le
cation Of cholera, the privy odor therefore, be it,
ETC., etc.
On so much Of the property as is owned by
the railroad company work has since been
and now is vigorously prosecuted in the way
of filling. Some work has been done by D.
Gardner and H. Bennett also, and by some
other property owners, but none of it is as
yet completed. On the O'Neil property con.
siderable filling of foul spot underneath
Chinese tenements has been made, and be-
tween eighteen and twenty feet into the
water. But no work has been done there for
some weeks. On the Mesick property
nothing in the way of filling has been done,
and the law has been ignored. It is reported
| that some have declared that no further fill
ing is necessary and no more will be done.
But the rumor is not vouched for. Certain
it is, however, that on part of the property
| the work has ceased for weeks. The winter
is near at hand, when filling cannot be car
ried on. Now is the time, if the work is to be
done, to prosecute it. These questions arise
among the people: "Who interprets the
law" "Who assumes to suspend its opera
tions 2" Do those in contempt of the law
| rise superior to it 2" Since the order was
passed it has been shown that yellow fever
has been brought to the State, and probably
will be again when, with the hot weather in
March, it reappears in Northern Mexico.
There is additional reason, therefore, for
abstiDg the slough nuisance. If an epidemic
visits Inc city the neglect now complained of
will rise up and be seen by the whole world.
| 1t would seem that it requires more law and
| criticism and hard work to get a nuisance
| sbated in Sacramento than it does to carry
out the most important public work. The
China slough nuisance is an indisputable
one, and all the fine-drawn distinctions about
the quality of stenches, and the danger of
exhalstions from its banks are insulting TO
the intelligence of the hundreds of working.
men who are compelled daily to breathe the
noxious atmosphere as it is swept northward
| to the depot and railroad shops. That such
lar oh ufofo ~ fol 81 ia q oh
| to city that assumes metropolitan dignity
| 1t is reported that members of the Board of
Health visited the Mesick property recently,
where not yard of earth has been hauled
in, and found everything clean and neat 1t
| is not probable that the story is true. If it
| is it does not repeal the order. Those who
have gone on with filling in good faith have
the right to demand that the law be inforced
as to all others. The Health Officer, it is
reported, has notified the delirquents but
why has he not enforced the order? This
| question Is asked By every one who has to
| cross the bridge of signs" and loud smells.
Does that officer propose to allow the rainy
season to set in, and find the China nuisance
| in full blasts Hundreds of strangers
who arrive in the town cross the Third.street
| bridge, snd invariably go away giving the
| city bad name and loud reputation for
heavy smells. Their reports cannot be de.
| MED so long as the filth spot remains, where
decsying vegetable and animal matter is daily
thrown by the Chinese, and can be seen float
| ing on the surface or rotting on the banks.
1t is said there is Town Improvement So
ciety holding meetings at this time. Itwould
b. well for it to manifest its existence and
put backbone into the movement to suppress
the China slough nuisance and make its infiu-
ence felt. Some owners claim that thu law
cannot be enforced, as there is some constitu-
tionsl snag in the way also that agents can.
not be compelled to clean up property they
have in charge. or a6ate nuisauces on the lots
of their principals. IF this is So" people
ask, "Why is not the law tested speedily %
Two cases have gone up on appeal, but have
not yet been heard. The City Attorney owes
il TO the city to push the appeals with vigor.
| If the city has no law to compel abatement of
nuisances, the people generally wish it to be
known, that they may turn in some other di.
rection for protection. These notes are the
reflex of popular debate they ara wha5 pee
pie say and talk about; they are the express
sions of hundreds of good citizens who are
earnest in the matter of sanitary reform in
| this city.