The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-09
SICKNESS FROM VAULTS.
DR.. Houstoun Calls the City's Atte
m Txri1

DR.. Houstoun Calls the City's Atten-
ton to an Evil.
President Reed of the Citizens Sanitary
Association reported to the association, q
short time ago, two cases of typhoid fever
on Harris street, betwe en- Drayton and
Abercorn, and gave his opinion as to the
causes of the disease. He said that the
fever was a result of the bad sewerage in
| Liberty street lane, north Of Harris street.
| The patients were members of DIR.
Houstoun's family. No. 90 Harris street, and
of Mr.. Green's family, No. 1O2 Harris
| street.
A MORNING NEWS reporter saw DR..
Houstoun yesterday concerning the matter,
and he talked very freely about what
he considers a nuisance. ut should be
abated, he said, and, he added, 1.-THE same
state of affairs which existed when the city
extended but little farther south than
Harris street exists now. Notwithstanding
| the great increase in population and number
of houses, the same vaults exist, and neces-
sarily the increased number Of people makes
the closet facilities inadequate, and hence
offensive and dangerous"
In answer to question how many houses
| in the lane are occupied, DIR. Houstoun re-
piled that there are twelve houses betw cen
| Drayton and Abercorn streets in Libe rty
| street lane, and all Of them are occupied.
HOW IudnY p6Ople llV6 IEef6!
81 cannot say exactly, but 1 think be-
| tween fifty and sixty, not less; and these
| fifty or sixty people are supplied with not
as many closets as there are houses. In one
of the houses Immediately across the lane
| from my residence is a tWo-story double
| tenement, and only one closet for the occu-
| pants of the four apartments of the house.
| The closets are open vaults-three-fourths
| of them-and some of the occupants report
| that the vaults have not been cleaned in
| two years. The lane is muddy all of the
time. This is caused by the families throw
| ing water into the lane. The women living
| in the lanes are nearly all washwomen, and
| they empty their wash tubs into the lane,
keeping it continually sloppy and nasty"
Dr. Houstoun said that the odor from some
of the closets where there are open vaults is
terrible. He understands that one Of his
neighbors who has an open vault in the
servants quarters has requested the author
| tiles to clean the vault out, and received
reply that the inspectors did not consider
| that the vault required cleaning.
| The distance from Abercorn street to
| Drayton street, DR.. Houstoul said, does not
exceed 800 feet. The ordinance requiring
vaults to be discontinued by Jan. l, 1889, if
within 800 feet Of public sewer, reads as
follows:
All owners of property having privy vaults in
| the citv of Savannah, located not exceeding 300
| feet from a public sewer, are hereby required
to make connection with such sewer by jan !,
| 1889 and it is hereby made unlawful for said
| owners to continue the use OF such prIvy vaults
after the date aforesaid.
The ordinance goes on to say that in case
of refusal or neglect upon the part OF
owners to make sewer connections by the
time prescribed, the connection may be
made by the council committee on health
and cemetery at the expense OF the owners,
for which execution may issue, TO be levied
as in cases of execution for city taxes.
Dr. Harris, chairman of the health and
Cemetery committee, was seen about the
condition of the laue and sewerage, and he
said that the evil should have been RENE
died long ago. "In all cases where reports
have been made to our committee" DIR.
Harris said, "steps have been taken at once
to abate the nuisance"
DR.. Harris said that the ordinance requir-
ing property owners to make connections
with public sewers when within 300 feet OF
them, had been changed, leaving it dscre-
tionary with the committee as to whether
the ordinance should be enforced
in certain cases. He said that
a great drawback to the rigid enforcement
of the law is the inability, financially, or
great many property owners to make sewer
connections. He referred to case which
| came up before the committee not long ago,
|
herself, and to enforce the law in her case
would have amounted to taking bread from
her mouth. DIR. Harris said that every
possible effort, however, is being made to
enforce the ordinance. He said that the
cement bottoms have been removed from
the vaults since the pumps have been done
away with, and the open vaults will be less
offensive and not 80 dangerous, since the
contents may percoIate the bottom OF the
vault.
DR.. Harris said that it is fact that up
ward Of 500 more vaults were cleaned out
last year than there were the year before;
The number cleaned was between 1900 and
800. Another drawback, he said. to en-
forcing the law as it should be is the
scarcity of public sewers. In the heart OF
the city the sewers run on every other street,
and they should be even closer than that.
In the southern part Of the city there are
very few sewers, and the expense OF making
sewer connections beyond Anderson street
is very expensive. The city has not now
the money TO increase the number Of sewers.
DIR. Harris was asked if he had been
notified Of the condition Of the Liberty