Telegram-herald., 1890-03-17

una0ubts-diy adequate @ present of
prospective demands AesthetieaiiK
considered. Il is not open to Serious
objection. There are times. especially
IA SUMMER when e tastes ot Neget&nie
substances. aud also times WHEN i car
res yelloWish Uat, due - tae pres
eaoe OF organic matter. But these are
comparatively trivia features winch
might Vel be overlooked were the
water af essential purity. The question
then -. lis this water ot sums cnt lin-
purgy 20 menace the public health.
Ne have already seen that 4 carries ~
Suspension from three and one-seNcf-
tleth TO three aud one-qusrier mere or
game matter than ground water taAth
from large wells near It's banks. Anu
thls, let i be noted Il tue average oI
thirteen analyses taken al different
times within year For it VIII not
suffice 10 take specimen OF wateronce
for all-pefhaps under the most iaNof-
able auspices and let that analysis oe
accepted as the standard OF - quality.
Water subject 10 the Ylclssltudes of
season, drought or storm j. continually
changing IL ingredients and nothing
les than frequent analysis viii deIer-
nine is status. BuI the authorities
! thereby render lt Wholesome for con-
sumption beyond pers6yentare. And
Vet il ls rumored-l know not with bow
much. II any, justihcaton,- each
runs il through "A private filter after
wards-if ne drinks Il at all. II so,
what keen satire that y upon
the great filter sunk IN the river
bed at a cost OF 1900. Bat recent
analyses show that the water after
/ coming from that hitter i only small
/ fraction less impure than when II passed
/ through previous filter, discarded as
| useless. The fact is, the only possible
use of the present filter Is 20 strain out
the sand which otherwise would get
into and injure the machinery at the
| pumping works. As for the rest, II not
! only does not arrest organic LIE. but =
a delusion and a snare No hitter u
really servicable, unless II can be ne
quenty cleaned, and this can not he
cleaned without running IL for Ultra
! ton purposes. Aud II II can not bc
cleaned, then, according TO scientlnc
authority the accumulated impurities
become a breeding-bed for animal
germs. and SO the filter becomes means
| of multiplying the evils Il ls built 10
| arrest. That the present filter does not
! remove organic substances 10 any ap-
| preclable extent Is proved 10y chemical
analysis. The only man known TO be
competent TO make this analysis IN our
city has found IN the filtered water
cotton and wooden fibres, the latter vet
bearing the color of blue-lnuicating
that they came from the washing Of
some veteran IN the Soldiers Home
aud the only complimentary feature IN
the case being that they prove the
state TO furnish honest garments of
fast colors. But il has something be-
sides its ludicrous aspect. In the year
1877 there suddenly broke out in Mes
sina an epidemic OF cholera, which IN
twenty-four hours claimed over two
hundred victims, and before il could be
arrested two thousand in all. And Il
was found upon examination that the
epidemic was due TO the washing from
cholera patients whereby the drinking
water became contaminated. Let a
few cases of typhoid fever break out
in the Soldiers Home, the sewer from
which emptles into Grand river, and no
one can tell what the consequences
might be in this city. For experts are
quite agreed that while rIver hlters
may sift out the coarser substances held
in suspense III the current, they do not
arrest the minute germs emptied into
the volume IN sewage. No hitter has
vet been invented that will do It,
Hence il is unsafe TO use water from
anv stream into which sewage has
entered. IL is true that such water
NAV be drank for q long time Will
impunity, and then again, when The
conditions are right, the most serious
a a.
these consequences. as reasoned by one
of our officials, would be an organic
test of the harmfulness of the water
but am sure that none of US are quit
, willing to offer ourselves as experl
ments, and be taxed for IL besides. No
, even our officials who re-filter the cit,
water. If they use ii, seem anxious 4
, make such an experiment! But Is J
not better TO lock the stable before th'
horse is stolen?
Az EXPLODED THEoBY.
Nor is the theory that running waite
purlfies itself entitled TO much weight
since experts are at least IN doub
whether such change takes place. say
Nichols: "The apparent self-puriiica
Z ton of running streams IS largely du
To dilGtion, and the fact that a rive
: seems to have purified itself AT certal
distance below a point where It Wa
certainly polluted, Is no guarantee tina
: the water IS fit for domestic use.
; Indeed the minute organisms, so sma
that thousands may be contained IN
I single drop OF water, may be dI'
; semnated, so that you may dip man
J times into the stream and none b
caught, and then at the next tim
: enough may be taken 10 start a
: epidemic. The fact IS no water is 4
= for drinking purposes IT II has bee
contaminated by sewage.
| say not these things at TIN. time Z
: cause any alarm, even did / latte
; myself that my influence were sui
: fciant for that; and no appreclabi
e harm NAV cnsuo If our water system
q continued as Il u. Nevertheless ! II
: ljeve Il IS a menace 70 OuTpubhc health
o and as "a citizen OF nO mean CITY,
: with a pride IN its achievements and i
y prosperity / question whether we ca
g well afford 10 maintain a condition q
our water system which y without th
J. public confidence and which can offer n
y inducement % those desiring to settl
y in our midst.
e It's oos-ible that the gallery systel
: would furnish 8li the water the city "
! Is 20 - r.rsrr rrlf srff