Telegram-herald., 1890-03-17
WATER QUESTION
A Concise and Mastery PrSsents-
tlon OF TIE Subject
FROM TIE PULPIT BY RES. TLIHRER
The Matter Handled Withoat Fre3udiee
aad With Premises Bz>ed pom the
facts ss fhey AetnallY Fatsis N0t
Prom Theory o. Person al Interest


facts ss fhsy Aetnally Fatsss N0t
Prom Theory o. Persons al Interest
Tie Unlyersalist Church vas filed
last evening aud the audlenee was no.
tloeab.e from the number OF business
men and city officials who were pres
( ent. The question OF the oiy's water
supply Is something that has been
/ harped upon until the theme has be
come a little old, but it having never
! been presented from the pulpit before,
I the people showed that they sre still
: eager 10 hear the matter discussed by
some one who will handle the subject
lmpartially and without preJudlee. IL
Is we'll known that Dr. Fiuhrer, who Is
always alive to the issues Of tie day,
has been for some t'ne past collecting
data upon which 10 base u discussion
OF the matter, and his address qi last
evening was u concise and mas,syiy
handling of the subject:
THE DISCOURSE.
The question of procuring an ample
| supply OF wholesome water Tor our
cities and larger villages promises TO
become one OF the great problems of
the immediate future, with which CIV
/ iliZatlOn must contend. In a compare
/ lively new country, where the popuia-
+ ton is relatively sparse and the drain
+ age area i, therefore, quite exempt
/ from pollution, tie matter of q pure
/ water supply Is not felt with pressing
I urgency. But as the population be-
I comes more dense, especially u it be-
comes congested IN our great CONNER
4 cial centres, and manufacturing indus
/ tries crowd our streams, the difficulty
/ Is accordingly enhanced. Sources of
/ supply that were as abundant as they
/ were innocuOus, must be gradually
/ abandoned rs insufficient or unsafe, be-
cause of increasing contamination, and
new and remoter ones must bc sought
/ 10 supply the greater demand. And
/ yet IL IS not difficult to see thai there
/ are limitations even IN this direction.
/ As population increases even the more
/ remote and accessible areas of water
| supply will be menaced by contamna-
/ ton, and the problem viewed IN this
/ light presents anything but hopeful
/ aspect.
WHAT SCIENCE SAYS.
There is, however, another consider
/ alton which serves to correct this rather
/ pesslmlstlc view. Applied science prom
| lSes tO.cOme to ourrellef. That's me SCI
ence. which has already done so much in
| tracing the laws and causes of disease,
which, IN compelling greater attention
TO sanitary conditions, is proving of in
I estImable service TO the human race,
may furnish also a hope for tn nrscti-
cal solution OF our water supplies. It
Is well known to those experts who
I have given the most exhaustive atten-
/ ton 10 the study of the water question
that drinking water IS tainted by the
introduction OF organic and inorganic
substances. Of the two the latter, en-
/ braclng mineral matter, IS practically
I harmless; while of the organic sub
stance, by far the more injurious, is
that which IS traced TO human origin
and which finds its way into our drink
ing water from surface flow or through
sewers that discharge their volume INTO
lakes and rivers. 1t is in the contents
OF cess-pOOls, vaults and sewers, that
we find the greatest menace TO the pub
llc health through the pollution of our
drinking water. Now applied science
| gives us much reason to hope that this
refuse. the chief discharge of which
/ through our sewers goes 50 far toward
Z mpOverlshing a country and COntami-
mating our water, may, IN a future not
far distant, be otherwise disposed of
/ than in the present wasteful and dan
gerOus way. Various EXPERIMENTS are
being made IN this direction. Some Of
these contemplate its destruction bv
fire, rs we are told that the otfal of Je-
rusalem was consumed by fires in the
valley OF Gehenna, from which custom,
by the way, come our modern terms
"hell' and "hell-fiTe" indeed, they
can hardly be termed "mOdern" any
longer. The remedy promises TO be an
effective one. although let Us trUst il
Will be conducted ln a more SC -.1tific
manner than the historic one. and that
II Will not he at.~~-Ied with the legacy
of dogma 10 our descendants that may
prove more harmful than the evil that
tnc OrIglnI. application was thought to
avert. OF the two, we certainly prefer
20 perish hy the slower and less painful
process of poisoned water. winch leaves
as the privilege of charging the result
90 Providence, than 20 suffer by the
penalty of an everlasting fire; brought
on 10y man : own misbehavior.
But all tacttIOusness aside. while the
consumption OF sewage and kindred
matter by tire promises elimination
OF the chief poisonous element
that now frds its wav INTO orr drink
in- wiier, yet tbs process Is an lmpov-
ershing one CD country where i IS ap-
p'fd. There remains. therefore,
another aitoruat-ve II Is that th's
waste sewage which nOw not only inn
pOverslts. tut also fnonaccs the
health ot q so.nmuu ~. may be con-
vCried by mechanical or chem ca
means nio substance winch shall re-
turn lmck . needed uufrlment IN the
soil from winch ir was taken and vet
shall JH rendered harmless "a regards
tho po' s0noIs lngred eats which it
oTigIuaiiv contained.
am FIRMLY Of the opinion that ap-
nlied science shall thus b. enabled 20
contribute MOST important factor to
the s0lu' ou of the water problem If
tle future, aud that the tne w'il come
again wh. our rivers, many OF which,
through the cen aunst.ons Incidental
g. CIVILIZATION. have become but larger
sewers. shall De restored 20 som thing
<r fHn.r nafrrn r.ffr ~