Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-11
AS GREEN AS GRASS
And Filled With Thousands of Dead
Fish Are the Waters of the Mo-
nOngahela at Present.
UNPARALLELED In ITS HISTORY.
Stained With Unhealthy Impurities Formed
by a Mixture of Mineral and
Organic Matters.
n ny m
UNPARALLELED IN ITS HISTORY.
DAKGERTHREATENS SOUTHsIDB WATER
DstllatiOn Suggested by Medical Expert as the Only
Efficient Remedy.

Dark green veins discolor the treacherous
muddy waters tapping the shores OF the
CITY The river has undergone a change
never known before. Suddenly and with
out warning the sluggish stream has been
mysteriously stained with the sickly hue.
Boatmen discovered it first, when the morn
ing sun tore away the mantle of night and
revealed the wonderful metamorphosis. A
faint, repulsive odor assailed their nostrils.
Rumors of the startling discovery spread
through the city. Thousands scanned the
greenish waters yesterday. Nothing of the
kind was ever seen before in the mountain
stream. River men we're at loss to account
Cor the singular circumstance. The broad
sweep of swirling water was freighted with
an unknown substance. More remarkable
still, thousands of dead fish foated on the
top of the river, and carcaSses lined the
banks for miles.
STARTLED THE SoUTHSIDERS.
Citizens OF the Southside who depend on
the Monongahela ior their water supply
were filled with apprehension when the
news reached them of the change in the
river. A new danger was presented to
them. The sight OF the tainted fluid aow
ing into the water works alarmed many.
Fears OF dreaded disease lurking in the
depths of the darkened stream impelled
anxious ones to make inquiry of physicians
as to the safety of drinking the Mononga-
hela water. They could get no satisfaction.
No one knew the nature of the greenish
color in the stream. Nothing had been done
to examine the water.
The decomposeG fish and the sudden dis
coioring were mysteries. People who have
been on the river for years were piled with
eager questions, but their responses were
vague.
In view of the fact that there was an ex-
PLANTATION somewhere, DISPATCH reporter
yesterday sought information from a num-
Der of persons acquainted with the stream
from source to mouth, and slowly light was
thrown upon the matter. In the morning a
trip was made up the Monongabela to as
certain the cause of the phenomena, and
later some glaring facts were learned from
prominent medical practitioner on the South
side.
THE COLORING TRACED.
On board the steam packet Germania,
that left Pittsburg at $50 A NJ, the green
ish colored water was traced up stream to its
starting point. Gradually as the slack
water lying at the city was left behind the
peculiar stain in the river grew darker and
darker. This was owing to the fact that
there were but few boats running above the
city, while the numerous craft within the
limits of the metropolis stirred up the
mnddy waters there and partially concealed
the foreign fuiG.
The Monongahela was sheet of emerald,
when Browns station hove in sight. Pas
Eengers gathered on the decksof the boat and
watched the heaving bosom of the river,
with curious eyes. AT every turn the white,
Iifeless bodies Of dead fishes, large and
small, could be seen floating on top of the
water, while the sandy shores of the stream
were Uttered with the decomposed in
habitants of the poisoned river.
Thousands of dead fish have passed us
within DAY or two" said Captain H. B.
Cock. "The circumstance is unparalleled
in the history of the Monongahela. can
not account for the marvellous green color of
the water. 1t appeared for the first time a
day or so ago. The water is unhealthy and
dangerous to use.
COULDN'T BE DYNAMITE.
"Last Tuesday night a deckhand named
George Freeland was struck with fright
when a coal tow swung round and crashed
against u.s. and he fell overheard. He was
drowned, and the discharges of dynamite
made to bring up the body were thought to
have caused the death OF so many fish, but
it is impossible for such large number TO
be killed by that means. 1t is something
else.''
In spite of the recent rains, such as usually
cause the Monongahela to turn several
shades yelIower than its original hue, the
river was glittering with green where it
drains a large amount OF country soil.
Even at Hazlewood the dark liquid empty
ing through the sewer into the river was
lost in the grass-colored stream.
Arriving at Braddock, the Monongahela
still retained the startling hue. AT the
lower end of the town Turtle creek
pours its waters into the river.
The small stream was slightly tinged
with green. Inquiry among people
residing along its banks ELECTED the infor-
nation that the creek had assumed its green
ish hue this summer. About a mile in the
interior it flows past the Westinghouse Air
brake Works, while it drains large section
of land filed with stagnant pools covered
with malarious growths of fungus.
WHERE THE HUE BEGINS.
Further up the river the water suddenly
underwent a change. Nearing McKees-
port, where the Youghiogheny joins the
main stream, the Monongahela once more
was seen in all the splendor of its old-time
golden tint Above McKeesport she looked
as yellow as the waving grain, while there
wasn't trace of dead fish. They were all
bobblng around in the long stretch of green
water below.
Then it was found that the cause of the
curious color lay in the mass of mineral
substances brought down from the Connells-
vile coke regions by the Youghiogheny.
'This mineral matter" as Conductor j.
J. Sharrar, of the McKeesport and Belle
vernon road, remarked, kills the fish in
the Monongahel8 where the rivers unite,
and the dead fish, mixed with the mineral,
turns the water green. If you will notice,
this is where the Monongahela begins to
take on that peculiar color"
A call was paid to DR.. E. A. Mundorf,
of the Southside. After hastv analysis OF
a sample of water obtained from the Mo-
nongahela at the foot of Thirtieth street,
near the water works, he said: 1.-THE sam
pie on microscopic examination proves to be
infested with an unusually large amount of
organic matter which has come from sources
contaminated by animal matter. Immense
quantities Of putrifactive bacteria in various
stages of their development are present. The
water has a peculiar odor and a smoky
color. This of necessity is due to the large
proportion of organic and other matters
held il solution by it.
CAUSE OF THE COLOR.