The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-08-01
EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
APARTING SHOT,.
DIR. Ulrich Addresses some Further Ro
marks TO DR.. Ashbrools.

marks TO DR.. AshbroolG.
To ne Ettiororh Iatslligaiez.
SlR:-My dear and valued young
friend, DIR. Ashbrook, certainly mistakes
when he says made an attack on him,
for / like him too well to offer TO hurt
him, and was particularly gentle and
cautious in my remarks, which were
not intended to strike him at all, but
simply to correct statements Of his
which would make false impression
upon the reader. II he did not say in so
many words that the impurity OF the
water in the creek was the cause OF the
typhoid fever in that region, he certain
~ made that impression on every one
that read the article, and doubtless in
tended TO mike IT, or he would not have
adduced tins proof OF the untitness OF
the water for drinking purposes. The
people living along creeks and brooks
refuse to drink the water from these
streams because ittastes fiat and insipid,
being less impregnated with minerals
than the water OF springs or wells. 1t is
not because they believe the water OF
the streams unhealthy, for the doctor
himself has shown that the inhabitants
OF that part Of the country know moth
ing about sanitary matters. These peo-
Pile, when they come to the city, OBJ
ject to our hydrant water for the same
reason, and not because 1t abounds in
bacilii of disease.
II can remember rightly the doctor
was one OF the strongest advocates Of
the theory that the well in Fulton was
the cause Of the epidemic OF typhoid
fever, but ii circumstances have
changed his views concerning the
causes Of that series Of fevers which
rendered him famous, he shows that he
is progressive man who Is willing to
learn. / know nothing about the use
Of the well by people after had been
closed, and therefore can say nothing
about it; but do know that thousands
and millions Of people are exposed to
contagion and infection who remain
healthy. l see my friend is an adept in
geography. He says even il we do en-
force the laws Of West Virginia We
shall have to enlist Marshall county in
the cause, besides the great State Of
Pennsylvania, and also two large coun-
ties, Washington and Greene 1t is
BTU We AGbSL wv " AEulA anu
! bow to the superior knowledge OF my
friend, who lets me know that when We
enlist the authorities OF West Virginia
and Pennsylvania we still have to con-
suit the counties OF Marshall, Washing
ton and Greene. suppose these are
independent States. Pennsylvania has
an admirable law Of its own, and a
Board OF Health inferior to one in the
United States. DR.. Benjamin Lee, Of
Philadelphia, the Secretary OF this
board, is q wide-awake sanitarian who
would do everything in his power to as
sist us in this matter.
Seeing is believing; so 1 should like
to see those gentlemen pump the creek
dry. That piece OF nonsense is not
worth talking about any longer. I have
been acquainted with Wheeling creek
since 1887, and have never saw it that
nearly dry yet. The fish that died did
dot die oftyphoid fever, l presume, but
because there was not q sufticiency Of
water for so large u number Of fish, and
they simply starved to death.
ii the population OF large city is
confined 10 the limits OF small town
and not permitted to forage for provis-
ions, they will die too, but not from ty-
phoid fever. 1t makes me laugh to hear
my young, unsophisticated friend say l
don't know what surface drainage is.
Why, bless his dear little soul, taught
that in schools and colleges before he
was born.
But We question If those delightfully."-
salubrious wells he proposes to dig on
the peninsula along the creek have
nothing to do with surface drainage.
The creek from above Fulton dam to its
mouth is mostly st6gnant and is satur-
ated with all the filth of the establish
ments in that town, while tho ground
down to the deeper layers OF rock is
completely impregnated with the same
substances, as well us the drippings
from the graves OF the cemetery. II my
friend will go back to his schooldays
and study how springs and wells are
made, he will get rid Of his crude no.
tons Of such things, and will find out
that any well dug in that vicinity OF or
binary depth, let 1t be cased ever so care
fully, will contain water more poison
GUS than that of the Ohio river. If we
are to go down to immense depths and
bore artesian wells, as suggested in this
mornings INTELLGENCER by one whom
/ strongly suspect to q stakeholder in
the Wheeling Ice and Storage Company,
we would do better to bore on our side
of the hill. shall not be here to dis
cuss this subject farther, but if my
friend, the Doctor, has anything more
to say to me he will find me at NIanhat-
tan, KANSAS.
W1eelina July 81.
Deafness Can't BIO Cured