Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-03-25


II 10 understood that large and inauen-
sial petition will be laid before The City
Council u sene meeting pfsvisss 10 max
ing up The list Of spprspfiasioss for he
current year, askisg for ssch sum -, 10 he
judgement Of the appropriate C. nmisfse and
the City Council, shall be deemed suhaciens
TO complete the construction Of the so-cailed
Gage gully sever from iss present outlet to
the river, near that point where the Coffee
Mill brook discharees under New Gage
street ard the Maine Central track
This sever Vas at arss designed 70 re-
GIVE the surface drainage from the open
drsia which formerly run from Chapel
street, down the norsh line Of the lot Of
Oscar Ho!vsy. Esq on State street, thence
between the Rice and DIR. Webster lots
TO the rear Of lots Of the late J. ID.
Pierce and Mrs.. Hodgd0n, and crossing
Grove street at = point opposite the present
residence Of Gen. Henry BOyntop, At the
head Of the so-cslled Gage gully. This
dram for come years remained open At this
point Of Grove street bot wss very offensive,
and sbont ave years ago m appropriation
va made for extending 1t down the gully.
II vas ct that time carried to point about
opposite the residences Of Mr.. Z. H. W
Smith and Fl. Eugene Smith on Crescent
street. vest of the gally; and about opposite
the junction Of swan and Gage streets. east
Of the gully. There it has remained ever
since. This sewer is constructed Of split
granite, 10 about two feet square in the open
ing. and 10 covered with earth The banks
Of this gully are steep and the residences
on both Crescent and Gage streets
are but very short distance from the lice
Of the sewer and its place Of discharge.
Since this sewer was built, city water has
been introduced into . large number Of
houses which are provided with water clos-
cts, and gradually wider area Of the city
has made connections with it. Only last
season the Green street sewer vas connect
ed with il at or near the residences Of
J. Frank Pierce and Gen Boynton, 90 that
now this Gage gully sewer has become the
outlet for portions Of Grove, Green, Chand-
Ter, Swan. Gage, Chapel, Melville, and
State streets. With the increasing use Of
city water and the large number Of water
elosets in dwellings, the tax upon this
sewer and the increasing volume Of its dis
charges can be readily understood. And
yet this deposit for Ave years past has beer
left on the surface in the locality named
poisoning the atmosphere and q constant
menace to the health of the residents in
that section Of the city. Formerly among
the healthiest portions Of the city. the
nei2hborhoods on Crescent. Gage aud Swan
streets rear where this sewer discharges ito
contents upon the surface Of the ground ali
summer has during the last two or three
years been scourged by fevers, and only last
fall three or four cases Of typhoid fever,
one of them the most malignant and severe
ever known in the city, occurred in this
very neighborhood, all directly tracsble Al
physicions believe, to the prevalence of the
contamination from this sewer.
1t is well that the residents Of that por-
ton Of the city named are moving in the
matter of having this sewer extended to
the river, and the petition will be . repre-.
sentative one in wealth and influence. The
men whose names appear upon it are acting
in behalf of the general health of the COM
munity, and the rights of the humblest Al
well as Of the mos elevated citizen. Al
all city residents understand, this Gage
gully sewer, and the Augusta House sewer
so called, which runs down the gully south
of the line Of residences on the south side OF
| Grove street from State to Crescent streets
and which untes at the site of the old coffee
mill with the Coffee Mill brook which crosse,
State street south of the Augusta House
| must always form the outlet for the sy stem
of sewerage of nearly all that paEt of Au-
gusta lying south of Green street. To proper
ly convey this sewerage to the river, the
Augusta House sewer will in time be obliged
to be connected with q main from q point
near the crossing of new Gage street to the
river, which should not be delayed many
years longer. Folio ring the Introduction
of water, the next most lasting improvement
which our city should undertake is thor
ough system Of sewerage based upon actual
surveys, which should embrace every por-
ton of the city The duty to public health
demands this, and it is one of tho 6rst grea,
responsibilities which the city owes to its
inhabitants to discharge. Some portion of
this work should be performed each year
until it is completed, and the city will act
wisely in doing that hrst which first needs
to be done. The extension of the Gage
gully sewer is that work.