Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-03-23
CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION
ABOUT IT'S QUALITY.
Strong Statements Against Impuri-
ties Contained in it and the Ne
cessity for Better Water.

occasion referred to, are at hand, in addition
to those already published, and which,
owing to the importance of the subject, and
the interest manifested in it by our people
at this time, are given below:
REMARKS BY DR.. G. C. TYRREIL.
My experience in the Legislature of this State
for the past two months while endeavoring to
have some bills passed for the purpose of in
creasing the sanitary welfare of the people and
save them, If possible, from the inroads of III
fictitious and contagious disease, has made me
almost despair of saying of doing anything
which the public or its servants will not asSocl-
| ate with some covert end for the benefit of the
medical profession rather than The health OF
the community.
The public cannot conceive of Il body of med
ical men meeting together to devise means OF
taking the bread out of their own mouths, and
directly antagonistic to their own interests, in
endeavOripg to prevent the eruption of disease
in its midst 1t will not give credit for disin-
| terested philanthropy. or believe that we are
not working in the interest OF some corporation.
or for the benefit of ourselves. When we take
up this. subject of the water supply of Sacra-
mento and earnestly seek to discover whether
! in its muddy depths the hidden cause of pre-
ventable disease and death is not concealed, we
| may expect our motives TO be miSconStrued and
! like all iconoclasts and reformerS, have ul-
| merited and unlimited abuse from those whose
knowledge of the laws of sanitary science is OF
the most superficial description
However, IN the face of these difficulties, as
conservators. of public health it is manfestly
our duty, through evil or good report to do that
which is right, or like Grover Cleveland. oul
noble President, to tell the truth And if we
think that disease and death lurk in our drink.
ing water, to use our utmost efforts to get rid OF
it, substitute thereforpure wholesome water and
thereby save the lives of valuable citizens, and
prevent the serious illness of vast number
As has been said by the essayist, The general
characteristics of good water are. clearness
freedom from taste and odor, GOODNESS, good
aeraton, and certain degree of softness, ren
dering it useful and satisfactory for all domestic
purposes If we compare Sacramento water by
this standard we find that it possesses but three
of the requisite qualities OF good water viz
GOODNESS, aeration and softness. 1t is not clear
and at certain seasons of the year its odor is
abominable and its taste obvious That this is
| due to the immense amount of marsh water
with its accumulation of dead fish, decaying
| hogs, cattle, etc, that are drained into it,
| have no doubt; and when we add to this the
sewage and eXcreta from the towns, villages
| and houses on the banks of the rivers above us
| emptyinS their accumulated filth into our river
| the wonder is Vow we escape as well as we do
| General McCqhb tells me that the sewage from
| the Folsom Prison is filtered before being per
mitted to mingle with our drinking water; but
the most efficient artificial filtration leaves il
| water much invisible matter in suspension, and
constitutes no safeguard against the conveyance
| of disease germs or the pollution of the water
| am not forgetful of the fact that d vast ma
| jority OF our people are laboring under the de
| fusion that flowing river purifcs itself in a
| few miles. Chemistry testifes otherwise: OF
| the poison may be so diluted as to be beyond
| chemical analysis yet there may be sufficient
| micro organic matter suspended therein to en-
gender when taken into the human system. the
| most malignant of fatal disease. This view is
supported by the most eminent sanitary author
| tiles. In the sixth report of the kiver Pollu
| ton Commissioners it is there declared that
the existence of specific p0isonS, capable OF
producing cholera or typhoid fever, is attested
| by evidence so abundant and so strong as to be
| practically irresistible. These posons are con.
| tanned in the discharges from the bowels oi
persons suffering from these diseases The adj
| mixture OF even a small quantity of these in,
| fccteG discharges with a large quantity or vol
| ume of drinking water is sufficient for the prop
agation of these diseases among persons using
| such water
DR. Reeves, i'll his address before the Public
| Health Association, quotes Dr. Smart, L. 5. A.
saying: " IL is not the ordinary organic matter
| of the worlds decaying garbage. animal fr8g
mentS, and even sewage, nor the nitrogen salts
| formed from them. that are dangerous when
taken into the system with the water supply but
| certain morbific heterogeneous which may
| accompany them. These micro organisms, which
are probable cause OF cholera, typhoid fever and
other specific diseases, are associated i'll partic
| ular with waters which contain nitrates and nj.
tries, and indeed it is not unlikely that the liy
| ing ferment which effects the notification oil
| organic matter may be itself morbifc." We
VIII admit the truth that water containing sew.
| age has been used time and again without pro
ducing apparently any deleterious effects: but
| ii is also as true that If typhoid cholera OF
other infectious germs are present they will con.
| yey the infection, whether decOmposcd or not
| IN fact says n recent writer There is no eYi.
| dence that the agencies which destroy ordinary
| organic or sewage matter in its course down
| stream have the slightest influence in destroy
] ing or removing the cause of these diseases; on
| the contrary, all the evidence that has accumu-
lated of late years shows the persistence of the
germ or poison after the destruction of the sew
nd VIII cd
| In the Sausen epidemic, for instance, there was
not only flow of several miles, but also filtra-
ton through the soil which sntficed to remove
the minute cells Of wheat starch yet fever was
undoubtedly disseminated by the infected water
of the springs.
