Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-21
B[GELOW AFTER OIL.
He Will Search the Allegheny Clear
to Oil City to Discover 1t.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE WATER
Are Once More Made, and With More Vigor
Than Ever Before.
DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE DOCTORS

The howl about the condition of the city
water has revived. This time Allegheny
unites with Pittsburg in the general COM
plant. The oily taste complained of o
couple Of weeks ago has returned with rein
forcements, and the general nastiness is as
bad as ever. For a week or two there
seemed to be an Improvement in the water,
and Chief Bigelow and Water Superintend-
ent Wilcox, who have been watching the
matter closely, began to think the trouble
vas over, for the present at least.
A few days ago Chief Bigelow noticed
that the nasty oily taste had returned. He
had satisfied himself that the Bear Creek
Oil Refinery had not been allowing any re-
fuse matter to flow into the river. The re-
finerv had been closely watched and it was
demonstrated that the trouble did not
originate there The oil we'll of the Phila-
delphia Gas Company back of Verona was
also kept under surveillance and proof Sc
cured that no oil came from that source.
Just as Bad Up the River.
Having covered these points, the only
local ones that he could think of as the
cause of the trouble, the chief sent man up
the river to Tarentum TO ascertain if the
oily condition prevailed there. The report
showed that the water was as bad there as
when it reaches Pittsburg.
'I am determined to locate the origin of
this trouble" said Chief Bigelow yester-
day, "and, having covered every other
point could think Of propose sending
man up the river as far as Oil City, if
necessary, to discover the place where this
stuff comes from. After we learn definitely
its origin we may be able to put an end to
the trouble. / should not be surprised to
learn that an abandoned oil we'll in some
out-of-the-way place had begun to flow
again, or that a spring of oil had burst forth
somewhere in the bed of the river and was
causing the trouble"
A great many physicians of the city have
been interviewed in relation to the water
suppl and, while nearly all have united in
the opinion that the water is bad and unfit
for use, few have held that it is no worse
than formerly, and take stand directly op-
posite to the maj gritty. Among these is DR..
Chris Lange, of Penn avenue. In con-
versation on the subjecs yesterday he said:
APossible Redeeming Feature.
Notwithstanding the complaints about
OIL am inclined to think it is no worse
than it has been for years. People fire.
quently take petroleum by the tablespoon
full as medicine for throat troubles. 1
dor t think it any good as remedy, but it
does no harm That it does not affect
man injuriously is shown by the men en-
gagged about the oil well. There they are
saturated with it. They take it into their
bodies constantly by absorption, they
breathe it in the air, they drink it with
their water and they even get more or less
of it in what they eat. You never hear of
any bad effect: from 1t on those men.
''But take any other branch of business,
as lead works, for instance. 1t is not long
after man goes TO work in lead fac
tory until the evil effects of the
lsad his is snstsm. msss painfully Naw if visible ole
is not injurious to these who
you might say, live in it, how can the
small amount taken in with our drinking
water hurt anyone. I don't believe the
water is to blame for any of the diseases
that have been charged to it and 1 think
there is no more to be feared from it than
from the smoke we are breathing in the
air."
Not Fit for a Dog to Drink.
DIR. j. H. Heiber, OF 1705 Penn avenue,
takes quite different view of the subject.
sIs the water bad?" he answered, "well, 1
should say so. It's not fit for q dog to
drink It not only tastes but it smells bad.
and should not be used without fltering.
know it is to blame for many complaints
among children. Not serious troubles, but
very disagreeable ones. It is hard on the
of grown people, too. Filtration
helps it some, but don't remove the oil.
As far as the oil is concerned, don't be-
lieve it to be the cause of the trouble. It
seems to me itmust come from the refuse
from oil refneries. Oil don't mix
with water, but this refuse, contain
ing poisonous matter, does. Then
the surface drainage and sewerage
that gets into the Allegheny river is some
thing awful. That is what produces disease
and makes the unhealthy smell in the
water.
"But must say that in the Ninth Tenth
and Twelfth wards, where my practice is
largest, there is less disease of serious ma
ture than for the corresponding season for
ten years. I attribute this largely to the
improved sanitary condition. We have a
good many cases of a mild form of the grip.
1t is a peculiar form, too. A combination
of grip and tonsilitis. 1t is not dangerous
and conf1 nod LARGELY m vounU peonle -