Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-10-30
FACTS vs.. FICTION.
1 JesrIal Reporter EIinilss tle Hospi
tai Dump and Sever 0gtlets.


The Pscts in the Case ~ Brought out
BY fHvestisstton AID Interviews.
III /. bell, yed that the = boie cause of the
a,obrfsria epidsmic which has prevailed
At the fn,ane Ho, pitai In this city for the
past wear has been got as. For week or
more past the workmeH LAYING the pipe
for the mills Of the Augusta Lumber Com
u.ny across the Hospital grounds for the
nnrpose Of heating the institution. have
been subjected % the most unsssthly sfrench.
add a, times il has been 20 bad that the men
nave had 10 leave their york and go long
ai.,.ne. Of TO get fresh air. A few rods
from the bgiIdirgs and directly back Of the
i.nndrv building 10 . deep gully. II has
been the custom for yesrs to dump into this
gntgy alI the refuse matter. and the smoant
mae at mi. ins,itoiion il something enos-
,no., Here is has laid and rotsed and
romb,p.d Nth the sewerage has
co,s,sd large tract Of land The
.a,ku,sn say the vhole gully 10 almost alive
i'm animal life The west Winds blow all
M. offensive fungus directly into the institu-
,,ou and the great wonder il that the whole
,n.i,ation has not been down with diphtbe-
ria Every workman At york On the pipes
orocIslms il q. something terrible. The trus-
Tee. Of the Hospital should examiae this sink
of eor,uption. IL will be found exactly as
stated
The above statement published in the
Portland Argus As an Augusta special under
date Of oct. ~ caused much comment in this
city upon the arrival Of the morning malt
train yest rday. As nothing had been heard
upon the streets regarding it, 4 Journal re-
porter determined upon personal invsstiga-
ton and visited the Hospital and the places
mentioned 10 the above paragraph With the
follo~iHg result: There Is = gully IN the
rear Of the laundry buildings and about two
rod. distant. The opening Of the sewer
which drains one half Of the institution is
about three rods from the building but Is the
Journal sisn stood at . point Just outside
of the building, ~th the Wind
blo~u directly across the gully and dump
toward him. no odor Of decsyed matter or Of
.exersge gas was perceptibIe. A nearer ap
proach which brought the reporter almost d.
reetly over the sewer outlet. was not quite so
pleasant however, as the odor Of sewerage
ga. was plainly distinguishable. yet far from
being such a stencil as the above item would
indicate. The earth has every appearance
of being much like other earth and would
not give one the impression that it was
teeming with animal life" The dump
mentioned in the above item, WAS also visited
and was found to be a place evidently for
the purpose Of depositing all sweepinss and
other loose matters gathered from the rooms
of the Institution. The vegetable and ami
NAL refuse from the tables goes 10 the hogs
and the ercrement from the vaults is con-
dncted away in liquid form by the sewers.
and no traces of any such substances except
an occa.ional bone will be found on the
dump. The large tract of land" covered
by this dump 10 in reality only few feet
square It's At least 400 or 500 feet from
the main buildings.
The reporter al.o interviewed DR.. Sanborn.
superintendent Of the institution, about the
m .tter. sho wing him the statements in the
Argus. In answer to An inquiry the Dr.
said
The fact that the recent diphtheria
epidemic started from any such source 10
dlsproven by the condition of things At
present Here 10 the laundry building but a
few rods away from the sewer outlet. Ever
since the top story was placed on that build
ing two years ago this winter, it has been
occupied by about twenty male and female
operatives in the laundry. They rot only
sleep there but they work there, tn y are
there all the time not as patients but As
workmen and yet in all this time | am sure
| am correct in saying that not single case
of contagion Of any kind has
been found in the building. Again.
The diphtheria cpl iemic was net
in that part of the institution next to this
dump" A. would naturally be the case II this
so called bed of animal life was the cause.
II was locate! in the south side of the In
sttution. the part farthest from the spot
mentioned. | thought it was distinctly I'M
detstood by the public and accepted that the
recent diphtheris epidemic was introduced
by an attendant who came infected with the
disease and from no other cause. Al she
time of the s.igatian these sewers and
the dump were examined thoroughly. l.
myself. ,akios ihe party to each e them.
The engineer Ss Hp.a was found in the
engine house and s,i0n II in relation to
the '-,'ump lie sul shea asked a. 10 how
long the refu.e hal BEEN collecting 81
don't knos We barn it over three or four
times a year and sometimes oftener, allow
ing the fire to ru, for weeks at a time when
the hose is tnrned on ami the fire pusscut
Later in the day Mr.. Ira II Randall. of the
Augus'a Lumber Company which il utting
in the piping wasinterviewed. He said II
have known that there were od)rs coming
from the land upon which the sewer empties
but have never known the workmen to COM
plain. have been over the entire line sew
eral times and at the section referred to
above have noticed the odor of sewer gas,
but not more there than at many locations
sbou, the city where sewers open. have
stood near those at the hospital for perhaps
half an hour at time and not noticed the
odor at all. regard it As nothing more
than wha, ordinarily arises from an open
sewer and should say the condition Of things
was greatly exaggerated q, reported in the
Argus.
As the workmen were not at work on the
pipes, owing to the rain, none of them were
interviewed but the above statements vii
show the exact condition Of things. which
is in almost direct denial to the statements
in the Argus which are decidedly misleading
AMI are not in accordance with the facts
1t is such unfounded statements - These
which injure the institution and cause the
people to look with distrust upon . manage
ment which is carrying out the work OF the
institution in the best possible manner and
to the perfect satisfaction Of the Board o
Trustees which has go expressed itself
Commissioner ON Taxation.
Last night Governor Burleieh nominated
Hon. John L. Cutler of Bangor. member
of the Commission authorized by the las