The detection of sewage in water by chelni-
| cal means is therefore OF no moment, the point
of interest is its contamination; and If this is
proved, the water is dangerous, no matter how
well filtered the sewage may be, and is undoubt-
eddy the cause OF much preventable sickness
which is now looked upon and accepted from
force of habit ms normal condition. l migqt
multiply the evidence upon this point to weari-
ness, but will forbear; we all must acknowledge
its truth. Another point not TO be forgotten, as
larial disease engendered by the water which
remarked by DR.. Simmons. is the liability to ma
flows past our doors. That water, contaminated
by drainage from marsh and tule lands, is Il
fertile cause of malaIial disease is beyond dis
pute. We have all been familiar with the fact
of the almost complete immunity from
paludal fevers of the chinese, and this
has been attributed to- the fact that
the Chinese do not drink the river water until
boiled and infused with tea. Boiling water
seems 10 destroy the bacillus malaria and rem
der such wat-r innocuous. Dr. Russell, of the
Bengal medical service, In receut work upon
malaria, says that seven years experience in
one of the most intense malaria producing
regions in India has convinced him of the
marked immunity from malarial affections en-
loved by persons who, though living continu-
ously in this typically malarious region, yet
carefully avoid Introducing the miasm into
their systems in their drinking water. Among
the ordinary populations who habitually drink
raw water, directly or indirectly, of marsh ori-
gin malarial affections OF one kind or another
may be SAID to be almost universal.
Whether our river contains enough of the ell
emeuts of marsh miasm to excite malayial
disease independent of telluric influence, is Il
question to which more extended observation
will be required. We only contend that it is a
factor against the purity of the water containing
it. and when possible should be avoided. DIR.
Russell further says that those who habitually
avoid the use of water, directly Indirectly, OF
swamp origin, and who take care TO destroy the
germs of malaria by boiling and iiitering their
water or making il into TIA, enjoy even i'll these
intensely moist malariGl regions, Astounding in
Jungle and marsh, an immunity from disease OF
maiarial origin nearly equal to that enjoyed by
residents of non -malarial tropic climates" An
other plea in favor of our obtaining a supply
of pure water is the temperance one.
The repuguauce which the muddy appearance
of the water causes in those whose stomachS are
|
their thirst with beer wine or spirits, and thus
fosters the habit of intcmperance and encour-
| ages vice in our midst. No one knows how
many gallons of beer are daily drank in this
city by persons who cannet habituate them
| selves to drinking the decoction of mud with
which our supply pipes furnish us. No one
| knows how many have acquired taste for strong
| drink from the constant addition of spirituous
! liquor TO our dirty water to make it palatable.
| How many homes il has destroyed, how many
! good citizens it has ruined, how many children
| 1t has made orphans, who knows? / am quite
sure that with clear, cool, sparkling water, free
| from organic impurities, our health would I'M
! prove not only individuals, but as a com
munity that beer drinking would be materi-
ally lessened, that the device for stimulants to
| keep off the chillS would cease, and that our
city would be benefited beyond our computa-
| ton, not only in wealth and population, bat
also In reputation us Il sanitary resort. am
| quite sure that numbers OF inyalids would come
here to enjoy the benefits of our delightful eli
mate, did they not fear the muddy water and its
| effects | hear It again and again in my inter
course with strangers, and If we could either
clear our water and remove US much rs possible
OF its organic matter before delivering it through
the service pipes, or get still better supply oil
| water from other sources our city would not re-
greet the cost thereof. Our increased population,
| Increased taxable property, the saving in the
cost think We aught to agitate this question
until we can obtain for our city a water supply
clear. cool, healthfui and abundant.
DR. WALLACE A. BRIGGS SAID:
desire TO express my hearty concurrence in
| the general tenor of opinion expressed by DR.
simmons and other members of the society
| Phe keynote of the situation was sounded by
reference to the Sacramento at low water as the
| drainage canal for the cities and towns and the