Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-04

miles above is not pleasant to contemplate.
For years the denizens OF old Birmingham
have entered complaint after complaint
against the water dealt out to them, but
| without much avail. They have been COM
PEELED TO accept water. the purity of which
they very much question, but now they are.
up in arms against allowing any more refuse
to be drawn through the water mains into
their houses
For this reason an effort will be made to
stop the scheme to float Braddock's garbage
down the Monongahela. 1t is only about
ten miles to Braddock and the people of the
Southside are against having filth dumped
into the river so short distance above them.
A complaint will probably be lodged with
the Board of Health Immediately, and there
was some talk of taking out an injunction
against tn; borough authorities.
The Health ofice,I Will Act.
At the City Health Department it was
not known of the action taken by Braddcck
Council until DISPATCH representative
called there to ask what action would be
taken. at is matter for the State Health
Inspector" said DIR. j. Guy McCandless.
eff he does not take action Immediately We
will have to do something. We certainly
can't allow the health of the city to be jeop-
ardized in that manner The water on the
Southside is bad enough az present, and we
cannot allow it TO be made any worse by the
refuse from Braddock being dumped into
the river. Why, it is not over ten miles up
stream, and they would get the full benefit
of it in the water used over there. Some
thing will have to be done, and that at
once"
Superintendent Baker echoed the state
ments of the doctor and added: "Mckees-
port is now dumping its garbage into the
river and we don't want any more of it.
We have been trying to preven5 that, but
they are so fa- away as to be out of our
limits However, we will keep pushing
them right along. About a year ago the
Council visited Pittsburg and examined the
garbage furnace with the idea of putting in
one there, but so far nothing has come of it
and the old garbage boat is still in use.
Disease Germs in the Water.
"Such things as that cause much more
sickness than really comes to the surface"
continued the Superintendent. ''Refuse
of all kinds is dumped into the river above
us, and if there are any germs of disease it
is sure to get into the water pipes. They
should be compelled to get a garbage fur
mace at all those places along the river and
burn the refuse instead of dumping it into
the stream to float down upon us.
Dr. j. R. Thompsonsof 936 Penn avenue,
is State Health Inspector for Pennsylvania.
He was asked last evening what he would
do in this matter, to which he replied:
81 have no power to act unless a complaint
is lodged with me. would be glad to at
any time receive complaint 1 would
then report to the State Board, and would
then receive instructions what action to
take. Anybody can enter a formal COM
plaint The local health department could
do that, and it is the duty of some one there
to attend to such things. The sooner that
is done the better, as it is easier to prevent
than to cure an evil I did not know that
Braddock had any intention of keeping
garbage boat, though / knew there was one |
in Mckeesport.
Way to Prevent the Nuisance.
''The city has power to prevent putting |
garbage into the streams within certain \
distance. but am not sure whether Brad |
dock is within the limit or not There is a |
State law that gives a city that right, and |
Pittsburg officials should look into the mat |
ter at once. If the limit is this side of |
Braddock a complaint could be lodged |
against the borough officials and the matter |
be stopped in that way. The city officials
certainly should act in this matter as it is
one of great Importance. Deposits of garb-
age in the river at Braddock will pollutc the
water whichis used by Southside families,
and is liable to cause a great deal of sick
ness in the hot weather when much water is
used"
DR.. G. G. Rahauser, of the Southside, in
speaking of the question, said: "Well, we
have been drinking schindery soup and ami
mated beef tea for some time past and little
more added to it will not do much harm.
But, seriously speaking, think it should
be stopped if possible. This thing of drink
ing polluted water that is not fit to wash in,
let alone drink, is about played out and
something must be done very soon to remedy
it"
Chris Borner thought it an outrage on the
and there should be some way to
compel the water company to furnish the
consumers with pure water.
Doesn't Want Monongahela Mulligatawney.
"We have to pay for it, and they should
furnish the simon-pure article, and not the |
mulligatawney furnished at
present" he declared.
''There should be some way to stop these
people from polluting the streams" said