The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-09-02

poisoned, and the water in the wells and
c.sterns of your neighboIS Ia in the same
state. Then you get down to close
work, and finally locate the trouble at
your cesspool.
You are right, you s-e at the heart of
your trouble now. Your cesspool, which
your intelligent architect said was a'l
right, Is az rrOHg--it never was right.
The thing Allowed the matter 10 soak
away, and thus to poison the water sup
ply of yourself aud neIghI ors. Yet
your architect assured YOU that il was
all right, and he got your good do"ars
for telling you so, too.
Cesspools and vaults, as now built, are
sure death traps, and il Is doubtful If
they WI he improved upon. The arch
ltect who recommends the cesSpool
either iocS or does not know his business.
IL he does, then science lis all wrong and
the labor of years in studying the prop
agation of typhus has been thrown
away,
But scientific men, who have studied
sanitary matters for years, all unite in
condemning the ceSspool as a VeIitabie
chamber of horrors; therefore we have
good grounds for assuming the devotee
of the cesspool to he deeply in error.
We are told To use disinfectants freely.
them, and look for the source of trou-
BILE rather than for a po"iticc to put on
the Offending matter.
In 1874 an International Sanitary Con
ereSs was held at Vienna, and At was
there unanimously agreed that there Is
no agent known which Is capable of de
stroyIng contagion, and that we must
look with suspicion upon the efficacy of
mere disinfectants." This, from such n
source, should at least he worthy of CON
Sidsratiou.
DRAINAGE.
Too much cannot Ice said in regard To
"a proper system of drains. Dry soil Is
never unhealthy; damp. soggy soil i
never heolthy. We must either drain
or die.
The effect of ordinary land drainage,
as pTact,ccd 10y farmers, IL astonishing
The soil being relieved of it's surplus
moisture. is made lighter, and the circu-
lation of the air through the pores Of the
earth rapidly oNidiZes and disiDfeCts ali
pUtrefyIng matter, whether IL lie. of an
lmal or vcgei able origin.
The reason that our dwellings are so
cold ami UNIV holesomc. So mOuldy and
smelling, IL that the soil near and
around Is soaked with water. OF course
the constant SfcJcjHg and diNtjHiHg of
! i''NiDti~ It;tNNti., anu inc lnittdilth al
the foul gases generated 10y such chem
ical changes must produce sickness ami
oftcntimeS death.
1t is generally accepted 10y the medical
faculty of the country that amongst the
many eN is due II excessive dampneSS of
the soil, = es1ccia'iy marked in the for
nation of tnDcrcl, in consumptiV" sub
iects, the various forms of malarial fe-
veIs, n"uralG n. dyscnteIJ aud bowel
tToubl, >.
That our city council must make some
decided move in regard To sewer;ng the
town. cannot toe questioned. That we,
as citizens, must lend Such All rs we are
capable of doing, Is patent to all. We
must have a well planned system Of pub
lie sewers, and an lually we'll ami intel
ligentiy laid system of house drains.
The writer of the above has consulted
several authorities concerning the fore
going matter. and has used their Ian
guage in sev"ra' irsta 1ces. a. it fitted the
ideas precisely. ECIE.