Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-03-01

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able to make in one hundred. Not only
did the growing trees and standing folisge
protsct the earth and hold back the falling
rain, for gradual distribution, but every
fallen leaf held its proportion Of water, to
be given back TO the atmosphere through
evaporation.
d.. Ulrich supplemented his paper by
calling attention to the fact that not only
did the cutting away of the forests tend to
increase the volume of floods, but 1t also
caused prOtracted dIouths in summer, by
allowing all the water descending in raias
20 run off soon after falling. These
dronths brought about changes in climat-
ic conditions, aud these changes again had
their effect upon the methods OF life OF
whole populations. The whole subject
was one of the utmost importance, and was
worthy of the serious consideration Of both
the public authorities and private invid-
usls.
DR.. s. NJ. Free, at this point, read q
thoughtful and earnest paper upon flood
eff.ctr, and it provoked long and locally
important discussion. The title was
Flood Debris Dangerous to Health, and
How to Dispose of It."
DR.. Free took the position that very few
epidemic disesses were directly traceable
TO floods or deposition Of flood debris. In
l74s the D ltch compelled Austria to quick
ly make terms OF peace by flooding the
country, but the sickness following the
subsidence Of the waters, strange to say,
compelled second inundation. In China
where floods are usual and severe, causing
i II IL l. La IL
sickness fanny kind follows. In the low
er part of the Mississippi Valley, the sub
ject has been thoroughly investigated
oy Prof. Oharte, of New Orleans, and his
conclusions are that floods are not il uri-
ous bat beneficial, by covering the soil and
cleaning the streets. In 1871, eleven
ttousaad people were flooded out in New
Orleans, and one observer states that the
district in which theee people had their
homes YVES one putrid cess pool, bus in
spite of this collection Of filth tbs health
Of the city cOntirued good. No epidemic
of q serious nature followed the great dis
astor at Jamestown. The most frequent
diseases for which focds are indirectly
res ponsible arc the malsrial ones, and
these only result from a combination OF
thres things, a soil wet bat not submerged,
On amount o. organic matter, and great heat.
The water Of the stream itself is not danger
Gus unless used for drinking; and even
then il is not often more impure than
under ordinary circumstances. Foods
that have been wet are dangerous. They
msy contain the germs OF disease. Houses
left standing are dangerous. They are
filed with mud, ami the furniture and
clothing accumulate disease. The duty
of ssnitsrians is to faithfully track the
dangers of fl nod and how to avoid tn EN-.
The false impression concerning the gen.
eral tendency Of a pods 10 csuss great cpl
denies should frat be corrected.
The discussion was opened by d.. Garri-
son, who said that without endorsing all
contained in the paper, he desired to heart
lily endorse that portion relating to the de-
struction Of food debris and hood-saturat-
cd articles Of furniture and clothing by
fire.
DR.. Ulrich also endorsed the burning
plan, and said he hoped to see the time when
not only hco1infected stnff would be
burned, along with the bodies of drowned
animals, but also the bodies of human beings
as we'll That would rid the earth Of all
infectious matter.
Dr.. Lee, of Philadelphia. continued the
discussion upon the paper just read. He
devoted the major portion Of his remarks
to the dangers TO wells and other
sources of water supply, by floods,
and Impressed upon his hearers the abso-
Lutte importance of boiling sll water for
domestic use. He esteemed boiled water
much above that purified by liberation,
and said il VISA a serious question whether
slnitsrisns should recommend filters, ur-
less they coupled it With the additional
recommendation that thu water shculd be
also boiled and the filters frequently
cleaned. When at his home, in Philsdel-
phis, DR.. Lee said he felt ne was in prox-
unity to what was perhaps the worst
water supply in America, bat when he
turned hydrant faucet in Wheeling, on
his arrival here, he felt he must throw up
the sponge. Iftde presence OF the Sanitary
Convention would induce Wheeling law
makers to change their source of water
supply, mucn would have been accom-
plishsd, and the interiors of the popula-
tion would be relieved Of great deal Of
matter, unpleasant, If not luxurious.
DR.. Williams, OF Martins Ferry, added
some valuable facts regarding the late
Martins Ferry epidemic Of typhoid fever,
believed result from siagnant water
from slaughter house, lying behind q
railroad embsnkment, and the moisture
from which had been waited into houses
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