The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-27
death Ina the weIls.n
Communicated


Il Your correspondent, under the ABOVE title,
| discusses ct length and very sensibly the
evil resul's of impure water on the health OF
the people of The city. All he has said is
sdoubtless true. bat the remedy he proposes
,(that of constructing sewers) can not ct this
time be put in operation early enough to
,avert the danger that threatens us this SUM-
inner. It would be well. therefore to turn
atten ton to the source OF our impure water,
;and if possible land i think it is) remove
that. There about 10000 vaults in the city.
Into these is thrown, not only the natural
elements belonging there, but the garbage
and slops from the kitchen. Under the in
lfuence of warmth and moisture decomposi-
!tion takes place. and a portion of this
foul material permeates the ground,
and, in most places, finds its way into
;the wells. This of itself is bad but IL does
escapes in the form of gas and reaches every
:place to which this subtle fluid is accessible.
THE humble cottages of the poor and the
stately mansions Of the rich alike are filed
with tie n0xious vapoIs. The masses as
they pass along the streets have their olfac.
tories confronted with these unpleasant
:odoys.
What else? Cholera that dire plague in
whose presence all tremble. IL il reaches us
this summer it will find fruitful soil in
which to Ievel.
If the scientific men who are dsvoting SO
smuch time and money to discover the micro
| organisms that are supposed to give rise to
| the symptoms and conditions called chol-
EZRA, would for short time lay aside their
microscopes and go down to the countries and
scities where cholera exists, and from which
| 1t springs, and learn as men of common sense
lby clinical facts (such travellers do in those
countries they will find IN many OF the
.plsces where an epidemic is prevailing that
| they have no system by which the excremen-
'titious materials OF the human body are dis
posed CT. They lie on ths surface OF the
ground exposed to the action Of the intense
sheat and moisture. IL they will experiment
/: ,with those tangible things by removing
them, and cleaning such places they can by
this means stamp out the dire disease by
| preventing its development i leave this
liquestion with discriminating public, which
.would be the better plan, To prevent it or
.spepd oil their energies Ia fruitlsss search
| flor the Legitimate results disease germs)
(which when found haye thus far baied the
Iisbill OF medical men TO control them.
|: Bat to return to our city: II in winter
time we will ascend the court house tower,
:fYom which we can see the whole city at 8
Iigisnce, We will see small columns of smoke
licurlipg up from near 10000 chimneys and
lin nedia.ely above the houses cloud OF
lSsmoke lowering over the entire city. The
thested air. IS it comes from those 40 00C
lichiuDeys, keeps up constant ascending
scurIent, which, meeting the cold air, cools
idown TO the same temperature, and or thi:
ilipe rests the cloud OF smoke. A change in
:tbe atmosphere. by which there is an equilib
irinm from the groud up, and the smoke set
tiles 10 the ground. Let Us now take the
same position during the hot summer
months, and We have to only imagine one
,thipg and we have the same cloud, only thai
lin winter it il smoke, while in summer
it Is noxious gases emanating from
twenty thousand vaults. Could these case;
be made visible as the smoke is in winter We
would see cloud lowering over the city in
daytime. VI ich at night, in consequence o.
'the cooling down of the atmosphere. ths
,vspors fall and the sleeping unconscious
thousands are ali night long breathing the
| elements of disease and death. THIS is not 9
picture of the imagination, but one founded
in real nsture-all. save that the gases are in
visible, while the smoke is visible. And what
10 the result? Clinical experience ali alonf
!, the line pgoye: that loisop taken int tbs